Bloomington IN THE DARK

Suze has had a long night.\nShe's been waiting tables at the Waffle House for nearly four hours now, and the night's just starting to pick up. \nShe's doing her own bussing and putting in orders, pausing to help the restaurant's sole cook when she can. She's hoping business will die down so she can take a breather. But the possibilities of such luck are slim. \nA gaggle of well-dressed, polished and hairsprayed young women sits down at a center table. They're ready for their drink order, but Suze hasn't gotten to them yet.\nIncensed, the girls pick of their purses and leave, spouting obscenities in their wake.\n"See," Suze sighs, wiping their table, "that's what you get late at night."\nSuze, who prefers to be called only by her first name, has worked at the Waffle House, 530 N. College Ave., for almost nine months. Working the graveyard shift, she's seen the drunks, the students trying to study and the young couples with small children craving a late-night snack. But whatever state they're in, Suze says she's seen it all.\n"You've got flirting, all kinds of people, socializers, weirdos -- the works," Suze says. "But I wait on all of them, and believe me, you can tell a lot about a person by what they eat."\nTypically regarded as a Sunday morning senior citizen hangout, Waffle House has become increasingly popular among IU students and Bloomington residents alike. Open 24 hours, the restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner at all times, and the most expensive item is just over $7.\n"I love the business," Suze says, "but God, you'd think students would have other things to do late at night -- like sleep -- or at least find somewhere else to go."\nBut IU is a campus that rarely does just that, and it's evident by the carloads emptying into 24-hour eateries, clubs and stores around campus. But few students are aware of some of the more obscure Bloomington late-night locales. \nInspired by the trend of interactive art studios flooding the East and West Coasts, the Latest Glaze, located in Jackson Creek Shopping Center on College Mall Road, allows students, families and couples to choose and paint pieces of pottery. Employees then fire the finished products in a kiln.\nPieces range in price from $4 to $40, owner Bill Benedict says. \nBenedict said he realizes hectic student schedules don't usually permit pottery painting during the week. In response to increasing demand by residence hall floors, greek groups and community families, Benedict created "Midnight Madness," a bi-weekly four-hour late night stint allowing students to pay a flat rate of $8 and play all night.\nThe program's enjoyed tremendous popularity since its inception last year, Benedict said. \n"College students love it," he says. "The concept has been going on, on both coasts for some time, and it's finally hit the Midwest."\nBenedict and wife Mary Jo recently opened a second location on Kirkwood Avenue near the Sample Gates. The new location features more space, different color combinations and pottery choices and a large back room to be used for private parties. \nThe next Midnight Madness will be hosted Sept. 14, beginning at 8 p.m. at the College Mall location. The Kirkwood location will host the next on Sept. 28. \nThe store plans to host the event every week during November and December.\nBenedict advises interested students to preregister for the late night events.\n"It might not be a bad idea to call," Benedict advises. "We can sometimes get as many as 60 people in here wanting to paint."\nThe Kirkwood location is just downstairs from another tried-and-true late night eatery, La Bamba's. \nBoasting "burritos as big as your head," the fast-food Mexican chain stays open "until the bars close." \nIt gleans crowds of all sorts from nearby bars, clubs and residence halls, sending the restaurant's seemingly vast array of employees scurrying around until sometimes 4:30 a.m.\nThe menu is affordable, the service fast and the customers are "hilarious," Bloomington resident Charlie Knoll says. \nKnoll hangs out at People's Park well into the early morning, he says, and often retreats to La Bamba's for replenishment.\n"The food's cheap," he says, munching on Bamba's signature tortilla chips. "I spent four bucks on this spread -- what more could you want?" \nJunior Chris Johnson orders a jumbo burrito and rice and sits near the window overlooking Kirkwood Avenue. He's been everywhere tonight -- driving around with friends to Lake Griffy ("a great place to think," he says), partying at houses and hanging out at local 24-hour diner Cresent Donuts. \nOverlooked by many IU students, Cresent, located at 231 S. Adams, offers donuts as well as traditional breakfast food for cheap prices -- "just right" for Johnson's budget, he says.\nJohnson also recommends local outdoor ski park Paoli Peaks as a good late-night alternative. Located an hour away in Paoli, Ind., the park offers all-night ski events for individuals and groups.\nJohnson and a few of his fraternity brothers spent an evening at Paoli last year.\n"We had a great time," Johnson says. "It was really different skiing in the dark, but it was such a cool way to spend an evening."\nThe facility's Midnight Madness ski sessions, hosted from midnight to 6 a.m., cost $28 per pass and $48 with ski rental. Board rental ups the price to $57. \nFor more late-night fare, try Denny's, located at 2160 N Walnut. The quintessential American greasy spoon, Denny's offers breakfast at any time of day -- and they serve a mean steak.\n"Yes, I'm eating sirloin at 3 a.m.," Bloomington resident Willy Nays says, poking a glob of meat with his fork and squinting. "But that's okay -- this is Denny's. I do that here."\nHe recommends the Scram Slam -- scrambled eggs, home fries, the works. \n"... look around," he says, motioning with a tattooed finger and rolling his eyes. "You get all kinds of people here -- the drunks coming home from the bars, the sorority girls wearing black pants, the good kids trying to study and chugging coffee. I talk to all of them."\nAnd the coffee's decent, even in the wee hours of the morning, 17-year-old Sarah Swiller says. \nSwiller, a nonstudent, comes to Denny's to read Kafka and pore over Dante's Inferno. She says the 99-cents-a-cup coffee is impossible to refuse.\n"I'll come at midnight and stay till 4," Swiller admits. "It's a good atmosphere; I can study here and kind of watch people. And it passes the time."\nNays comes to Denny's every Saturday night after clubbing in Bloomington or Indianapolis. He says the clubs in Bloomington are "decent, especially if you're under 21."\nNays recommends Vertigo, located on Ninth Street between College and Walnut Avenues, for the under-21 set. \nDaniel Duncan, one of Vertigo's managers, says the club negates the traditional "bar" atmosphere and instead focuses on the dancing. \n"Dancing is what a good portion of college students want," he says. "Now that so many nightclubs have emerged they're finally getting it. This kind of atmosphere gives them a chance to do what they love."\nSixteen-year-old Josephine McRobbie says she goes to clubs like Vertigo during the week, because "Bloomington's really boring otherwise."\n"I don't really go bowling or anything like that," McRobbie says, fingering a lock of bright-pink hair and stirring her Waffle House hash browns. "We go to Vertigo and dance, and then we go eat. It's just what we do."\nNightclubs also provide an alternative to greek parties, technically forbidden on the IU campus.\nSenior Kristen Trepina says she used to go to fraternity parties "all the time, before the Dean started busting them all the time." She says clubs like Vertigo offer a good alternative to the frat scene.\nTrepina says it was difficult before she turned 21 to really go out late, but she found ways to pass the time.\n"You can always order pizza," she says. "Pizza Express is the best; we'd always walk home and order a Big Ten."\nPizza Express employees say they're used to the drunk calls on weekends from students returning home from parties and bars.\n"You have the kids coming home at 2, 2:30, not even sure where they are and trying to order a pizza," (I HAVE THE NAME AT HOME) employee said. "It kind of wears on your patience now and then."\nPizza Express delivers until 3 a.m.