I just got home from a trip to Tennessee

[Curmudgeoness]

and all I can say is, you have a beautiful state....at least northeastern Tennessee, which is where I was.

I didn't see many Democrats, but I didn't get my car vandalized with my "We are the 99%" bumper sticker, so I was relieved. However, on a trip into "town", I parked behind a car with a bumper sticker for the Democratic party...so there were at least two of us there at one time. I would have probably hugged them if I had seen who was in that car.

My sister just moved there, and is trying to talk me into moving there too. I am not sure that I am ready for it, or that I could survive there though....not from the few people who I met. More power to the Democrats in that state!

[RoverSuswade]

1. If you move you'll have to deal with......

M a r c I a B l a c k b u r n !!

[redstateblues]

2. Marsha Blackburn

She represents the wealthiest county, Williamson. Nashville and Davidson Co,however, are solidly Democratic. Nashville is a vibrant diverse city. Once you get out in the sticks though all bets are off.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Oh, we are talking way way out in the sticks

where my sister has moved. All bets are off.

[Loudly]

3. Do you think Al Gore is a Tennessean?

And is there anything good to be said about Andrew Jackson? Wikipedia claims that his critics called him jackass, and that he liked it and adopted the donkey as a campaign mascot. Yes, that donkey!

[Duppers]

21. why put Al Gore and Andrew Jackson in the same sentence?

?

As if they share anything other than being born in Tennessee?

[cilla4progress]

4. Jackson was horrible to Native Americans

eom

[LunaSea]

5. Did you get your card punched?

Only four more trips to get your free raccoon!

(Plus we're only a short drive to Asheville...)
Come on down!

[Curmudgeoness]

7. Damn. I should have checked in here first

to find this out about the card needing punched. Oh well, I will just have to be content with the chiggers.

I don't know where Asheville is compared to where my sister moved, since I only heard of the "big city" being Morristown, where we visited the last day I was there. A little closer was Rogersville, that has a really nice local artist's co-op with a gallery in the historic downtown. I think that Asheville is pretty far to the east, and to be honest, my drive down was over 8 hours and I wasn't excited to get back in the car.

[southerncrone]

9. Then your sister lives in some of the MOST backwoods in the state!

Tell her to be careful. Lots of meth in the sticks of TN. They will steal from anyone. Sad fact of a poor rural area these days.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. Yep.

There is a trailer up there that has been condemned because it was a meth lab. And yep, they already had the metal gate at the bottom of their driveway stolen for the scrap.

It is an amazing area, where the people who live there have been there for generations and all property owners seem to own a hundred acres or more----even the poor ones since it was family land.

[southerncrone]

12. We have a saying here. Land rich, & money poor.

Sometimes those that have been there for generations always feel the land is still "theirs", even after sold out of the family. She may discover she has "trespassers" who believe they are still entitled to stroll, fish & hunt on the land because it is "part of their family's old home place".

[Curmudgeoness]

14. You are probably right.

There are several deer blinds in trees on the property they bought. I just hope that they don't have problems. They have met a lot of people in that area and seem to get along with them, but who knows if those are the people who want to hunt and fish there.

[Duppers]

22. lordee, lordee

Last edited Sat Aug 16, 2014, 12:19 AM - Edit history (1)

I was born in Morristown and grew there. Still hate, hate, hate the place, yet hubs and I are moving back to East Tenn, building a retirement home near Maryville (South of Knoxville), in the foothills for the gorgeous Great Smokies.

Rogersville, Sneadville, Surgoinsville, Newport, and some of Morristown are rather scary places these days. Little known fact: Harrison Ford's inlaws live on the west end of Morristown.

If you move, give us a call.

[Curmudgeoness]

23. Well, it was a beautiful place.

We went to the "big city", Morristown, one day so they could get some groceries and building supplies they needed. Went to the "smaller big city", Rogersville, where I saw the Democrat bumper sticker and shopped in the historic town center---great artist co-op there that I really enjoyed. From the stores in Rogersville, I have a feeling that there may be some progressive people living there.

[Duppers]

24. Yay! That's great to hear.

It's been years since I was in Rogersville. Many years ago, I attended a wedding of a friend from there; she was a very liberal democrat but I didn't know that the area has changed.

Looks like a friendly place too. That's the thing about most of east TN, as long as folks think you're one of them, they are most gracious and friendly. Yet, Rogersville looks as if they're now accepting of diversity. YAY!

[southerncrone]

8. Yeah. It ain't easy bein' blue here.

Our state is gorgeous. Not so much the western part, but East & Middle TN are very lovely. Memphis does have "The Blues" tho.

Come on down! We need all the help we can get!

[Curmudgeoness]

10. I am not sure that moving there is an option for me

although my sister is trying to talk me into it. I am going to wait until I see if she can take it there in the boonies before I commit to anything.....and she is a Republican. She just isn't THAT Republican. But really, they are so far out in the woods and mountains that it is an hour drive to a decent grocery store, and she moved there from Houston....quite a challenge.

[southerncrone]

13. Oh my. She is in for a supreme culture shock.

I hope she realizes she will always be considered a "forner" cuz "she ain't from 'round there". Being a "city slicker" won't help, either. She will see up close & personal exactly what the Republicans have created & embraced. She may find that the romantic idea of living in that beautiful paradise requires hell to pay. Sad really, because it could be a paradise. My prediction is she will move closer to a more metro area, because hiking 50 miles to reach civilization gets old, especially after you've grown accustom to convenience & modern life. Good luck to her.
Middle TN is a tad more welcoming & still has some Dem areas.

[Curmudgeoness]

15. I tried to warn her.

After 14 years in Houston, I moved back to my hometown, which is a small to middle sized town. And I had culture shock. I cannot imagine how I would have dealt with this move. I did tell her hubby that he is lucky that it is my sister who he married, because I would not have moved that far out. But he wanted to be a hermit far from civilization and she wanted to be close to a town in the Tri-City area of E TN...and this was a compromise, I think.

I also predict that they will not stay, but they are building their "dream house" that is almost finished now, so who knows.

But I will say that it was a beautiful area, with so much open space and wildlife and flora. And I even learned how to make hoe cakes...what more can you ask for!

[tnlefty]

16. I'm in a 'burb' of Chattanooga...

still not easy to deal with, and I've been in N GA or around Chattanooga for most of my life. Things weren't as batshit crazy when I was younger, and there is a lot of loud pushback to do.

[southerncrone]

17. I'm from a 'burb of Chattanooga.

Grew up there. My son just moved there in March.

[Curmudgeoness]

18. I always thought that Chattanooga was a nice city.

If she had moved close to there, it would not be so worrisome. Oh well.

And don't think that your area is the only place where it is getting batshit crazy. The talking heads are ramping up the rhetoric for entertainment purposes and pushing hate to a new level, and that is everywhere.

[tnlefty]

19. Thank you!

I'm in the SE part of the state, Hamilton County, and I've been working to try to keep the Dems elected into local offices, some of them county wide, Terry Adams, who is a candidate for US Senate, and Dr. Mary Headrick, candidate for District 3, US house, Mary Mancini who is running for a state senate seat, Gloria Johnson, who is trying to retain a state seat, Tony Gross, state senate seat, Eric McCroy state house seat, Puttbrease, the list goes on...

Thanks for acknowledging us hard working Democrats in this state!

[Curmudgeoness]

20. I wish I would have seen more Dems,

but in reality, I didn't meet many people there. I know they are there, because we are everywhere.....it just seemed they were harder to find in rural Tennessee. Keep up the good work. I am told that there are more people looking to retire in Tennessee, so maybe things will change with an influx of new people. Maybe.

[Chimeradog]

25. depends...

well we moved down there 10 yrs ago, in JC/tri cities area. Now moved east next state over.

East Tenn is a pretty area, but, there are some issues jmo. I never had religion issue come up, but neighbors will ask you what church you go to, and people here (some, not all, ) tend to dislike anyone who isn't from Tenn.

When in 08 I had an Obama sign, my neighbor questioned me about it. anyway its a far cry from most cities/towns I've lived in, and just relating my experience.

[Curmudgeoness]

28. It was a pretty area to visit

and I enjoyed the vacation, but I could see that living in that area would be downright scary. Too bad, it is beautiful there.

[Chimeradog]

31. i agree:)

nice to meet such nice people on this forum I was on a real estate forum for ages but the politics was way right- changed a lot in past 5 years.....

I don't want to post an inappropriate news story, but in Bristol TN after elections 2012 there were incidents of fiery crosses (I kid you not, wish I were) which made me finally realize I cannot stay silent and dumbed down in such a racist area. The area is racist, but they hide it until church is done on Sunday.

[Curmudgeoness]

32. That doesn't surprise me.

I wish it did. And I know just what you mean about hiding it until church was done. But only with people who go to the same church.

You are smart to be careful of what links you post here, but just pay attention for a while and you will learn. This is a great place, but we probably all have been chastised at one time or another for inappropriate posts. Do more watching than posting for a while to get the feel for it.

And welcome to DU.

[Chimeradog]

35. Thank u:)

nice people here.

Well I'm just relaying the facts in '08. No longer there. Also they're doing fracking in Knoxville now. not a good thing, imo.

[get the red out]

26. I do like Tennessee

I have been going there frequently since I have been training my furry buddy in dog agility; the TN agility clubs put on terrific trials. I do enjoy going there and it is beautiful and friendly. I noticed some of their political commercials sounded like an advertisement for a theocratic police state though. I live in Kentucky and one add I saw made Mitch McConnel's campaign look mild. But I live in one of the most liberal parts of my home state, Lexington.

It has occurred to me that a pleasant RW state may be able to bridge this nasty, social gap we have in this country. I have some Democratic bumper stickers co-existing with my Border Collie stickers. I haven't had the first issue yet. At the hotel in Murfreesboro a couple of weeks ago I saw a car with dog agility stickers along wth hateful RE stickers; I complemented one of her runs the same day.

I really want the hate to end; we really aren't that foreign in daily life to people on the right, I can only hope one day we can build our country back on our similarities as American people rather than politics.

[Curmudgeoness]

29. You are a dreamer,

and I just love dreamers. I agree that there is very little difference in the day-to-day lives of right and left wing folks. It is when the politics or religion get in the way that people get uptight. The two topics that you should not discuss in "polite" company....and this shows why.

I don't believe that I could live there, but it was a nice place to visit and I didn't have any issues with people that I met....although that was just for a short time.

[democrat in Tallahassee]

27. NO! Don't go to Rogersville

I grew up in that little Peyton Place. There may be 3 conservative Democrats and maybe (maybe) 2 progressives. If you like Baptists, bigots, and racism, then you will love it; otherwise don't risk it. If I ever get homesick all I have to do is log on to my Facebook page and see what all my friends and relatives are thinking; I've blocked most of them.
If you want to be prayed for, go to Rogersville. They are big on prayers and small on actions that can help someone.
All of East Tennessee is blood red.

[Curmudgeoness]

30. LOL, I went to Rogersville.

It was a nice town. Of course, I didn't get into discussions with anyone, and I do believe I know how it would have sent if I did. But no one keyed my car with the "We are the 99%" bumper sticker on it. That is a good thing.

And I did learn how to make hoe cakes.....what more can you ask for!

[BeyondGeography]

33. Just got back from driving through there myself...I love Tennessee

It goes like this: Music is the thing I love most about America, and Tennessee is the cradle of American music civilization. No other state comes close. You have Memphis/Sun Studios/Stax, Nashville (home of the White Man's Blues as Little Richard calls country) and Bristol/E. Tennessee, my dark horse favorite, with its folky roots mountain music. Granted, other states contributed mightily to the genres, but Tennessee was where it all came together, artistically and monetarily.

Plus, as others have said, much of the state is beautiful. Was really impressed with Chattanooga and want to get back. I know Tennessee also gives us Marcia Blackburn, but life is too short not to see and experience all that worth's seeing and Tennessee has a lot to offer.

[Curmudgeoness]

34. I didn't get to experience any music there,

although I would have loved to hear some of the mountain music. But did you learn how to make hoe cakes?

One day I hope to visit Chattanooga because I think that I would like it there.