 The area where I live in northeastern Tenneessee is bounded on three sides -- north, south, & east -- by the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. To the north is southwestern Virginia, home to some of the most active coal mines in the country. To the east and south lies western North Carolina, with some of the most scenic mountainous areas this side of the Mississippi River. The countryside to the west begins with piedmont, but rapidly falls away to rolling hills before encountering the Cumberland Plateau on the other side of Knoxville.
Nestled within the often-forgotten northeastern corner of Tennessee are several small cities and towns. The most commonly mentioned are the "Tri-Cities" of Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol. I share a comfortable cottage-style house with a wonderful man, my Love, in Kingsport.
Johnson City is home to East Tennessee State University (ETSU) as well as one of the best Veterans' Affairs Medical Centers in the southeastern US. Kingsport is probably best-known for one of the largest employers in the state of Tennessee, Eastman Chemical Company, once a part of the Eastman-Kodak alliance. Bristol's claim-to-fame is lending its name to the Bristol International Speedway, although the speedway is really situated almost within the center of the triangle formed by the Tri-Cities, making it as far from Bristol as it is from Johnson City or Kingsport. The city limits of Bristol spilled-over into southwestern Virginia, such that half is in Tennessee and half is in Virginia. As one drives down "State Street" in that city, one is actually driving along the state line, with everything on one side of the street in one state, and buildings across the street are in another!
Also within the area are several caverns, beautiful little hillsides where livestock graze on the brilliant, green grasses, many parks, and the ever-present mountains that are within 30-45 minute's driving distance from anywhere in the region.
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