I am a transplant from Orange County, California. My husband and I and our 2 daughters moved the Nashville area about 3 years ago. I sometimes wonder what I am doing here in the Smokey Mountain state, then do something crazy like vacation in Florida and it all comes back to me. Florida weather is great and the scenery is unparalleled but immediately I doubted my travel plans when I got off the plane – I was met by nothing short of an irate gaggle of “snow birds” from Jersey. Wow, those women can push and shove! Getting my bags was downright terrifying. The traffic to the beach was slow moving and the sign language used in Florida is not, I repeat not taught in school. Actually the vacation was great , the company was good and we all had a really nice time. As I sat and waited for my plane home several very nice strangers started to chat with me. All had the familiar drawl of the native Tennessean. It truly was music to my ears. The flight was pleasant and as I deplaned it hit me…there was no commuter stress and I felt like I was in a scene from “Love Actually”, all that I saw were cool people greeting the ones they loved. The ultimate icing on the cake was an amazingly talented gentlemen sitting on a small stage playing Jimmy Buffett, he was serenading us at baggage claim! It was just him, an acoustic guitar and a small amp – the best live show I’d seen in quite awhile. That uncomplicated moment renewed in full surround sound why I up and moved to the beautiful state of Tennessee.

2 responses so far ↓
Pigeon Forge Realtor | Annie Maloney || Mar 12, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Well, try living there for 25 years! lol. My husband and I and our 3 children moved to East Tennessee in Feb. of 2004 from West Palm Beach. We currently live in Sevier County. Florida just had too many people that were rude and unfriendly and cared about one thing, themselves. Not to mention over $6,000 in taxes and insurance! Try explaining to your kids that there really are seasons when its 90 degrees 350 days a year. Anyway, we visited Tennessee a couple times and loved the surroundings and the Americana feel. The thing that sold us was a trip to view a home in a subdivision in Sevierville. We drove through and came upon a bunch of kids playing football in the streets. Once they saw us they all moved off to the side and even waved as we drove by. In Florida you would have been lucky to get them to move over enough to get your car down the street and would have been flipped off with that look of “How dare you interrupt our game!”. So, there is no love lost for the beautiful state of Florida (at least south Florida). Tennessee is where its at!
Renee || Apr 13, 2008 at 9:28 am
We transfered to the Nashville area (Ft Campbell/Clarksville) in 2000. I’ve worked (and played) in Nashville for almost 6 years. There’s something about Nshville that makes you feel loved. I know that sounds crazy, but it has a very warm and accepting atmosphere. It is a city with a “small town” feel. The people are so friendly. I think it’s because, like me, they LOVE living here.
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