Questions about our visit to TN in Nov. (Johnson City, Kingsport: house, schools)

[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.

[mbmouse]

Hello and Welcome to the forum! Hope we can help answer you questions.
I moved your post to your own thread so it won't get lost in another. I think you will get a lot more answers and opinions this way.
As for clothing in Nov....well, it kind depends where you are coming from hahahhaa. If you are coming from AZ or FL, you may want to pack for looking like an Eskimo but if you are coming from MI or VT, you may want a light wind breaker.
I would say average temps in Mid Nov would be a range of about 30's at night and up to high 60's during the day.
What kind of info about those areas are you looking for? Water ways, hiking, shoping, housing, schools????

[Tennesseebound2009]

Thank you for your reply. I'm just finding my way around this forum, so your help is appreciated. We're coming from the West Coast, so guess I should pack all the winter things!! We live in a smaller city now, and actually just moved down from our own local mountains where it was a 60 min. drive to town for "big" shopping.

I am most interested in finding a place for us to settle in that has some breathing room, some acreage, not a huge amount but 5-15 acres. We want to find a town that is friendly, has some shopping for groceries, hardware, some restaurants, and another larger town within 30-45 min or so that has major stores where we can shop for larger ticket items.

We like Elizabethton and the surrounding areas, plus Mountain City area. We are not worried about schools, as the kids are grown. I am a retired teacher, and may be tempted to go back and substitute once in a while. But not for a while.

I would like to look into the local crafts and appreciated the post I read about Sycamore Shoals classes. If there are other places that do that, I'd like to know.

Any realtors you'd recommend to contact to show us around when we visit?
Places or areas to stay away from, or places we should go see for property other than what I've mentioned.

Thanks, I think I've asked way to many questions .....sorry. Any answers to them are appreciated.

[mbmouse]

Well, several places around this area come to mind. Elizabethton and Cater County areas would be good. Also look at Limestone, Chucky, Afton, Telford, Sulpher Springs, which are on the opposite (west) side of Johnson City. All can be within a 30 minute drive to large shopping areas but feel like you are out in the middle of nowhere in farm country...well because a lot of those areas ARE farms. The reason I mentioned those are because they are closer to several different school systems if you do want to sub later and they are an easy commute to ETSU and North East State where you can audit classes. They also put you in easier commute ranges to all the Tri-Cities such as Kingsport and Bristol.
There is also Bluntville and Bluff City that are also very centrally located but far enough out of main cities that you can find that amount of land fairly easily.
As for Realtors, there are a few right here on the forum that have been great about giving local info. Search through the threads and look for the little house icon next to their names and then send them a DM (direct message, which you can find in the top right hand corner under your screen name and welcome message.) They are not allowed to advertise on here, we just aren't that kind of forum, that is why I am not giving out there names but they are good people.
There are LOTS of local craft shops around and in the spring and summer there are fairs and festivals all over the place!

[Tennesseebound2009]

Thanks so much for all the information. We will definitely check out those areas. And I will look for that house icon to direct me to some realtors, I appreciate that tip.

We are so looking forward to calling that area HOME !
Thanks !

[mbmouse]

Any time. There are lots of great folks on these forums who are only to happy to talk about the areas they love and why.
Feel free to ask any questions as they come up.
Oh, the most important thing to remember when you come for a visit is you camera and a note book! That way you can give us a trip report when your trip is over, we love getting others opinions and perceptions of the area, good or bad.

[pineywoods]

Tennesseebound, I DM'd you about Piney Flats. Enjoy your visit!

[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.

[Tennesseebound2009]

Thanks for the insight on Mountain City. Actually we are used to mountain roads as we lived near Yosemite National Park in CA until just recently. Lots of small twisty roads around there.
We will just have to visit and find out for ourselves what area we love the best.
We can't wait. We are staying in Johnson City during our visit. Any good Teppan Yaki restaurants around there?

Any area we should stay away from?
Thanks for your post. We appreciate the information

[Tennesseebound2009]

I will definitely bring the camera and post my thoughts after our trip. Thanks.