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I do smoke my own meats once a month though, ribs, brisket, pork shoulder.
Us too! Love smoking with pecan wood, and using a cup or two of some strong black coffee when we wrap up our briskets. They turn out really good that way.
Some pretty good BBQ places here in Erwin / Unicoi like Burn Out BBQ (car shows too) and Whistle Stop Deli on Saturdays. Good ribs, brisket and pies.
Hoping you’re not turned off by Erwin too much. For everything that it lacks (amenity wise) it more than makes up for with the people that call it home and it’s location in the mountains. Such a great community.
I personally think it’s the perfect place for a car enthusiast to call home, with beautiful wide open highways through the mountain peaks and winding back country roads to enjoy. Hardly any traffic too which is a plus.
Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 11-16-2020 at 08:30 AM..
I can assure you, I have no intentions of bringing anything other than myself and my family over in search of freedom and liberty. Frankly we do well on our own and hardly ever join any mass gatherings of any kind.
I want nature and peace of mind. Good food, classic cars and some music is always a bonus.
You will definitely find nature and peace of mind here. If you like southern style cooking you will find it here along with many other kinds of food. You will find a lot of country, bluegrass, and gospel music here, but you can find other kinds of music as well. I've seen many classic car shows in our area. They often include classic car shows with other festivals year round. It is difficult for some people to adjust to a new life in Tennessee, especially those who are moving from a large city, but if you keep your kids busy with outdoor activity, they will be fine.
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Location: A Yankee in northeast TN
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Seems to me at this point your best bet is to research the colleges or universities where your wife might want to work. The interest you've indicated in an active outdoor lifestyle makes me think you should focus on east TN and the plateau. I personally feel that west TN is just too hot and sweltering in the summer to make many activities very enjoyable. Johnson City and Cookeville are two great places to start your research IMO.
Thank you. I do fear this as well. The Oh My god what have we done moment.
We live in Suburbs of NYC now. NYC is 35 minutes away. We are used to restaurants being abundant, its not a must, but its nice to go out and just see people from time to time.
You will find people here to be very friendly and always willing to help. Your family will quickly make new friends. If you end up in this area, you will find many restaurants in Cookeville and some in Crossville as well.
There’s lot’s of great places in the ETN, WNC and SVA areas to check out. Here’s a bunch within the area to explore, most being within a few minutes to an hour or so drive from the Erwin / Tri-Cities area.
You’ll never get bored here in TN if you love the outdoors, especially in the more mountainous eastern side of the state. All of the areas mentioned are great though.
Good luck!
Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 11-16-2020 at 08:59 AM..
I can assure you, I have no intentions of bringing anything other than myself and my family over in search of freedom and liberty. Frankly we do well on our own and hardly ever join any mass gatherings of any kind.
I want nature and peace of mind. Good food, classic cars and some music is always a bonus.
There are a LOT of people who've moved to the Cookeville area these last couple of years for the same reasons. I've seen more New York license plates around town the last few months than I've ever seen in the 7 years I've been here. And, of course, there's a bunch who've fled other places like California and Illinois. In my church in Cookeville I'd say probably 2/3 of the congregation is from somewhere else, and increasingly from those types of places.
Cookeville itself functions as a much larger town than its population would suggest since it's the hub of the region. It's got over 200 restaurants, and over 100 of those are locally owned. There's an increasing number of delicious ethnic restaurants: Vietnamese, Thai, Jamaican, Guatemalan, Filipino, Korean, Indian, Egyptian, Venezuelan, to name a few.
Downtown Cookeville has about 30 restaurants/eateries, and many of them have live music on weekends. Many of these musicians have been squeezed out of Nashville's cutthroat music scene and come here for the pleasure of playing in front of appreciative crowds.
But speaking of Nashville, a huge benefit to living in Cookeville is its proximity to Nashville. I have friends in Cookeville who are Japanese, and the wife has to make a monthly trek to Nashville so she can get her fill of skyscrapers, crowds, and fancy shopping, something she's glad not to live in but still enjoys visiting from time to time. Otherwise, she loves their home on a large leafy lot in town which they could never in a million years afford back home. With an Asian grocery store in town now, she doesn't even need to do much grocery shopping anymore in Nashville like she used to.
Here are some of the locally owned restaurants in downtown Cookeville, to give you an idea what it's like.
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its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
... Which means by 55 Ill be able to semi retire and not work till im practically dead.
In our early 40's my wife and I were able to take a sabbatical away from working from early 2017 through the end of 2018 and did some bucket list items that we had been wanting to do as a couple and family.
TBH though the only thing we ultimately got from it was getting bored, lazy and fat while burning though a bunch of $$$. In hindsight it was a great experience but also made us realize that we actually do enjoy working, and will probably do so in some form or fashion until we take our last breaths here on Earth.
Our cafe in 2021 is one of the plans we have, and until then we both have jobs that we enjoy with schedules that can't be beat. Wife works Mon - Thurs and I set my own hours Mon - Fri and frequently take half days on both Mon and Fri. Really appreciate our jobs now, much more than we did before our break.
The "never working again" thing is really highly overrated now to us. Working in some form gives you structure and purpose, while fishing and hiking every day becomes much of the same old same old after a while ... at least it did for us. Too much of a good thing I guess.
You may want to check out Clarksville, TN also. Tons of great suggestions from other folks on the forum too.
Clarksville is very reasonably priced, has a beautifully quaint downtown with a small town feel, is about an hour northwest of Nashville, and has a great University in town -- Austin Peay. Also, there are many more university and college options in nearby Nashville, if needed.
I've heard many great things about Clarksville and the surrounding area, and it is growing relatively brisk due to the family- friendly area, the lower cost housing, strong job market and milder climate, with incredible outdoors access close by.
There are so many amazing areas that fit your criteria in Tennessee. I'd also check out Chattanooga, Cookeville, Johnson City and Knoxville metros.
Straight talk. Some of it is from 10 - 12 years ago and modified.
I'm old and can't talk to school quality. Someone else will have to clue you in there.
I'm originally from Long Island, too, born in The Bronx. Grew up in Brentwood 1958 - 1969. Lived in East Quogue and Manorville 1973 - 1995, all in Suffolk County. Lived in Maryland 1995 - 2007 then retired to Tennessee so I've been here 13+ years, now. My TN town is perfect for suburban retirement but not for your young family so I won't bother telling you about it.
The 2 big international airports in the State are in Nashville (middle TN) and Memphis (west Tennessee). If you are going to be flying a lot, you'd be better off living closer to those 2 blue spots on the election map.
The natives here don't talk funny. You do. But they do talk a lot. My experience is they chat you up anywhere about anything so don't walk around with your eyes averted (NYC rude) and do expect a conversation with strangers even if there is a long line of people behind you. I'm retired. I like it. I'm not in a hurry anymore. When you go to a drive thru, expect to have to repeat your order a lot (because you talk funny ). Still repeating mine after 13+ years. I thought I had an easy to pronounce Italian name. Sounds exactly the way it is spelled but they slaughter it here. Oh yeah, and about that hurrying, lay off the car horn when a red light turns green. They'll know exactly where you are from if you start honking like a goose.
End one rumor: No one here has ever asked me what religion I am.
Politics: We have a Republican Governor, two Republican Senators, the Speakers of the State House and State Senate are Republican. We have 9 US Representatives, 7 of which are Republican. In the last presidential election Trump got 60.7% of the vote. Biden got 37.4%. In the 2016 presidential election, Trump got 60.7% of the vote and Clinton got 34.7%. It's cheaper to live in TN than NY for a reason. Remember that when you vote.
The Shell station on my road has gasoline currently at $1.79. Gotta be cheaper than what you're paying however, we'll have to see what happens to the price of gas if the administration in DC changes.
You didn't mention visiting here. You need to do that.
The State Parks in Tennessee are free, So is The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You don't pay for parking in the parks, either, and if there are any toll roads in Tennessee, I have yet to see one.
The very first thing you will notice is the difference you had in food choices on Long Island compared to Tennessee. Hope you are not very attached to pizza and/or many ethnic food choices except Chinese and Mexican. I know you will hear about this or that great pizza. They mean well but, no. Michiganders might buy it but New Yorkers, or Jerseyites, no. Hard rolls? Forget about it. Barbecue . Oh yeah, when the natives say "sweet" tea, believe them.
You might want to check out sales tax. I think the property tax will make you do a happy dance. My electric bill is half of what I paid in NY and MD for a twice bigger apartment. cable TV and phone is the same.
If your family is moving to Tennessee because it's comparatively cheap and your wife has to find a job, you will find out that with a cheaper cost of living, typically comes lower pay. Don't expect to make a killing by moving here if you are still part of the workforce and have a good salary now, no matter how impressive you think your resume is. People move here for the affordable living, then complain about the pay.
If you are moving here because of cheap and weather, you aren't going to be happy here, or for that matter, any other cheap sunny place you move to. If you want to move here, have a reason for choosing Whateverville, Tennessee besides cheap and weather. What do you plan to do after you get here that makes Whateverville, Tennessee the town of choice? If you are bored, it's pretty much your own fault for choosing poorly.
If you have to say "we did it this way in Somecity, Florida" or "such and such was better in Otherplace, NY" or "What's wrong with you people in Whateverville, TN?" perhaps you should remember that you are like a planet in the solar system. The sun doesn't revolve around you. People expect newcomers to adapt to them and their culture, not the other way around.
If you are moving here to escape some intolerable condition in Somecity, Florida or Otherplace, NY, don't overcompensate. Just because you can't stand traffic, rude people and crowded conditions in Somecity, Florida (population 80,000) doesn't mean you are well-suited to Forrested Bible Mountain, Tennessee, population 800. It will look and feel like paradise for the first 3 weeks. Then, what do you do?
Going on vacation to a town is not the same thing as living in that town no matter how many years you've visited. Driving 30 miles down Bible Mountain, TN in July to go to an annual fair is not the same as driving down the icy Bear Mountain road in January to go to the supermarket or to take your kid to school five days per week. Living at Big Bear Lodge for 1 week in July, every year for the last 10 years is not the same as looking for your favorite products in the supermarket, finding books in the library, finding and going to a doctor, finding an auto mechanic, putting your kid in a decent school, etc. - all things you don't do when you are on vacation. Check those things out when you visit if you are considering a move to your vacation town. "They were shooting guns in their backyard! That never happened at Big Bear Lodge." Uh huh.
Unless you are in the tourist business, work in some occupation related to tourism/visitors, don't move to a Touristville, TN. You can always go to the tourist spots. You don't have to live there. "OMIGOD, THERE'S SO MUCH TRAFFIC IN GATLINBURG!" Well, duh!
If you are coming from some flat place (like Florida or NYC) and the mountains are the big TN attraction, decide if you want to see mountains or live in mountains or be within x miles of mountains. Everybody asks about snow but no one thinks to ask about rain (we get a lot) or lack of sunshine. If you are used to a lot of sun, TN winters are grey. Summers, expect a steambath. Very humid compared to what you are used to and summers are long. On Thanksgiving Day 2020, in my town, the forecast is a high of 66 degrees.
You'll be done with destructive LI hurricanes but be thinking about tornados. You get a few days warning about hurricanes. The first tornado alert I got when I moved here was the TV going dark and being told by the weather service if you live in my town, take shelter immediately. I was scared to death. You can get tornado warnings on your telephone if the TV isn't on.
Read the local/community news in the Whateverville, Tennessee online local newspaper for months before you move. Read the Events Calendar page. What do people in the town like to do according to those local news stories or events calendar. Does it sound like the kinds of things you like to do? Do the people sound like your kind of people? What's the future of the town looking like? Read the town hall/community meetings/planning board stories so you can find out if they plan to put a new 4 lane road next to your property, 6 month from now.
"These people just want to go to church, shoot guns and race pickup trucks," can only be followed with, "So then, why did you move there?"
Another quirk I found in moving to NE Tennessee is the altitude. Our house is at about 1800 feet and coming from flatland Texas, DH is having a little trouble adjusting. He finds that it cuts a bit into his stamina while doing yardwork.
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But they do talk a lot. My experience is they chat you up anywhere about anything so don't walk around with your eyes averted (NYC rude) and do expect a conversation with strangers even if there is a long line of people behind you. I'm retired. I like it. I'm not in a hurry anymore. When you go to a drive thru, expect to have to repeat your order a lot (because you talk funny 
. Oh yeah, when the natives say "sweet" tea, believe them.
