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This may seem like a strange request but I am looking for a home in the area where I will not hear the Tweetsie whistle. My general preference is to stay at least 2 miles from train crossings but I know that sound can carry in wild ways in the mountains. It sounds like the whistle carries even further than I may have been planning for: Boone to Blowing Rock and out to Valle Crucis as noted in this article: https://www.highcountrync.com/hcnc/t...bace43670.html
For those of you who live there or visit there often....
- Which areas should I be considering where I will NEVER hear that whistle.
- Which areas may be worth a look because I will only hear it a few times a season when the weather conditions are right
- Do I need to go all the way to Banner Elk? It's OK, if that's what we have to do. I like Banner Elk but also liked the idea of being close-ish to Moses Cone and Julian Price parks.
Please don't tell me that I will get used to it. Been there, done that, never got used to it, won't live near a rail crossing again if I have any control over the matter.
Other preferences: No more than 20-25 minutes to a nice grocery store, commutable to Boone (30 minutes max?) if necessary, relative ease of access in the winter, broadband internet availability
We have a house in Boone and I've been going to the mountains for 30 yrs around there and I have never noticed the whistle from Tweetsie. I really think this is a non-issue. Maybe just don't live right at it?
We have a second home north of Boone as well and I agree with poppydog. I’ve never noticed it from Boone or Blowing Rock. I don’t think I’ve heard it from the outlet mall and I’ve spent a fair amount of time on the “husbands bench” there.
I have a friend with a place off Payne’s branch road and you can’t hear it inside his house.
I’d be really shocked if you could hear it all the way in Valle Crucis. Maybe if the wind was dead calm but I doubt it.
You might look up N.C. 194 towards Todd. I’m 15 minutes from New Market Square and love my location.
Last edited by Raleighmark; 04-07-2020 at 08:10 PM..
Thanks Raleighmark and poppydog. I know that we need to visit up there a little bit more when Tweetsie is "in season".... We sat outside at dinner one night with friends and I lost focus due to the train horns in the background. A few minutes later, I asked if that had bothered them. They had no recollection of hearing them. So, I might be more sensitive.... The specific locations that you mentioned are REALLY helpful, Raleighmark. If either of you can think of any places where you HAVE heard them that would be helpful too....
Heading up 194 did look interesting....good to hear you like it out that way!
Seriously, I have never ever noticed it. At all. It may be that I am not sensitive to it. I do hear trains at my home in Chapel Hill sometimes, but they are off in the distance and I kind of like it. The train tracks are about half a mile to a mile from my house here in Chapel Hill and they only run once or twice a week. I really have never heard it in Boone, but our house there is kind of down in a holler next to a creek so pretty much we just hear the creek at home there. Sound travels differently in the mountains.
Seriously, I have never ever noticed it. At all. It may be that I am not sensitive to it. I do hear trains at my home in Chapel Hill sometimes, but they are off in the distance and I kind of like it. The train tracks are about half a mile to a mile from my house here in Chapel Hill and they only run once or twice a week. I really have never heard it in Boone, but our house there is kind of down in a holler next to a creek so pretty much we just hear the creek at home there. Sound travels differently in the mountains.
Thanks. That helps! Especially knowing that you hear them at home in Chapel Hill... I could probably tolerate them a mile away once or twice a week!
I know Banner Elk. Tell me what you love about Linville? How close is the nearest grocery store?
From my limited knowledge (we shop the Lowe's Tynecastle, and Food Lion in Banner Elk) the only other stores close to Linville would be the Ingles in Newland. There are several seasonal markets that open for a produce selection in the area.
I would like to digress a moment regarding grocery stores. When I was growing up pre-teen years, we only had one car and limited resources. My Mother would make a shopping list and trips to the grocery store happened once a week, sometimes less.
For the past several decades we have grown accustomed to trips to the grocery store on a more frequent basis.
The latest pandemic has brought back the weekly or less visits for a vast majority of families. Long range planning has returned to the menus and shopping habits for most of us. I actually welcome such a return and appreciate that singular effect of the pandemic, hoping it will last into at least the near future and possibly continue for many families as a staple of their planning going forward.
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