Ah, 21st birthdays.

After spending a year of-age in Bloomington, I think I’ve come to the (perhaps slightly biased) conclusion that this is the best town to celebrate the best night you’ll never remember.

This week two friends are celebrating The Best Day Ever two days right in a row. As I write this, I’m in the middle of these birthdays and probably experiencing the few hours of sobriety that I’ll see all weekend. So, for your reading pleasure, I’ve created a game plan for the best 21st birthday in Bloomington.

Start: Nick’s English Hut is probably the most well known bar in town, and with good reason. Start your night with a few games of Sink the Biz to get everything rolling.

Next: Kilroy’s on Kirkwood. You get a free tee shirt on your birthday, so take advantage of this. It’s actually pretty ugly, but it’s free. And we all know college students love free shit.

Followed by: The Upstairs Pub, just a few stumbles away. You need to get at least one AMF (meaning: Adios Mother****er), but be warned, they are named this for a reason.

And then: The next bar is your choice. If you’re in the mood to dance, head to Sports ($6 pitchers of Long Islands, too). If you’re wanting live music and something a little more low-key, try the Bluebird Nightclub, also on Walnut (house drink: the Dirty Bird). Or if games of billiards and darts are more your thing, and you’d rather chill out for the rest of the night to good punk/metal/bluegrass/rock music (depending on which bartender is working), hit up the Video Saloon (aka The Vid).

Finally: Rocket’s Pizza. Eat and drink tons of water before you go to sleep, and you’ll feel like gold the next morning. And Rocket’s is probably the most delicious thing you’ll ever consume at this point of the night.