Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Summer is in full effect. Warmer weather is bringing smiles to everyone’s face, much-needed vacations are finally being taken and spontaneous late nights are becoming the new normal. Aside from endless ice cream and poolside memories, what else is there not to love about this time of the year?
More importantly, what better place is there to be other than the wonderful outdoors?
People love to be outdoors. There is no denying that. Scientific studies have proven that being in nature is a natural stress reliever — pun intended — helping to eliminate fatigue, depression and anxiety; lower blood pressure; reduce inflammation; improve short-term memory; increase the ability to focus; and even decrease the risk of cancer.
We are blessed in Carter County with many natural attractions to enjoy — Roan Mountain with its beautiful rhododendron, which is now blooming; Watauga Lake with its boating and water adventures; Doe River and Watauga River with its kayaking and rafting opportunities; Sycamore Shoals State Park, and the opening of “Liberty: The Saga of Sycamore Shoals” this weekend. The drama will be presented each weekend in June.
In addition to these attractions and activities, there is hiking in the mountains or biking the Tweetsie Trail, inaddition to activities in downtown Elizabethton each weekend — the Saturday evening car shows and Covered Bridge Jams.
The great outdoors belongs to everyone. In Northeast Tennessee freely enjoying the region’s natural beauty is an essential part of being a Carter Countian. We are fortunate to live in an area that features the splendor of all four seasons year after year.
We experience bright springs with blooming flowers, comfortable summers with the occasional heat wave, magnificent falls with an array of bright, sparkling colors, and winters that for the most part are mild, exhilarating, but at times can be challenging.
Nature can be a challenge once in a while, but the mountains of East Tennessee and North Carolina are usually the envy of the rest of the nation, who doesn’t get to experience nature like we do.
This summer we will have a wide variety of outdoor events to attend throughout the area such as the outdoor drama, the Fourth of July boat show on Watauga, some road races, car shows, fishing, summer baseball which opens this week, and the season’s climax of Covered Bridge Days in September.
We also have campgrounds to look forward to.
There is always the opportunity to go for a hike on area trails, which have views that are truly awesome.
Getting outside has probably never been more of a goal for all of us after dealing with COVID for two years. Being holed up and avoiding large events has gotten very old and we all need a break.
Now that June is here, we are sure to see brighter skies and warmer weather and we can get out and not only recreate, but tend to our gardens, lawns, and other outdoor projects we’ve been anxiously waiting for.
It’s nice to know that we certainly do live in a chamber of commerce region where the land, the lakes and rivers, the views and the weather sells itself.
Compared to other places in the nation and world, we’ve got it made so here’s to enjoying the outdoors and the enrichment she brings to our lives each and every day.