College Campuses Not The Party Places During Christmas Holidays

The UT Strip, Among Other University Bar Areas, Are Quiet During The Holidays

You can roll a bowling ball down Cumberland Ave., in Knoxville TN, this time of the year.

This normally busy area is known as “the Strip” at the University of Tennessee, and its three blocks of bars make for lively nights much of the year.

But not this time of the year.

Even at a big school like UT – 30,000+ enrollment – the students are spending their Christmas break off campus with their families.

The normally bustling street is deserted. The bars are empty, except for a table or two of people who may be grabbing a bite to eat and a beer before or after a UT basketball game. You can drive up and down the street slowed not by pedestrians but only stop lights.

I went shopping on Christmas Eve Eve on the UT campus and – while people were complaining about traffic and people at the malls – had no problem parking and encountered only a couple dozen others who were in the Vols shops. I even included a little campus sightseeing – and learned half the campus is under construction.

This lack of crowds is the same at college campuses across America.

So if you want a table to watch sports at the many TVs of the Half Barrel without waiting, or get some of the best pizza you’ve ever had at Stefano’s – the Bar Blogger remembers Stefano’s from high school and it’s mind-blowing awesome to this day – or see the inside of of any hot college bar (like the Houndstooth sports bar in Tuscaloosa), now is the time to do it.