Must See and Must Do things to do around the Tri-Cities (Johnson City: store, suburban)

[solali]

Food:
Corean Tacos great tacos and amazing kim shi soup!
The Battery best brunches ever on Sunday! (starts at 11 am)
Mediteranean restaurant between JC and Johnsborough great food and atmosphere!
Magic Wok in JC amazing orange chicken, duck.
Mexican restaurant near Kroger is great!

Things to do, see, listen...

Every first Friday of the month the gallery's walk downtown JC
Plenty of lectures at ETSU and art shows, concert etc
Calendar of Events

And thanks to the Mary B Martin School of Art plenty of amazing artist, musician dancer and scholars with national and international career.
MBM Arts

Gray Fossil Site Museum beside the museum exhibition, there is regularly very interesting lectures, an archeology camp for kid but also if you dream to clean fossils and discover them there is volunteer opportunity.
Natural History Museum

The hands on museum downtown JC.

In Jonesborough there is the center for story telling. they have a great program too and a week end festival.

There is plenty of great hikes around here. Laurel Fork, Roan Mountain, the lakes...

The Bright Zoo pass Jonesborough

The Acoustic Cafe on W. walnuts st in JC

And plenty more in the near by region Asheville, Arromont School of kraft, Black Mountain College electroacoustic event, Boones ceramist galleries walks.

[queenladybug817]

I have also heard that the Magic Wok is fantastic Chinese food and that came from Chinese students we know at ETSU. I would take that review pretty highly. I need to find time to go try it.

Finally got a chance to eat at Peerless over the weekend with family visiting from out of town. I'm not going to go all crazy and call it a 5 star restaurant by any means, but it was good. My steak was well seasoned and quite tender. My mom and aunt were not super hungry (as we had a big lunch earlier), so they got the prime rib sliders appetizers as their meal and they RAVED over those. I can't remember what my sister got, but she enjoyed it too. It's a very pretty and somewhat classy looking place, so I have no problem going back or taking other visiting family and friends for a slightly upscale (ish) dinner out.

And I almost forgot that we also really like the Firehouse BBQ place down by ETSU. Nothing fancy at all, but the food is good and we love the whole theme thing they have there. My husband and I have taken both of our parents there when they've visited.

I also know that some people feel our shopping options here are somewhat substandard, but my mom would vehemently disagree. She comes from a pretty rural area in KY and adores coming to visit me because of the numerous stores we have in JC. My dad isn't pleased with the hit to his wallet when she gets all shop crazy down here, but it makes her happy. She's been here two weekends in a row now and I've chauffeured her all over town going to different stores.

[DaveinMtAiry]

Originally Posted by solali

Food:
Corean Tacos great tacos and amazing kim shi soup!
The Battery best brunches ever on Sunday! (starts at 11 am)
Mediteranean restaurant between JC and Johnsborough great food and atmosphere!
Magic Wok in JC amazing orange chicken, duck.
Mexican restaurant near Kroger is great!

Things to do, see, listen...

Every first Friday of the month the gallery's walk downtown JC
Plenty of lectures at ETSU and art shows, concert etc
Calendar of Events

And thanks to the Mary B Martin School of Art plenty of amazing artist, musician dancer and scholars with national and international career.
MBM Arts

Gray Fossil Site Museum beside the museum exhibition, there is regularly very interesting lectures, an archeology camp for kid but also if you dream to clean fossils and discover them there is volunteer opportunity.
Natural History Museum

The hands on museum downtown JC.

In Jonesborough there is the center for story telling. they have a great program too and a week end festival.

There is plenty of great hikes around here. Laurel Fork, Roan Mountain, the lakes...

The Bright Zoo pass Jonesborough

The Acoustic Cafe on W. walnuts st in JC

And plenty more in the near by region Asheville, Arromont School of kraft, Black Mountain College electroacoustic event, Boones ceramist galleries walks.

This is a great list, thanks. I may be coming down again, with the wife, in a few months and I'll reference this. There is a pizza shop on North Roan, on the right as you headed north. Know the one? Highly recommend this place.

Is the park in downtown JC complete and did they remove many of the old ugly warehouses?

[jabogitlu]

Dave, are you talking about Greg's Pizza? One of the most highly rated places in JC. There are probably many pizza shops on North Roan, but this one stands out.

I was home a few weeks ago and the downtown park is getting there -- not yet complete. I'd say give those guys a few good weeks of sunny weather and it'll be beautiful. Most of the old warehouses are gone. Now if they can get the other old railroad station redeveloped, that corner of downtown will be "banging." The city is also buying Kelly Foods and tearing that down to daylight more of the creek. This is beside Founder's Park, headed sorta westish/northish on State of Franklin.

I also went to ETSU to look at their new quad (in front of Brooks Gym / Ball Hall). It looks fantastic. What a HUGE difference to campus! They redeveloped road access and parking lots into greenspace. http://www.etsu.edu/greenspace/docum..._site_plan.pdf

[DaveinMtAiry]

No the spot I was talking about was Scratch Brick Oven Pizza. Thanks for the park update, we may delay our trip a few weeks so we can see the final product.

[queenladybug817]

Wow, I almost forgot about Scratch. What a weird place, but it works! Still open and the pizza is fantastic. I almost couldn't convince the family to try it, but looks are deceiving.

The weather has been a little bit of a rollercoaster this last couple of months, so it may take more than a couple of weeks for them to get a stretch sunny weather. (It's snowing right now, with an inch of accumulation.)

The quad does look amazing. Wish they'd get that parking garage area finished finally though. What a mess!

[DaveinMtAiry]

I know, it's snowing right now in Maryland too. I love snow but come on now.

Yeah I think I'll wait until May for the trip.

[queenladybug817]

Anyone that is into motorcycles and even car cruising, should check out the Southern Dozen.
Southern Dozen

12 rides starting in JC that are day trips around the region to some interesting places. The website is geared to motorcyclists, but nothing says these can't be done with the family in the car.

[TNGal78]

Favorite restaurants (some are chains/some not):

Lonestar Steakhouse in Elizabethton has the best ribeye I have ever had.
Wok and Hibachi, Johnson City
Yong Asian Restaurant in Gray
Moto's Japanese (several locations)
Braden's BBQ, Kingsport
Pratt's BBQ, Kingsport
Riverfront Seafood, Kingsport
Fatz, Kingsport
Marble Slab
Sweet Frog
Rita's Italian Ice, Johnson City (yummm)
Pardner's in Bluff City,TN
Seaver's or Krispy Kreme Donuts, especially when the "hot and ready" sign is on!




Things to do and see:

Gray Fossil Site in Gray, TN (they have a free walk-through exhibit area plus pay activities)

Hands On Museum in Johnson City (for kids)

Duck Island / Warrior's Path park boundless playground, Kingsport (Picnic shelters available, creek, walking path, paddle boats, marina, boat loading ramp, lake, etc)

Bays Mountain Park and Planetarium (Nature Center, Planetarium, boat ride, hiking, nature shows, exhibits,picnic tables, adventure rope course, living history museum)

Eastman Picnic Area (if you work at Eastman or know someone who does, this is a great place to reserve a shelter and they have a nice playground and creek, very shady in the hot summer months!)

Steele Springs Park in Bristol, TN has a nice playground, shelters, creek, lake, paddle boats, nature center, walking trail, and small train to ride.

Natural Tunnel State Park in Virginia. Just a short drive from the tri-cities and it is BEAUTIFUL! Take a chair lift or hike to the bottom of the tunnel, see a cabin replica, they have a huge swimming pool , picnic area, cabins and campground,gift store, and also a natural history museum fort just down past the picnic shelters.


Kingsport Aquatic center has year round swimming indoors and a water park outside in the summer.

Wetlands Water Park in Jonesborough is awesome in the summer.

Boone Dam has a little beach/swimming area......but it can be VERY crowded in the summer.

Fort Henry Dam actually has a picnic table behind the welcome center , down a little path. It's nice if you just want to walk down and look at the Dam but it is often occupied by people fishing.

Fender's Farm in Jonesborough has an awesome l corn maze, small animals, jumping pillow, playground, and haunted barn in the fall.

Jonesborough and Bluff City have flea markets on Sundays (not sure about Saturdays)

Allandale Mansion, Kingsport has tours and has a yearly car show.

Netherland Inn, Kingsport has tours and has Riverfront Park across the road which has a walking trail, playground, swinging bridge, and picnic area.

Another fun activity is Geocaching. We do it with the kids. There are tons of caches hidden in the Tri-Cities area. Go to Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site and search by zip code. You will need a hiking GPS or a smart phone that does the GPS all the way down to "feet" measurements. It is free unless you want to pay for a yearly premium membership for 10 bucks (recommend!).



Some of the local marinas rent boats. I know Rockingham Marina does.

Of course you have your local yearly festivals : Fun Fest , Blue Plum, etc....





That's all I can think of for now.......I will add more later if I think of anything else.

[queenladybug817]

Psstt...TNGal...I'm a geocacher too! Since 2006.

Actually, so is my husband and all the kids. My husband and I met through geocaching. I know there is/was a group around here, but we haven't been to any events yet.