Letter From the Editor

The long view of Tennessee from I-40.

Credit: State of Tennessee

Tennessee is the most beautiful state in the union. I know this because I just saw most of it…on I-40 from my windshield.

My family travelled to North Carolina for a wedding recently. Hurricane Helene clean-up found portions of 40 closed or down to one lane. So, we headed north at Knoxville to Johnson City and down into the Carolina mountains from there.

I wanted to make a million stops to visit great places I’ve read about online, or to grab a fun lunch to snap for Instagram, or to — at least — drink a Dr. Enuf. But the road from Memphis to Little Switzerland is long and Nintendo Switch batteries have their limits.

Do y’all think I should get this Dr. Enuf tattoo that I saw on the Dr. Enuf Facebook page? (Credit: Dr. Enuf from Facebook)

So, I settled for admiring the state’s changing landscape from the driver’s seat. The flat Delta began to give way to rolling hills. Then, up the Cumberland Plateau and further up and up as the Appalachian foothills become the Smoky Mountains. Just amazing, even in Knoxville’s constant standstill traffic.

But Tennessee is long, too. And driving through it so quickly made me realize just how many stories are still ahead us here at State & Beale. I can’t wait. One last great thing about our trip, I got that Dr. Enuf after all.

If you have a story idea, please email me at toby@statandbeale.com.