Questions about our visit to TN in Nov. (Greeneville, Mountain City: home, theatres)

[Tennesseebound2009]

Thanks to rccrain and Kamoshika for the suggestions about Japanese style dining. We'll check out those places.

[jabogitlu]

Misaki??? Never even heard of this one. Where be it? I wanna try it out!

[dcommander]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Misaki??? Never even heard of this one. Where be it? I wanna try it out!

It's in the corner of the Food Lion shopping center on Bristol Hwy.

[Myheartbelongstotn]

Jonesborugh/Johnson City is my home town; I have been gone since 1997, but return every year to vacation in Gatlinburg and visit family in Erwin. You will love it. You can take the girl out of TN, but you cannot take the TN out of the girl. Eat Bar B Que while in Johnson City at Firehouse Bar B Que! The best!

[Tennesseebound2009]

To Myheartbelongstotn

Thanks for your thoughts. I will definitely try Bar B Que while there at the Firehouse. My dad is from Morristown, so I have some roots near the area. We visited family during summers, but they are all gone now. My dad moved away to go to the big city. I want to move back to get AWAY from the big city! Funny, huh? : )

[DivotMaker]

Jonesborough is a very neat town, with some historic buildings and history. It is very close to Johsnon City. Johnson City contains all of the major chains for food, WalMarts, Target,Kohls,etc.....

Mountain City is very remote area. It does have the mountain roads, but I think it is a higher elevation and could be problems driving from December though about March. It contains a few businesses (Mc'd's, Burger King, Hardees. The downtown area is about 8 businesses (small)

Elizabethton is kind of growing. It is part of Carter County, and a year or 2 ago they passed a liquor law that allows resteraunts to sell alchohol, so a few more chain resteraunts are starting to go in there.

Elizabethon and Mtn. City is close to Watauga Lake. Watauaga Lake is one of the prettiest lakes around. It is 4th cleanest lake in U.S. Also the town of Butler is next to Mtn. City, which is located on Watauga Lake. There are only a couple of businesses in Butler (no chain resteraunts or franchises).

[SarahSal]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Mountain City is an entirely different beast to the rest of the Tri-Cities area. It is a good long drive on twisty roads, at times rather mountainous (some of us are used to them, you might be, too) to get to any other cities in the area. As it is positioned, it's faster to go to Boone NC than it is to Johnson City. So that one is a bit remote, if that's your cup of tea.

Having lived there for almost 20 years, Mountain City is quite beautiful but as Jab said, it IS very remote although it is only 30-45 minutes from Boone, NC which is a vibrant, busy college town. I suspect there're some good land deals right now in MC but I'd also look in areas like Limestone (where we now live), Telford, Greeneville and Piney Flats. All in all, it's a lovely area with lots of new folks moving here for the low(er) taxes, incredible scenery and very competitive home prices..

[younglisa7]

Originally Posted by Tennesseebound2009

Hi,
I have just found your great forum about the Eastern Tennessee area my husband I are going to visit next month. Thank you for all the great pictures that have been posted. It truly gives us a perspective on how beautiful that area is.
We are looking to find retirement property there and I am wondering how the first few weeks in Nov. are as far as weather. Would someone tell me what I should pack as far as clothing?
My family roots run deep in that area as my father's families settled there way back in late 1700's. I guess things run full circle as now I am hoping to settle back there again.
The world does go round and round............
I would appreciate any information about the areas around Johnson City, Elizabethton, and Mountain City, Piney Flats area. Thank you for any help, advice or suggestions anyone wants to give.

What town will you be staying in? How long are you coming for? The higher the elevation the biggest potential you have for colder weather and snow.

Here are some local elevations.
Johnson City-1635
Elizabethton- 1560
Mountain City- 2429
Trade- 3120
Boone- 3266

For year round living you also need to decide which you like better. Personally I don't do well with heat and humidity so my husband and I are in the mountains. Winters have gotten more mild over the years, except for this year and it's our first year back here, LOL. We had some snow this morning, it is still on the ground, and we are supposed to get some more tonight. It will all be gone by Thursday.

I would bring clothes that you can layer and if you plan on spending any time outside in the higher elevations you might want gloves.

My husband and I are "off grid" and we are producing our own power but I found the electric rates for Mountain Electric.
http://www.mountainelectric.com/RateSummarySchedule.pdf

Mountain City is really making an effort to grow. They are working on a new highway to go to VA. The prices in this area are not cheap. I call it "Boone itis" (Boone, NC is a University and Vacation Town and the prices there are high). Mountain City is about 30 minutes to Boone. It is still cheaper to live in TN and people from the NC side are finding this out. Homes are still reasonable but land is really high.

There is a Japanese Restaurant in Boone. I think it is Makoto's.

Have a great trip. My husband and I love this area. I'm sure you will find the perfect place for "you".

Lisa

[jabogitlu]

I really hope Mtn City never grows *too* much. I'd hate to see it Booneized. It's perfect how it is. Of course, that's my perspective, visiting there and then getting to come home to Johnson City where I have everything at my fingertips or a short drive away. (Actually, since I live on the south side lots of things are a short bike ride away!)

[younglisa7]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I really hope Mtn City never grows *too* much. I'd hate to see it Booneized. It's perfect how it is. Of course, that's my perspective, visiting there and then getting to come home to Johnson City where I have everything at my fingertips or a short drive away. (Actually, since I live on the south side lots of things are a short bike ride away!)

Yeah. I really like Mountain City the way it is. There have been some improvements over the years but I would hate to see the population boom.
It's a great location to so many different places.

Lisa