Thoughts about Tennessee
We have found that there are 3 distinct regions of Tennessee- at least according to geography and Tennesseans: West, Central and Eastern—and that is why there are 3 stars on the Tennessee flag!
This is informational, so pics are at the end- sorry!
We prefer the eastern part, where you have AMAZING views of the mountains, and there are so many rivers and lakes- if we move here, we may need to get a boat!
Aside from having plenty of rain and water, and everything being green (except the dirt, which is red), there are other differences from Cali that stand out:
Topography- Tennessee is VERY hilly! There are hills everywhere, so you sometimes feel like you are on a roller coaster as you drive up and down- and you sometimes don’t see the road until you get to the top of a hill!
Roads- Driving here is an adventure as the roads are VERY narrow, most don’t have a shoulder, and you are often driving on the side of a hill- so a mistake could have dire consequences, or at least cause the need for a tow truck because getting back on the road will be difficult without 4-wheel drive. Turning around can be hard because of the narrow roads, too. Roads are also VERY curvy, often with blind curves, so you have to be careful! Residential roads are barely wide enough for 2 cars to pass each other- so you don’t park on the street, because you would be blocking a whole lane. Driving on the highway (called the Interstate here) is different because the on ramps are very flat (not banked), and the merge lane is usually short, often with cars trying to get off the interstate at the same time you are trying to get on! Also, there is no real lead up that there is an off ramp, with the botts-dots and the white line to indicate it’s coming and it curves onto the off-ramp- it just sort of appears!
Drivers- Drivers here seem to drive like they own the whole road- often driving in their lane, and your lane too! My friend Alice was told that they teach people to drive in the middle of the road, and then to get over into their lane when another car comes- CRAZY, but it seems to be true from what we saw.
Landscape- BEAUTIFUL! Tennessee gets a lot of rain (about 55 inches/year), so everything is green, it is full of trees except where they have been cleared for farming or towns. The mountains are gorgeous, although they are lower than the mountains we are used to in California.
People- The people are VERY friendly, call you sir or ma’am, Honey, Hon or Darlin’, and wave at you when you drive by. We have met some very nice people, and are happy to say they have been very helpful.
Restaurants- It’s hard to find good Mexican food here- not really a surprise. Barbecue is everywhere, and there are a variety of types of BBQ sauce, from tomato based to vinegar based, sweet, spicy, etc. And Barbecue is usually either brisket (beef), chopped/pulled pork, or ribs. To me, it’s all about the sauce… Cole slaw also has 2 styles, one vinegar based and the other mayo based. One thing that is soooo interesting- in restaurants you can get a TO GO cup for your soda when you are getting ready to leave- how cool is that?! And there are 2 kinds of iced tea- unsweetened or sweet- and boy is it sweet! Restaurants are cold- they keep the AC cranked up due to the humidity, so keeping a light sweater handy is a good idea if you get cold easily.
Weather- I know this is really what you want to know about- we have had pouring rain, and bright sunny skies. Temperatures have ranged from mid-60’s to high-90’s, and humidity has ranged from mid-30% to 89%. It is usually more humid early in the morning, but it is cooler then, so you don’t really feel it. We have had 3-4 days of hot humid weather (one was our hike), and I think it is livable- just don’t do anything strenuous outside on those days! The shade is VERY helpful and seems to be a lot cooler on those hot days.
Real estate prices- If you are selling a house in LA, OC, the bay area, or any other high- cost area, you would be very happy with the prices here. If you are from Bakersfield, Fresno, or anywhere else where real estate is not insane, the prices here are pretty comparable, although they do vary from town to town, city to city, region to region. Tourist areas like Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, and larger cities like Knoxville, Nashville, and others tend to be more expensive. Smaller cities have lower prices, but the idea of buying a couple of acres for $20K is a dream and highly unlikely! Lots that we have liked (which are flat so we wouldn’t have to deal with stairs) range from 1/3 for $40K, 1.6 acres fir $50K, to 2/3 acre for $82K, —it all depends on location and the accessibility of the utilities. If you don’t mind having a multi-level house on a steep hillside, where the entry is on one level and the garage and basement are down the hill, then land is plentiful and cheaper. See some of the pictures from previous blog entries to see what I mean.
Wildlife- We have seen a lot of wildlife- although no bears, which is good or bad, depending on your point of view. What have we seen? Deer, wild turkeys, a groundhog, llamas, butterflies and bunnies (you have seen most of the pics before, but here are a couple you didn’t see:
We really stayed away from the big cities, like Memphis (high crime), Nashville and Knoxville, because we wanted to focus on smaller cities and finding land we could build on. We did look at a couple open houses, and found a very nice one,- just under 2000 square feet for $500,00. A lot of the existing homes at good prices are in desperate need of updates, but if you get a good deal. you can use the extra money can be used for those updates.
Now on to South Carolina and Kentucky….