Tucker Bailes and Rachel Bailes cozy up at the Roaming Gnome.

Greg Wood/Special to Knoxville.com Jessica Gregory, left, Kevin Herrin and Ambbar Lopez celebrate game day at the Roaming Gnome.

Comments

There is 1 response to this article. Click here to join the conversation »

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Printer friendly

More Nightlife news

• Drink of the Week: Hopeless RomantiX
• Drink of the Week: The Clover Club
• 4620 gets a youthful makeover

Share and Enjoy

Recently, the sweet smell of honeysuckle in East Tennessee has been masked by the stench of spilled Miller Light. This can only mean it is back-to-school time.

Back to school more importantly means back to football, something which a number of UT students would cite as being more important than academic studies. It’s a magical time of year when students come together on a weekly basis decked out in escaped-convict orange, grown men get black-out drunk in the parking lot behind Walgreens on the Strip, and an entire city bases its mood on whether or not 19-year-olds catch passes.

With UT’s football team suffering through last season plus students having to pay for tickets these days, watching the game at bars may be the thing to do this year. It only takes standing out in 90 degree heat for four hours after shots of Jim Beam to find out the hard way that maybe you should’ve chosen the comfort and accessibility of a bar.

Underneath the aforementioned thin layer of evaporating Miller Light is an area of town called the Strip (the area of Cumberland Avenue next to campus). It’s no secret that on game days this place is a madhouse. Even though these bars are full of non-game-going students, there’s something about watching the game in close proximity to the stadium that’s more satisfying than seeing it in the bars elsewhere around town. Probably because the cheers of the crowd pulsate from the stadium to approximately the Bearden area.

As someone who is interested in both the culture of excessive college football celebration and athletic prowess, it was no chore for me to head out to the campus area for opening weekend to test out the bar scene.

With our first game starting at noon, my journey spilled over into Daylife as opposed to Nightlife, but when a game goes right the celebration certainly isn’t ending before nightfall. Or even Tuesday.

I typically avoided bars on the Strip while I was in college because of their lack of atmosphere or interesting events. Yet football season is when these bars shine.

Expecting the campus area to be a madhouse, you can imagine my disappointment when the place was less crowded than the average Friday night.

On the one hand, it was nice to actually be able to get seated at bars and not have to wait on drinks: This marks the first time I’ve had a wait-free Chili’s trip on a game day. But even the ease of a non-packed restaurant wasn’t enough to keep me at Chili’s for the full game. There are better deals to be had than their infamous two-for-one (consisting of two eight-ounce drinks poured into one 16-ounce cup).

For example, Bar Knoxville boasted $5 “Big Gulps” on a banner hanging outside.

New Amsterdam even faced two of their flat screens out toward the Strip for a few patio viewers and passers-by.

Half Barrel, with their 30-plus draft beer onslaught, threw their doors open wide. Yet a peek inside showed plenty of open tables.

I know the game was at noon, but this is unacceptable on game day.

Come halftime, the Big Orange fan base finally starting pouring down the slight incline of the Strip, filling the bars. And one spot that didn’t drop the ball was the Roaming Gnome.

The Gnome takes game day seriously.

Formerly Charlie Pepper’s, the Gnome shouldn’t be confused with its earlier incarnation. There’s a new name, and even though it’s a familiar venue, it’s looking different these days. It’s looking better. The darker interior adds more atmosphere and gives a classier feel. They’ve decked the place out with TVs, even including personal ones at many tables.

And with the Gnome’s $4 32-ounce Miller Light deal, you know they mean business.

For the second half of the game UT fans at the Gnome hovered around tables, chatting loudly and enjoying the game. Watching the vicious pounding the Volunteers gave Western Kentucky from the comfort of my own table, generous-sized chilled beer in front of me, I became optimistic of the season to come.

Missing an experience like this would be a mistake.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
Want to use this article? Click here for options!