I have been away for the past week to attend a work related conference. Here are my impressions:
1. I live in a beautiful state.
2. I drove through/visited five states that I have never been to before.
3. Chatanooga Tennesee looks like nice place.
4. Alabama looked pretty nice too.
5. Mississippi? Hmm...flat and kinda boring. (sorry any Mississippi visitors)
6. Louisiana? Um...flat, swampy, and huge juicy bugs plastered on the front of the vehicle. Saw a snake. Looked for an alligator but didn't see one :(
7. New Orleans? Yikes, the damage. The humidity. The above ground graveyards (what would you call that? Crypts?) were pretty freaky too.
8. Texas. Good food (but eastern NC barbeque is better than Texas barbeque). Saw an armadillo. I didn't realize there would be palm trees in Texas. Flat. Boring terrain. Hot. Humid.(sorry Texans....especially Ame!)
9. I was very happy to get home to my mountains.
Oh, and the conference was great too :)
10 comments:
no offense :)
actually, Texas is a very varried state ... but Houston, imho, is one of the worst places in the state ... VERY humid and sticky ... and swarming with allergens!
you'll find hills, desert, praries, flat-lands, lakes, ocean, all in Texas.
BUT ... where you are IS incredibly beautiful :)
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ahhh ... louisiana ... nothin like those bugs ... my ex would fill up on gas before entering the state so he wouldn't have to stop till he crossed the border on the other side ;)
my girls and i have some very good friends living in south louisiana.
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gotta be VERY careful where you stop in alabama and mississippi as there is still a LOT of racism round those parts.
I didn't see much more of Texas than Houston. I admit I am so partial to my mountains that I have never seen a type of terrain that I liked better.
Lived for a time in 'Bama. Hated it. We called it UCLA...short for Ugly Corner, Lower Alabama.
I missed my mountains, long-range views, and woods that didn't sound like they were alive with critters.
I was happy to return to the West.
EW,
We were more in the northern and across the western side of Alabama (across Birmingham to Tuscaloosa). At least there were some rolling hills and variation in the terrain.
I've never been west of St Louis MO, though I've been all over the eastern US.
it took me a looong time to get used to texas ... it had to grow on me. i've been here a long time, now ... gosh, 27 years! so it's home.
out in east texas where fiance is from there are a lot of pine trees and rolling green hills and dense wooded areas ... very beautiful.
west texas, where i've only been a few times, is someplace i think one needs to be from to appreciate ... deserts and sand storms and tumbleweeds and tornados :). dusting is a waste of time or a twice-a-day chore. then there's north texas, the hill country (which is middle of texas) and south texas. i, personally, absolutely hate houston, but there are those who love it. as far as cities go, it has a lot to offer ... but climate and terrain trump that for me, and i hate it.
but climate and terrain trump that for meMe too, Ame, me too :)
Agreed that Chattanooga is a great place. I considered taking a job down that way a year or so ago (but took the one I have now instead) mainly for the awesome location and great parks around. I could see myself living in eastern Tennessee sometime in my life--if I can afford to when that time comes.
I never saw much to 'Bama and Mississippi either. Too flat and way too hot for my liking. My parents lived near Houston for a while back in the day and...well, they didn't live there long. I guess it's affordable for a reason.
Jesse,
I lived in north east Tennessee for about 2 years before I moved where I live now. It is a very reasonably priced place to live. It is also a very pretty area, I just melted in the humidity.
It was reasonably priced once upon a time, but I've heard real estate prices have skyrocketed in the eastern part of the state recently. But I'm only going on anecdotal evidence. The lack of a state income tax makes Tennessee that much more attractive though.
Jesse,
Oh, interesting. I was unaware of any change in the market. When I lived there (~ 4 years ago) you could buy a new construction 1100 square foot 1 bedroom/1.5 bath condo with an integral garage for 60 grand. A new construction 800 square foot 1 bed/1.5 bath condo is about 120 grand where I live now. That was north east TN though, perhaps it is higher in Chattanooga?
Utilities were cheaper there too. Electricity is cheap because of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
And yes, no state income tax was great.
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