We enjoyed our guided tour with Emily, very much. She really knew the history and eagerly shared it…read morewith us. The grounds, homes, and lawyer office were clean, neat and the items in there were true to the era and a few pieces were ORIGINAL ie: rugs, chairs, and other items. Just seeing how the home started out with 1 to 3 rooms and finished up with several more and some electricity. Visiting this historical site helps us appreciate what we have today. Recommend this to all that are in Johnson City TN. It's great for families, and school field trips.

Tony Vanoy and Noël Lori-Elizabeth Teel and I stopped at the Tipton-Haynes Historic Site Museum in…read moreJohnson City, TN on Saturday January 9th, 2016. The day after my 52nd birthday. It was very nice. Because we are AARP, AAA members we got a discounted rate of $4 per person for a guided tour of the house and property. The museum was free to enjoy History: The Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site tells the rich story of the history of Northeast Tennessee and of the several families that lived here. The site includes 45 acres, eleven historic buildings, the Tipton/Gifford/Simerly cemetery, a limestone cave, a natural spring, a buffalo trace, a nature trail, and a Visitor Center. The Visitor Center contains a permanent exhibit, museum store, educational spaces, a library, and archives. Purchasing the site in 1784, Colonel John Tipton (1730-1813) moved from Shenandoah County, Virginia to settle in what was then Washington County, North Carolina. For the next four years, the formation and decline of the State of Franklin became an important issue for the area and the life of Colonel Tipton, who stayed loyal to North Carolina. In February of 1788, the Battle of the State of Franklin turned the peaceful home of Colonel Tipton's into a battle ground for Franklin independence. Colonel Tipton would later help with the development of Tennessee becoming the 16th state of the Union before retiring from public life. After his father's death, John Tipton, Jr. (1767-1831) inherited the property. Before moving to Washington County, Tipton, Jr. was already a successful state legislator and wealthy land owner in Blountville, Tennessee. Tipton, Jr. expanded his father's cabin in the 1820s, making it a Federal style farmhouse. While attending the 19th General Assembly, he died in Nashville. The heirs of John Tipton, Jr. sold the property to David and Rhoda Haynes in 1837. For a wedding gift, David and Rhoda gave the property to Landon Carter Haynes (1816-1875), their oldest son, in 1839. That year, Landon had married Eleanor Powell. In the 1850s, he expanded the former Tipton home into how it appears today. Haynes is best known for being a Confederate senator, but was also a state legislator, politician, farmer, newspaper editor, Methodist minister, and attorney. Losing his home during the Civil War, Haynes moved to and lived the rest of his life in Memphis, Tennessee. The site would eventually return to the Haynes family when, on May 1, 1882, Sarah L. Gifford Simerly (1847-1935) purchased the property. Sarah was the niece of Landon Carter Haynes.

My friends and I went there yesterday. Unfortunately we arrived 10 min before the museum closed…read morefor lunch. That was disappointing that the staff couldn't divide and conquer so that it could stay open. The map of the park wasn't the best and as a state park, would've thought it would be better. However, it's relatively small so unlikely for most people to get lost. The map didn't even indicate that there was a numbered path to follow. I guess if the people hadn't been in a rush to close for lunch they would've told us that. We tried to find each marker but we also don't know how many there were cause again, the map didn't indicate them at all. Nice park to walk around, picnic, and just relax.

I love this location! I remember coming here in…read morekindergarten for a field trip and the actors for the re-enactments were so amazing! Because this made my childhood spark a love for our History here, I come here quite often as an adult. The museum is very interesting and although it's not the largest exhibit, they definitely keep you wowed. Also, the trail is beautiful. It's very fun and relaxing to walk a trail surrounded by nature. Not to mention, the water next to the trail is so beautiful and there's always ducks chilling out. Their garden in the center of the park is so beautiful and the amount of wild life (squirrels, rabbits, birds, etc) is amazing. It's so cute, too! I actually enjoy taking photos here with my camera! I do a lot of photoshoots here and this is a wonderful spot because there's such an abundance of locations. It's a perfect spot for photographers during every season! The "town" where they do most of the re-enactments is so beautiful. It's very interesting as well to see how we used to live so many years ago. The staff is very friendly when you go inside of the museum and are very helpful if you have any questions. I love this place, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

This is a Gem for sure!!! Traveled from Texas and heard about this spot and I had to stop by. This…read morecar museum is definitely beautiful. The owner is extremely knowledgeable in the cars and is very nice. Great atmosphere and many available cars to look at. This museum is one to save for the books.

Good price and amazing cars Kent is amazing and nice and offer to let us in for free. It's only 5…read morebucks

Me and my wife recently visited the storytelling Center in downtown Jonesborough while we were…read morevisiting shops throughout the city. We only visited the bookstore , not the rest of the building. The books that were featured here were absolutely great , staff here was absolutely friendly and I love how quiet the store was. They do have restrooms in the back that I assume are open to the public. Which is great in the winter time because most places in the city don't have public restroom. Besides the home decor too, I definitely recommend checking the store out.

"Once upon a time ...."…read more Just returned from the 39th annual National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN - a weekend listening to fairy tales and folk tales -- imaginary stories, ghost stories, true stories of people -- relationships -- literary magic, linguistic lightening that made me laugh, and then 2 hours later, shed a tear or two. Traditionally held the first weekend in October, the festival draws thousands of listeners and (this year) 18 professional storytellers who shared their tales of love and laughter, music and linguistic mastery under 5 big-top tents crammed with chairs and stages and sound technicians. The festival runs Friday morn through Sunday afternoon, with special evening (separate ticket) ghost stories, midnight cabarets and theater events. I began my day at 10:00 a.m. Saturday with a tale by storyteller Bil Lepp who told of his boy-ish high school adventure: toting around a sack of flour for a week (the girls toted eggs) to teach him lessons about parenting. My day ended after 5:00 p.m. with a mesmerizing true story of a "sassy" woman in Birmingham, AL, who related her tale of southern living to the talented Dolores Hydock - a woman with a gift for words and expression. Ms. Hydock recorded the stories and passed them along to us in such a creative way. I did not want the performance to end. True, tickets are pricey, yet something worth saving for. Two food courts, four churches offering their culinary fare and a couple of local restaurants offer eats at reasonable prices. And it wouldn't be complete without a marketplace to purchase books on the craft, storytelling CDs, shirts and bags and pins with festival logos and more. And for budding tale tellers, a "Swappin' Ground gives everyone with a story opportunity their skills at this intriguing and most-fascinating art form.

While me and my wife we're over in downtown Jonesborough. We checked out the theater inside just to…read moresee what kind of shop was featured. We didn't see any plays or anything but the staff was kind enough to let us walk in the theater and it was absolutely nice. I loved how they remodeled this entire place and it looks so historic and well maintained. I would say that there is about a couple hundred seats here and a cool little Lounge on the second floor. Great to see plays and even movies too! There's always events being featured here. It's a great place to go to brings the community together!

A quaint, local, community theater. Like the downtown JBO area around it, JRT is long on charm…read more We've seen some really fun performances here. It's small. Read that, "close, intimate, and not too stuffy." Parking can be a trick sometimes, but that's just anyplace in downtown JBO. We really like it, maybe because it's so close and we like Jonesborough. But, really, I'd recommend it for visitors too. If you're into live performance art and cool stuff like that.

4,200th Review I…read moremade it to Bristol Motor Speedway, not for a NASCAR or Infinity Race but for a self-guided tour only a few days before the start of the night racing events. The car haulers were lined up and the driver and team buses were starting to fill their parking areas as the speedway crews and vendors were pushing to get this place race ready. While traveling across I-81 I noticed a sign showing the exit for the speedway, thinking I'd do a short detour and do a drive by to a snap a few pictures from the road I had no idea that I've have an opportunity to get a little more up close and personal. After arriving at the speedway I noticed the entrance road was open so I pulled in and followed the orange cones to the front of the speedway going around a few car haulers and vendor trucks. I was happy to get this far without any questions so I pulled into a parking space a few feet from the main gate and got out to take a few photos before getting back on the highway. That when things changed and by happenstance a crew setting up trash dispensers and port-a-potties pulled along side me and one of the crew stopped and commented on my truck and asked a few questions about some of the accessories I had installed being he also recently purchased a new Maverick - we chatted for a few minutes and I explained that we were traveling through the area and stopped by to see the speedway, he asked if we had went through the gates and got a closer look which we had not. This guy wasn't just a worker he had the credentials and told me he had been working here for more than 13 years and told me I could enter the gate and do a self guided tour of the entire facility. A little stunned at the invitation I got his name and thanked him and walked to the only open gate. Although there was some activities going on with the staff and vendors we walked into this mostly empty giant facility unaccompanied with total access to explore the track and what a view it was once we walked out to the seating area directly in the middle of the front stretch of the racetrack. We had no other interactions with anyone as we walked around and respectfully avoided using the elevators or going into spaces that were being set up for race day before more than 100,000 fans would flock here for the two night races scheduled in a few days (Food City 300 9/12/25 - Bass Pro Shops 9/13/25). This is a beautiful and well maintained Motor Speedway and it was an amazing experience that we will always remember as we traveled across this part of the country. It goes to show that not having a plan can be the best plan, I don't think I would of ever been able to plan something like this and yes of course I watched both races on TV after this wonderful visit to this track, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good...

We didn't come here to see a NASCAR race but we did come here solely for the Speedway Lights…read moreevents. For $25 we got a really great show. You can have up to eight people without being charged more so it's truly a steal for the price. This light display is absolutely beautiful and I'm amazed with the hard work that these people put into this yearly event. You get to actually drive on the race track which is absolutely cool some of the twists and turns actually are pretty scary because you kind of come close to contact with a few things was more worrisome if you're driving a big truck. You have a choice in the race track if you want to stay for the Christmas Market or you could just make your way out of the Christmas light show. The Christmas Market is okay I suppose. It's really just a touristy cash grab. Kids get to meet Santa Claus, there's a small vendor Market, other food and drinks that that are festive to the holiday. We didn't stay for too long but upon leaving it took us about 10 minutes to get out just because some of the traffic in front of us was very slow and really taking your time to get out. I do think that to enjoy this experienced the most you should drive throughout the entire place without headlights on just because it distracts The View from person in front of you because a lot of the other patrons also do it too. Also, it's recommended that you stick to the radio station that they advertise just so it feels completely festive. I personally don't think that you should pull over to the side of the road while everyone passes you up.

I went here for a date and had the most amazing time! We learned how to make a lot of great food -…read moresoup, dumplings, and bok choy. It was all delicious! We had a beautiful summer sunset as well. I will definitely be going back for more classes with friends and family!

I've only been to the cooking classes. They also have dancing, or did before Covid-19. The cooking…read moreclasses are a great time. Very laid back and hands on. They grow a lot of their own ingredients like garlic and herbs. The owner is going to add campers and such so people who drove a long way can have a place to sleep

This was my second year at Thirsty Orange ... such a great time. Last year was wicked cold but…read morestill great people and beer. This year the weather was wonderful and it just made everything that much better. Festival featured a great selection of regional commercial brewers and a host of local homebrewers as well. A few of these I'm happy to say I'll look back and remember "i had their beer when they were just starting". Really good stuff all around and loads of great people.

Love going to this craft beer event every year! Always super fun and tasty beer! Check for tickets…read morein December to get the best prices. Taste some beer and raise money for a good cause! Don't forget to vote for your fav!