HELP -- I need info on Tennessee!!! (Knoxville, Maryville: house, school)

[Gingersgal77]

Happy Holiday week everyone. My husband and I are in desperate need of a few good samaritans who will provide us with information about the Tennessee-area. I am a coal miner's daughter from Southern WV and my husband is from both WV and Nebraska. He has been in the military for 19.5 years and we are stationed in Northern Virginia near Washington DC. Let me tell you--I HATE IT HERE and have lived in this for 8 years. I miss the country. He retires in the summer and we just can't decide if we want to move back home or try something new and move to Tennessee.

What we both want is to get a decent amount of land and either build a house on it or hopefully find the kind of house on land already. I do not want to be stuck in a subdivision. I need the country. I want to hunt, fish and the things I did growing up in WV. We are currently leaning more towards WV becuase of the mines and logging roads--I can hop on my 4-wheeler and have the freedom to venture on all the many man-built roads/trails in the mountains. I can also hunt many areas that I don't think you can in TN. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but are there places where one can easily get muddy on their 4-wheeler in the mountains without it being a regulated state park and/or privately owned? Do you have sufficient logging roads, etc...that are free to the public (more or less)? If so, where would these be located?

I know Tennessee has more to offer in the aspect of parks, nightlife, etc.--that too is tantalizing to me and I love to country dance so I know there are lots of bars catering to that there. I love the mountains and would like to be near them. Tennessee mountains are beautiful and huge, but they are either there or not. I am used to mountains (much smaller) being all over me--I grew up in "hollers" for those of you who know what that is. I have to be near the mountains. We have a dilema because my husband's job after he retires from the Marines will allow him to telecommute to DC. We can basically live where we want to. It's a matter of what is best suited for us.

We like the Johnson-city area and/or the country parts of outside of Knoxville-area (mountaineous/hilly-parts). I hope nobody takes offense to this but when we visited Maryville we saw entirely too many "hippies" and that is certainly something I don't want to settle around. That is my preference. I want to be back with down-home country people. Who are nice and don't shun military folks like they do out here in DC.

If you could provide any help whatsoever I would appreciate it very much. It's scary as we are having our first baby in March, selling our home and retiring this summer and having to move and we are unsure of what is best for us.

Thank you so much!
-E

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by Gingersgal77

Happy Holiday week everyone. My husband and I are in desperate need of a few good samaritans who will provide us with information about the Tennessee-area. I am a coal miner's daughter from Southern WV and my husband is from both WV and Nebraska. He has been in the military for 19.5 years and we are stationed in Northern Virginia near Washington DC. Let me tell you--I HATE IT HERE and have lived in this for 8 years. I miss the country. He retires in the summer and we just can't decide if we want to move back home or try something new and move to Tennessee.

What we both want is to get a decent amount of land and either build a house on it or hopefully find the kind of house on land already. I do not want to be stuck in a subdivision. I need the country. I want to hunt, fish and the things I did growing up in WV. We are currently leaning more towards WV becuase of the mines and logging roads--I can hop on my 4-wheeler and have the freedom to venture on all the many man-built roads/trails in the mountains. I can also hunt many areas that I don't think you can in TN. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but are there places where one can easily get muddy on their 4-wheeler in the mountains without it being a regulated state park and/or privately owned? Do you have sufficient logging roads, etc...that are free to the public (more or less)? If so, where would these be located?

I know Tennessee has more to offer in the aspect of parks, nightlife, etc.--that too is tantalizing to me and I love to country dance so I know there are lots of bars catering to that there. I love the mountains and would like to be near them. Tennessee mountains are beautiful and huge, but they are either there or not. I am used to mountains (much smaller) being all over me--I grew up in "hollers" for those of you who know what that is. I have to be near the mountains. We have a dilema because my husband's job after he retires from the Marines will allow him to telecommute to DC. We can basically live where we want to. It's a matter of what is best suited for us.

We like the Johnson-city area and/or the country parts of outside of Knoxville-area (mountaineous/hilly-parts). I hope nobody takes offense to this but when we visited Maryville we saw entirely too many "hippies" and that is certainly something I don't want to settle around. That is my preference. I want to be back with down-home country people. Who are nice and don't shun military folks like they do out here in DC.

If you could provide any help whatsoever I would appreciate it very much. It's scary as we are having our first baby in March, selling our home and retiring this summer and having to move and we are unsure of what is best for us.

Thank you so much!
-E

Based on your post and your wishes and wants I think you should continue settling in your native West Virginia.

[Gingersgal77]

Thank you for reading my post and taking the time to respond. The problem is I have certainty about WV--I know what to expect. I know the +'s and -'s. I don't of Tennessee and I know TN has a lot to offer as well, possibly even more than home. We can't make a decision until we learn more about TN and we are not able to spend a significant amount of time down there to see for ourselves. My friend and I took a trip last March to Gatlinburg, Knoxville, Nashville, etc and talked to people but really didn't get much information. I was hoping to find ample info on here. I believe talking to natives is the best solution.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by Gingersgal77

Thank you for reading my post and taking the time to respond. The problem is I have certainty about WV--I know what to expect. I know the +'s and -'s. I don't of Tennessee and I know TN has a lot to offer as well, possibly even more than home. We can't make a decision until we learn more about TN and we are not able to spend a significant amount of time down there to see for ourselves. My friend and I took a trip last March to Gatlinburg, Knoxville, Nashville, etc and talked to people but really didn't get much information. I was hoping to find ample info on here. I believe talking to natives is the best solution.

I understand and I am a TN native. You might want to take sometime perusing previous posts. The board is a little slow right now due to the holidays.

[gtice]

I would suggest you check out the Ashville area of North Carolina as well.

[SPLIT]

G.G.: We drove thru S.W. W.Va this AUg and saw a area you should at least read about. Hatfield-McCoy Trails Official Web Site- Home Page The HatField McCoy ATV network , looked quite impressive. Also that lower KY ( CUmberland GAP) area pretty.
. If you still need / wish over the TENN bordor FROZEN Head & Big South Fork is sort of remote mtn terrain.

[BST]

You might try Morgan County, Scott County, Campbell County or Claiborne County - all in the Cumberland Mountain range and all with rural towns/outdoor activities. Cities to search include: Oneida, Huntsville, Wartburg, Petros, Jacksboro, LaFollette, Jellico, Tazewell or Harrogate

Asheville NC is beautiful, but has way more hippies than Maryville ever thought of.

[creeksitter]

Whaaat?! These people don't like hippies and you are sending them to Asheville?? Surely you Jest.

It does seem that WV has all the OP is looking for. You might not have time/energy for dancing, etc after the baby is born and it will be good to be surrounded by voluntary babysitters.

[Gingersgal77]

Originally Posted by gtice

I would suggest you check out the Ashville area of North Carolina as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, but Asheville, NC Is way out of what we are looking for. I actually drove the 7 hours down there this past February to hear a good Bluegrass band and to check out the area as it was on our list of possible places to move. Not to be rude, but living in the DC-area I thought I had my fair share of hippy-types--Asheville tops anything I have ever seen. Perhaps comparable to my husband's experiences in California while stationed there. I do not want to judge a group of people on how I was treated by them for being a military wife, but after talking to true natives there--the school and their somewhat "radical views" have infultrated the area, and Asheville is rated one of the most liberal places to live. From my experiences people that liberal tend to preach tolerance, yet don't accept someone who is not like them. I am tolerate and open-minded, but I do not tolerate someone who does not tolerate my views and my husband's valor. I'm afraid I would be more miserable there than I am in DC.

On a good note--it was dissapointing because Asheville is absolutely beautiful. When we drove through Cherokee I felt it was even prettier than Colorado or the Alps in Austria/Germany. By far some of the prettiest mountains I have ever seen.

Originally Posted by SPLIT

G.G.: We drove thru S.W. W.Va this AUg and saw a area you should at least read about. Hatfield-McCoy Trails Official Web Site- Home Page The HatField McCoy ATV network , looked quite impressive. Also that lower KY ( CUmberland GAP) area pretty.
. If you still need / wish over the TENN bordor FROZEN Head & Big South Fork is sort of remote mtn terrain.

NICE--I love that trail. It was actually in my backyard (I'm from Boone Co.). I'm glad you got to see and/or experience it. Thank you so much for the info--I'll let my better half know so he can do the researching those areas.

Originally Posted by BST

You might try Morgan County, Scott County, Campbell County or Claiborne County - all in the Cumberland Mountain range and all with rural towns/outdoor activities. Cities to search include: Oneida, Huntsville, Wartburg, Petros, Jacksboro, LaFollette, Jellico, Tazewell or Harrogate

Asheville NC is beautiful, but has way more hippies than Maryville ever thought of.

Thank you for the information. Yes, I actually visited Asheville this year to check it out and when they found out my hubby was deployed overseas I was snubbed and they started blurting out their radical views while my best friend and I tried enjoying the band ...that was enough for me. I had/have no problem with someone being against war or even not liking military--but to blurt that stuff out just to be rude or force their opinions on me while my husband was deployed was enough for me to be disgusted.

It's a shame too because it is so pretty there and the natives are good, friendly, people like all of my other experiences in Eastern TN/NC.

Originally Posted by creeksitter

Whaaat?! These people don't like hippies and you are sending them to Asheville?? Surely you Jest.

It does seem that WV has all the OP is looking for. You might not have time/energy for dancing, etc after the baby is born and it will be good to be surrounded by voluntary babysitters.

Thank you for your advice--that's what I need. I just need to hear what others think about my situation and such and possibly advice on good areas in TN.

By the way--my mama couldn't agree with you more on the babysitting front! (C:

[hiknapster]

Hippies in Maryville. Bwahaha!