Leaving the throngs of people on College Avenue and escaping their unsettling stares is a treat in itself.

But last Saturday, as I left the confines of State College and headed down the highway toward a place called Historic Boalsburg, what I found was more than just a treat, it was an experience.

Chains like Taco Bell and McDonald's have taken the experience out of dining, but fortunately, a place exists where rumbling stomachs and imaginations can be appeased simultaneously.

The restaurant is called Duffy's Boalsburg Tavern. Although going there requires a car of your own, or a friend willing to undertake a five-minute excursion to Boalsburg, it is well worth the added mileage it may tack on to his, her, or your very own mode of transportation.

Words like charming and quaint seem inadequate when trying to describe the atmosphere of the Tavern. I am sure that others have already discovered its appeal, but as an eater previously unaware of this dining wonderland, I was caught in a state of awe as my friend and I searched for the entrance, hoping we had found it as we pushed open a huge, wooden door.

We weren't immediately bombarded by a staff of bustling servers, or even greeted by a hostess spouting a rehearsed speech of specials.

Instead, we wandered slowly down an empty hallway, still wondering if we had stumbled in the right door, feeling like we had stepped into a colonial home unscathed by time more than a restaurant. Duffy's Tavern, according to its Web site (www.duffystavern.com), was built in 1819, partially destroyed by a fire in 1934, and was restored with "careful preservation for the benefit of future generations."

Our waitress, clad casually in jeans and sneakers, was our first clue that we indeed still lived in the year 2001.

We were seated in a dimly lit room, but the décor distracted me from the menu, which traditionally receives my full attention.

Lit candles flickered on the tops of the tables, which appear to be assembled by hand, rather than factory. The stone walls carry the artifacts of generations long gone, pictures of Gibson girls and horse races framed reminders of what once was.

Usually, I sit intensely awaiting the arrival of my food, but in the Tavern there was plenty to take the edge off my hunger pangs.

On our explorations, we discovered a winding staircase that leads to a tiny loft, and as dangerous as ascending and descending the staircase might be, it's a feat worth undertaking.

With hamburgers for six bucks, the Tavern's prices aren't much higher than some restaurants in State College. It seems like a lot of money to pay for a slab of beef, and for the frugal college student, six bucks is a week's spending allowance. It's true, it would be cheaper to make that box of pizza for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's dinner, but what the hey, you only live once. And dining can be an experience.