Bar-Hoppin' on Cumberland Ave (AKA US-70)

Before the NIU-UT game in Knoxville, Tennessee, yesterday, Liz and I along with my nephew and his wife did a little bit of the Cumberland Crawl to Neyland Stadium. The major UT student party area is along Cumberland Avenue which is US-70.

After a $15 parking space, we walked uphill and downhill (rough on us Midwesterners) to the street and joined lots and lots of orange-clad and a few red and black partiers bar-hopping from one place to another. I'm not sure exactly how many places are along this road, but there are a lot.

First stop was one of the oldest, at Old College Inn, a favorite place of Peyton Manning during his college days. Definitely an old bar. A group of Northern fans wanted to know what we were doing with Tennessee fans so explained the family situation to them.

Next stop was the Roamin' Gnome (great name for a bar) and we sat out on the deck overlooking the strip. Ran into the same group of Northern fans up there. Nephew Andy said this was his main stomping ground while he was a UT student. At that time, it was called Charlie Pepper's.

Definitely can't drink like we used to, so started slowing up here. Our UT fans left for some different pre-game celebrations and we continued on our way.

Next stop was the Long Branch and we sat outside by the street which was by now a mass of orange as fans were heading to the game. This place hit a new low for bathroom cleanliness and smell, but with $2 drafts, I could live with that.

Last stop was Moe's and then we got a bite to eat at Krystal's, a southeast fast food place somewhat like White Castle. I especially like their hot dogs.

Walked up and down some more hills to the stadium where we were hoping to get some cheaper seats than the $40 listed, but found none, so had to pay the big price. My nephew had said he thought it would be easy to get cheaper tickets since Tennessee is having a bad year (we were told many times by UT fans that they actually hoped we'd win so their coach would get fired). Plus, NIU isn't actually in the class of Alabama or Florida.

The score, remarkably, was tied 3-3 at half. A quick UT TD and field goal in the second half and we figured we'd be blown out, but that was it for their offense. Northern added two field goals and lost 13-9. If Tennessee can't beat us any worse than that, they are facing a long season.

Next Time, Maybe Half as Many Bars and a Few Pops Interspersed. --RoadDog