Best of Augusta 2012 - Best Leisure

Place To Play Pool
If your definition of sports is pool, then the aptly named Robbie’s Sports Bar is obviously the winner. Helga’s has the balls—and the table and the cue sticks—to easily earn second place. Metro Coffeehouse pockets third.

Park To Take Your Kids
Ah, for the old days when we got all the wisecracks on paper ballots in categories like this. Now it’s just the facts, ma’am, and the facts are that Pendleton King Park is king. The Columbia County Library (and amphitheater) scores second; Brookfield Park is a very popular third.

Local Festival
It’s a carbon copy of last year’s vote. Incumbent festival Arts in the Heart got a clear and “hearty” mandate from voters, while Westobou is sort of like the vice-festival. The number two man, so to speak. The ballots screamed out “Opa!” for the Greek Festival in third.

Place To Get Back To Nature
You just can’t get more serene and peaceful than gliding down the Augusta Canal aboard a Petersburg boat. CSRA citizenry say it’s their favorite way to commune with the great outdoors. Phinizy Swamp Nature Park wins second and Reed Creek Park and its Interpretive Center win third.

Place To Walk Your Dog
This is a vital category. There are tons of dogs among us and it’s not like they can be walked every third Tuesday—if it’s not raining. Walking the dog is a more than once-a-day event. You and Fido need variety. Have you tried Pendleton King Park? Readers say it’s the top dog, followed by Augusta Canal and the Greeneway.

Cheap Date
Not ready to make a Windsor Jewelers-style investment in your future together just yet? Get thee to Masters Cinema for an inexpensive date. Inexpensive sounds better than cheap, doesn’t it? After the show, Cheddars will not take too much of your cheese for a decent dinner. Another option: Rhineharts Oyster Bar in third.

Place To Propose Marriage
When it’s time to make a commitment, pop the question—and perhaps a cork or two—at Calvert’s, suggest our readers. The Savannah Rapids wins second place. Riverwalk takes third.

Special Events Facility
The walls of glass and spectacular views through those windows spell victory for Savannah Rapids Pavilion. Enterprise Mill raises recycling to high art in second place. You can also feel good in the House of the Godfather, James Brown Arena.

Place To Break Off a Relationship
Anyplace with enough bars, say the ballots. After all, if you have no bars you probably can’t make a phone call. Of course, you could go totally old school and break up over a land line. Then again, you could opt for Riverwalk. Or, say readers, there’s always the mall. Then immediately console yourselves with retail therapy.

Day Trip
Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia is the winner and we heartily endorse this option. Spend a day at the zoo and with any luck at all, you’ll feel a lot better about your family afterwards. Second-best destination for a mini-vacation is Savannah. It’s got a lot to offer. Next up, a tie between two very worthy destinations: Charleston and Atlanta.

Performing Arts Group
We have a winner! So? you reply. Not so. SOA. That A makes all the difference. Symphony Orchestra Augusta is the reader favorite. AP, aka Augusta Players comes in next, followed by Augusta Ballet in this, its 50th year.

Best Tourist Attraction
Augustans are proud of their city and it shows. They like to show it off by taking guests to places like Morris Museum and the Augusta Museum of History downtown. Second place: the Augusta Canal Interpretive Center. Third place: Savannah Rapids Pavilion and its riverside milieu.