About Polk County, TN

Today I had ocassion to visit River Ranch and I took a scenic drive and explored more parts of Polk County and the Delano and Benton areas. I thought that I would like to share more photos of this sleepy, growing community that I am slowly falling in love with.

This is County Road 163 or also known as Bowater Road. This happens to be the turn at the Chestuee Baptist Church sign to go to the River Ranch. Bowater is a big paper plant located on Highway 11 in Calhoun, Tn. You may remember reading about a rather large and devstating chain reaction crash on I-75 in Calhoun. This made national news and was blamed on poor visibility due to steam from the Bowter plant. It happened during commuter hour in the morning. Since then they have put up big fog warning signs with lights on I-75 in the Calhoun area. They are regulated to give different warnings depending on conditions. Calhoun is actually in McMinn Coutny, Tn., but, in this area many counties border each other and you frequently cross back and forth between counties. Bowater is a large paper plant and they owned huge amounts of land in the area at one time. They logged the land to process paper and then evetually sold it off to private individuals at dirt cheap prices. Many recreation areas and subdivisions are on former Bowater property.

Can you imagine getting any sleep in the corner bedroom? This old house is lived in and is situated precariously on McMinn County Rd. 750. I pass by it on the way to the River Ranch. Of course it was here long before the road was established and would not be allowed today.

This is the view to the Eaast on Athens Rd. Star Mountain is in the background. It is part of the Chilhowee mountains which connects to the Appalachians. North Carolina begins right on the other side of the mountain.

Cows graze at the side of Athens Rd. Much of the land is still farmlnd, yet a busy highway into "civiliztion" is only minutes away.

A quiet county road; McMinn County Rod 977. It was a gorgeous day for a ride out in this neck of the woods!

A quiet spot by the Hiwassee.

Hidden away between Cleveland Tennessee and Knoxville Tennessee is the tiny community of Delano. What is in Delano?

A WINERY

WOODEN BRIDGES

TURKEYS

POODLES

THE AMISH

PEACE AND QUIET

A BED AND BREKFAST FOR SALE

BEAUTIFUL RIVERFRONT HOMES

HORSES

MILES AND MILES OF RIVERFRONT ON THE HIWASSEE RIVER

EXCELLENT FISHING

TUBING

BOATING

LOW PROPERTY TAXES

LOW PROPERTY PRICES

LOTS OF PEOPLE RELOCATING TO FIND THE ABOVE LISTED THINGS.............................

AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PROPERTY AND MOUNTAIN VIEWS ANYWHERE!!!!

AND THE "HIWASSEE RIVER RANCH" WHCIH HAS MOST OF THE MOST GORGEOUS PROPERTY AROUND. A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT IT HAS AN EQUINE THEME. THERE WILL BE PADDOCKS, COMMUNITY GARDENS, RIDING TRAILS AND OH YES, THE BEAUTIFUL HIWSSEE. IT WILL BE A PRIVATE, GATED COMMUNITY, BUT, MORE THAN THAT IT WILL BE AN ESCAPE FROM THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE!

DELANO IS CONVENIENT TO HOSPITALS, RESTAURANTS, THE OCOEE RIVER AND WHITEWATER RAFTING. CLEVELAND IS ABOUT 12 MILES TO THE SOUTH AND ETOWAH IS ABOUT 10 MILES TO THE NORTH. BENTON SHOOTING SUPPLY IS RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD. HIGHWAY 411 RUNS THROUGHIT AND IT IS ONLY ABOUT 15 MILES FROM EXIT 39 ON INTERSTATE 75. THIS IS A GREAT LITTLE COMMUNITY. THE WINERY HAS A CONFERENCE HALL WHICH IS RENTED OUT FOR PRTIES, WEDDINGS AND MEETINGS.

THE NEXT TIME THAT YOU ARE IN THE AREA, YOU OWE IT TO YOURSLEF TO STOP BY AND CHECK OUT DELANO, TENNESSEE. BETTER YET, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SAFE, CLM, PEACEFUL AND AFFORDABLE COMMUNITY WITH BREATHING ROOM AND A MODERATE CLIMATE THIS IS THE PLACE.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE SOMEONE TO SHOW YOU AROUND, JUST GIVE ME A CALL. WE CAN GO DO SOME WINE TESTING!

All market price ranges are in a less than market balance. The only market segment that is fairly healthy is under 110k. If you want to sell in this market look at the number of months of Inventory it will take to sell the homes already on the market and decide the following 2 things; Do I need to sell or can it wait, and if I do need to sell when? If your home is in say the 150k-170k range and if you need to sell in 3 months then you had better price your home as the very best priced home (very aggressive) by far, and keep it in the best condition! This is clearly showing we still have some time before this market turns back to a more balanced market.

Price Range	Active	Sold	Months
50k-69,999	8	9	8
70k-89,999	9	12	6.75
90k-109,999	8	7	10.29
110k-129,999	12	8	13.5
130k-149,999	10	5	18
150k-169,999	7	4	15.75
170k-189,999	9	3	27
190k-209,999	1	0	No Sale To Date
210k-229,999	4	0	No Sale To Date
230k-249,999	5	0	No Sale To Date
250k-269,999	3	2	13.5
270k-289,999	5	1	45
290k-309,999	3	0	No Sale To Date
310k-329,999	3	1	27
330k-349,999	4	0	No Sale To Date
350k-399,999	7	1	63
400k-499,999	2	0	No Sale To Date
550k-15mill	10	0	No Sale To Date

And what to my wondering eyes should appear? A turkey in all it's strutting glory! Getting in shape to run from the Thanksgiving hunters I am sure!

This was the funniest Turkey I had ever seen. You see we were coming down Polk County Route 750 from the Hiwassee River Ranch when my friend spotted a tractor for sale that she wanted to investigate. I not being particularly interested in tractors, began to stroll the mini farm while she talked with the owner. What I found ws an assortment of all type of barnyard animals, but, in particular, this TURKEY!!! He mesmerized me and seemed to want to strut his stuff for me. One never knows what they will find on the back roads in Tennessee. I thought that you might be amazed that scenes like this still existed and the Turkey is worth seeing. Come and see us and buy some of the land for sale at the Hiwassee River Ranch and you can visit with Mr. Turkey anytime!!!!!

TURKEY IN THE MIRROR

TURKEY FAN

A TURKEY STRUTS HIS STUFF

A TURKEY FEED STORE

TURKEY FRIENDS

...AND YOU CAN SAY THAT YOU SAW IT FIRST ON ACTIVE RAIN!

AND OH YES, OUR BEAUTIFUL RIVER FRONT PROPERTY FOR SALE AT HIWASSEE RIVER RANCH, BENTON, TN. DOWN THE STREET FROM MR. TURKEY!

As I
described yesterday, East Tennessee is just easing into the fall season. Actually it was 85 degrees out this afternoon. My friend Bobbie, her dog J.P. and I set out to make a tour of the area near Benton, Tn. and Delano, Tn. Close to our new equine community. One of the places that we have always wanted to stop was the Savannah Oaks Winery on Delano Road. They also advertise items from the Sweetwater Cheese Factory. This is also AMish country so it is not unusual to see a horse and carriage go by.

Well, we arrived at the winery about 4 p.m. The air was warm, the area was sunny and green with just a slight hint of the approach of Fall. Out in the distance loomed the Chilhowee Mountains which are part of the Appalachian range and connect to the Smokies further north.

As we passed signs advertising the winery and cheese factory we approached the drive and at the end was a very artistic sign with n arow pointing to a field. It said"Savannah-Oaks Winery Pavillion" We both wondered whaat that was about. Off in the distance was a distinctive red building. We still didn't know what went on there, but, we saw it. It appeared to be a conference center or something.

Greeting us at the porch of the winery was a sleepy little cat, curled up in her rocking chair and ignoring the world. What a Tennessee way to relax!

The porch was all decked out for Halloween and customers and neighbors were visiting on the long rustic porch. Normaan Rockwell stuff.

The winery had a neon OPEN sign prominently displayed and we anticipated eagerly the wine testing awaiting us. It seems that the winery is open Mon.-Sat. from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and on Sunday from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m. We were in luck!

Hurray!!! We were in luck. We hd spent so much time at other places, we were afraid that it would be closed.

AN assortment of Fall deorations graced the door as we stepped in.

Inside was just an amazing array of antiques, crafty type of items and then I spotted a cheese cooler. My mouth watered. In the cooler were about 12 different types of cheeses from Sweetwater Cheese Factory in 10 oz. blocks. They were reasonably priced at $6.95 each and for sure they were the real deal. No artificial anything, no processed cheese food. Real, handmade cheese blocks. To the right was a cozy area with a long wooded bar and bottles of all types of wine. This was the tasting area and taste we did. We tried "Home for the Holidays" a muscadine blend, Blueberry, Sweet Red Muscadine, a dry red and a Merlot. All were great, but, my favorite was the Sweet Muscadine. Delicious! As it turns out, it is everyone's favorite.

The hostess explained to us that the Pavillion was used for weddings and events and she pointed to a lighted sign board with a list of days and events. It was quite full. What a great setting for any type of event including aa corporate meeting or so. The winery is hosting a Halloween party which is open to the public. Someone will win a $100 prize.

Well, we prowled around the Victorian gift shop after tasting our wine. We left with a bottle of wine and aa block of cheese. What else could one want? By the way, the wines were very reasonably priced from $10.95-$16.95 with most being in the $11-12 range.

We left with that warm uzzy feeling that you get when you know that you have just been some place special!

To visit the Savannah-Oaks Winery take I-75 to Athens exit and follow Route 30 to Hwy. 411. Go North on Hwy. 411 until you cross the Hiwassee River. The very next left will be Delano Road and the winery is on the corner of Delano Rd. and Hwy. 411. Our beautiful property that is for sale is right down the street so come see us too if you visit the winery. You'll never want to go home!