I have to say I like the Chattanooga area so far .. maybe because:
Our trip to Rock City was a lot of fun.. if you fear heights or ‘caving’ stay home. We walked on swinging bridges 100ft above the rocks.. quite exhilarating. We walked through fatman’s crack in the rock were this guy had to turn sideways to slip trough.. all lots of fun. The view is simply awesome.. not cheap. Then we visited Ruby Falls 200ft below the earth.. now the falls aren’t all that much but waking 1/2 under the earth is unusual.. and even the drive up there.. Yikes. Oh did i mention a great meal at ‘State of Confusion’ downtown.
Then theres the two blue head catfish (1 was a monster) i caught sitting on the dock two nights, ago beer in hand. Cool Hand and I take two chairs and sit at the end of our floating dock and toss out a couple of live minnows and wait. Oh you think you’d be bored to tears? Our vista is a beautiful section of the lake and since Monday it is very quiet. The Osprey fishing provides a great show as do the many fish ‘busting’ the surface. Bragging rights achieved because DS caught only a small catfish the night before. Dam I’m good. Cool Hand cant understand what my secret is.. could it be that his attention is divided between fishing and his phone? Kids..
Met a gent working Part Time at Rock City. He was eight months retired having moved from Illinois. “Love it, cost of living, people, weather... but if i had my choice I’d do lookout mountain Georgia” (about mile away). “More tax but in retirement that wont matter much. “
People do seem friendly. Our rental home has a dock at the bottom of a steep hill. DS “Cool Hand” and I got a golf cart ride back to the house last night courtesy of our neighbor.
House prices and property taxes are significantly lower than our part of Pennsylvania. Bottom line: a tidy ‘retirement’, 1500 sq ft Ranch (off lake) home would be less than $225K. Taxes would be a couple of grand. Of course pricier homes are available. It’s quiet here, weekend the lake does get busy but compared to suburban philly traffic is almost nonexistent. We shopped in the local supermarket and all was as expected.
Unfortunately the area has been discovered and is growing. We are staying about a 35 minutes from downtown. I think Id be interested in looking a little further north and exploring around Nashville.
One trip simply isnt enough to make any decisions.. I’ll call this area a “taste of country”.
Consderations (there are many)
1. The city of Chattanooga does have crime — all cities do
2. Medical care is always a concern.. move away from a city and it may be sparse
3 this is a haul from my daughter
4 I believe they average 4” snow a year (good thing)
Last night I was ending the evening watching some TV.. Cool Hand comes in the room and yells “what is that? Its huge..” Im thinking snake, God knows what?? A huge wood spider (my guess) is on the other side arm of the couch Im sitting on. A regular mini tarantula.. Im convinced it was eyeing the dog sitting a few feet away. SIL dispatched it with a flip flop. Biggest one Ive ever seen.
Our trip to Rock City was a lot of fun.. if you fear heights or ‘caving’ stay home. We walked on swinging bridges 100ft above the rocks.. quite exhilarating. We walked through fatman’s crack in the rock were this guy had to turn sideways to slip trough.. all lots of fun. The view is simply awesome.. not cheap. Then we visited Ruby Falls 200ft below the earth.. now the falls aren’t all that much but waking 1/2 under the earth is unusual.. and even the drive up there.. Yikes. Oh did i mention a great meal at ‘State of Confusion’ downtown.
Then theres the two blue head catfish (1 was a monster) i caught sitting on the dock two nights, ago beer in hand. Cool Hand and I take two chairs and sit at the end of our floating dock and toss out a couple of live minnows and wait. Oh you think you’d be bored to tears? Our vista is a beautiful section of the lake and since Monday it is very quiet. The Osprey fishing provides a great show as do the many fish ‘busting’ the surface. Bragging rights achieved because DS caught only a small catfish the night before. Dam I’m good. Cool Hand cant understand what my secret is.. could it be that his attention is divided between fishing and his phone? Kids..
Met a gent working Part Time at Rock City. He was eight months retired having moved from Illinois. “Love it, cost of living, people, weather... but if i had my choice I’d do lookout mountain Georgia” (about mile away). “More tax but in retirement that wont matter much. “
People do seem friendly. Our rental home has a dock at the bottom of a steep hill. DS “Cool Hand” and I got a golf cart ride back to the house last night courtesy of our neighbor.
House prices and property taxes are significantly lower than our part of Pennsylvania. Bottom line: a tidy ‘retirement’, 1500 sq ft Ranch (off lake) home would be less than $225K. Taxes would be a couple of grand. Of course pricier homes are available. It’s quiet here, weekend the lake does get busy but compared to suburban philly traffic is almost nonexistent. We shopped in the local supermarket and all was as expected.
Unfortunately the area has been discovered and is growing. We are staying about a 35 minutes from downtown. I think Id be interested in looking a little further north and exploring around Nashville.
One trip simply isnt enough to make any decisions.. I’ll call this area a “taste of country”.
Consderations (there are many)
1. The city of Chattanooga does have crime — all cities do
2. Medical care is always a concern.. move away from a city and it may be sparse
3 this is a haul from my daughter
4 I believe they average 4” snow a year (good thing)
Last night I was ending the evening watching some TV.. Cool Hand comes in the room and yells “what is that? Its huge..” Im thinking snake, God knows what?? A huge wood spider (my guess) is on the other side arm of the couch Im sitting on. A regular mini tarantula.. Im convinced it was eyeing the dog sitting a few feet away. SIL dispatched it with a flip flop. Biggest one Ive ever seen.
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