It’s an experience...not just a place to stay! 🛑You are only renting the loft. You do not have access to the entire barn. Your only access to the loft is from the back of the barn. You do not have access to the lower levels of the barn. The inside hallway door in the loft is for EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY. Every time you open the hallway door, we get a notification on our phones. Please do not open the inside hallway door in the loft unless there is a fire. 🌟HUGE parking lot in case you are pulling a trailer or a camper! 🌟🌟This is a brand new space so please be patient with my editing of the description as we continually add additional items to the loft. 🔴Because of my lung diseases, we do not allow any animals whatsoever. I have a medical exemption for this reason. ⭐️Please check your messages in the app just before your arrival for any new information. Thank you!😊 We do not provide body soap, shampoo, nor conditioner. We only provide hand soap. ‼️Please do not use bath bombs in the porcelain bathtub. They stain it really bad. 🌟🌟checkin is anytime after 3:00pm…no time is too late 🌟🌟checkout is 11:00am ‼️This is an actual barn loft apartment on the third floor, so you will be climbing stairs.‼️ 🌟🌟Please read the entire ad for house rules and directions.🌟🌟 😊 ⭐️If you access/buy any movies or apps…you will be charged for them. ⭐️Please do not delete nor add any apps to the tv. If you download an app that costs money, you will be charged for it. 🔴Please do not throw away any pots or pans out of the kitchen! If you “burn them up”, they are still cleanable! Just let us know and we will take care of it. (If you throw away pots or pans, you will be charged for a new set.) 🌟🌟If you have any problem whatsoever at any time, day or night, while you are here, please let us know as soon as you notice the problem so we can make your stay more enjoyable. Please let me know by texting my phone, as messages through this app are sometimes delayed.🌟 ‼️Please leave the shower curtains on the INSIDE of the tub at all times. If not, the water floods the downstairs wedding venue.‼️ 🔴We take your health and safety very serious!! Due to covid (and me being a retired nurse) we take extra precautions while cleaning! Being a “germaphobe” does have its perks. 🌟🌟The app doesn’t show your phone number until you book, so there is no way I can contact you other than through the app until you book. WIFI INFO… 🌟You’ll connect to Wedding Barn 🌟wifi password is Loft2005 🌟If I happen not to get right back to you, I’m probably busy, but I will respond. Thank you for your patience.😊 🌟To get to me quickly, please text my phone at the number provided. Sometimes the app has delayed messages which won’t get to me quickly. ‼️The playground is for your children to play on anytime! Playground quiet hours are 10pm-9am. ‼️If you are building a fire, there are bundles of cut wood in the outhouse on the upper side of the barn. They are $5 per bundle and there’s a box inside to leave your money. The wood in the woodshed is what we use to heat our home in the winter. Thank you 😊 🔴Before building a fire, please check for area “burn bands”. ❤️DONKEY THERAPY IS FREE❤️ ❤️The Legend of The Donkey... Our Lord Jesus called for a young colt donkey to be brought to Him to ride through the streets. The donkey loved the Lord so much that when Jesus was taken to Galgotha, it followed Him there. As our Lord Jesus was crucified, the little donkey stood to the side and watched its loving Master’s torture. As Jesus took His last breath, the little donkey couldn’t stand to see Him die, so it turned to walk away and there the shadow of the cross lay on the little donkeys back and has been there ever since. The one way to tell a true donkey is that the cross is still there on it’s back. Thank you God for sending Your only Son to die for me! Praise God!🙌🏻❤️ 🌟🌟🌟🌟NEW🌟🌟🌟🌟 A Watauga Lake kayak experience! If you’d like to kayak on Watauga Lake, I can take you to a private area or near the beach area on Watauga Lake, along with our 2 kayaks, drop you off and come back to get you when you’re ready to come back to the cabin. This includes (to use) life jackets, beach towels, bottled water, a basic necessities bag and small first aid kit. This is offered for an additional $150 for two people/2 kayaks. This must be scheduled at least 2 weeks before your arrival. (Tips are much appreciated.) (October trips are limited to specific days only.) 🌟🌟🌟🌟NEW🌟🌟🌟🌟 🌟🌟🌟JEEP EXCURSION🌟🌟🌟 We’ll hop in the Jeep one morning and I’ll take you to our favorite “secret” places in our area! I’ll take you to places like The Balds on Roan Mountain, the largest natural rhododendron garden in the world! We’ll stop by Elk River Falls, travel across Dennis Cove to our favorite little hidden gem, Frog Level. We’ll travel across the mountain tops all day. An all day, top off the Jeep, riding through our gorgeous mountains all day long! It’s $200 for two people. Please let me know in advance if you’d like to take an all day adventure with me! I’ll even pack a picnic! The last picnic I packed was fresh Elk burgers, chips, and snack crackers/cookies. I don’t just throw sandwiches together. During the summer harvest season, I might take fresh ole timey greasy beans, corn on the cob and sweet potatoes. (Cold bottled water is included!) (October excursions are limited to specific days only.) 🌟🌟🌟🌟NEW🌟🌟🌟🌟 🌟🌟BIKE THE HISTORIC TWEETSIE RAILROAD TRAIL🌟🌟 There is a bike rental shop in Elizabethton and one at the trail head in Johnson City. You’ll be biking on the historic Tweetsie Trail that was once a vital part of our town. There’s beautiful scenery and lots of interesting places to stop along the way and explore. There are even restaurants along the way to eat at. 🌟🌟🌟🌟NEW🌟🌟🌟🌟 🌟🌟PAINTING CLASSES🌟🌟 By my instruction, you will create a beautiful piece of art, worthy of hanging!! I provide all the materials for your experience. Paintings will be based on seasonal and farm items and backgrounds. We might be painting a donkey, a horse, a peacock, a turkey, a deer, or something for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Fall, Spring, Summer or Winter. The class is generally two hours. You may BYOB. We’ll have a great time creating a wonderful piece of art worthy of hanging!!!!! The painting classes are $75 per person. This is especially great for a drab, rainy day! I am a lifetime artist working in several mediums. I have rappelled from the tops of water towers to paint logos on them. When I was in 8th grade, I started co-teaching high school art. I have designed record labels for companies. I have painted many portraits for folks. I have painted murals in many businesses and homes. I was the residential artist in Burt Reynolds home, “Tara”, in LoganviIlle, Georgia where I designed their logo and painted lifesize oil paintings to hang in the home. I have been teaching painting classes for more than 5 years. What we’ll do... Create a painting with me worthy of hanging! I’ll provide all the materials and step by step instructions so you’ll have a true work of art worthy to be hung by the time you’re finished. Feel free to BYOB. During the activity, you’ll learn some interesting facts and features about the area. You’ll also hear some very interesting and amusing stories from growing up in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Have you seen the movie? Where we’ll be... In the cooler months, we will be inside the wedding venue. In the warmer months, we’ll either be outside on the wedding venue property, or we’ll sit on the front balcony of the third floor loft apartment overlooking the beautiful northeast Tennessee mountains. Using the wedding venue and loft will be limited if we have weddings going on. (October painting classes are limited to specific days only.) (Tips are much appreciated!) 🌟🌟🌟🌟NEW!!!!🌟🌟🌟🌟 PRESSURE CAN GREEN BEANS! Would you like to learn how to pressure can fresh green beans?! I will teach you how to pressure can your very own green beans!! This is a dying art! Most people just buy cheap, processed, canned green beans in the grocery store. I raise my own “Ole Timey Greasy Beans”. You can’t find them in any grocery store. They are heirloom beans, which means that if you don’t save bean seeds to plant the following year, then the beans cease to exist. You must keep them going every year. I’ll teach you how to string and break beans, prep all your beans, jars, lids and your pressure canner. I’ll then teach you how to “can a run of beans”. I’ll even teach you how to “cook a mess” of beans. In this day and time, this knowledge is priceless!!!! To learn to pressure can the old fashioned way, it’s $100 per person and you’ll get to keep a quart of the green beans and a few seeds to start your own beans next season! This is a day and a half process by the time you pick, string and break, prep everything, then can the beans. (October canning days are limited to specific days only.) (Tips are much appreciated!) (Beans this year are over $80 per bushel, which is double what they were last year.) 🌟🌟🌟🌟NEW!!!!🌟🌟🌟🌟 MAKING A HOMEMADE QUILT THIS is a dying art! Not many people make homemade quilts anymore. I remember me and my grannie sitting in my dads living room in Big Stone Gap, Va, (Crackers Neck area if you’ve seen the movie) in front of a huge fireplace with a fire, quilting until 3 or 4 in the morning. Grannie got to where she couldn’t see to thread her needle so I’d have to. She had 14 kids and there was never a dull moment. There’s even a song about my dad and his brothers. It’s called “Saturday Night in Begleyville” by RidgeRoad Riders! While working on your quilt, you’ll get to hear some of the hilarious stories my grannie told me and some I witnessed myself, like using a quart jar of moonshine as a level while building the old cabin on the mountain. You’ll even get to take home a copy print of my original artwork of the old cabin. It’s gone now. Only the precious memories remain. My papaw died when I was two so grannie raised 13 on her own! And boy, alllll the stories! I will provide all the materials for you to make a small lap quilt. I’ll give you instructions, step by step, while I put one together to show you side by side. When your quilt is finished, you can frame it or just use it as a lap quilt. (We will be using a machine because by hand, it would take a couple of days working on it all day.) Making a homemade quilt is $100 per person. 🌟🌟🌟WELCOME!!!!🌟🌟🌟 Feel free to hike the entire 33 acre property. Our farm adjoins the Cherokee National Forest. You can hike over the line if you’d like. There is a creek behind the red hay shed. If you cross the creek there, you can follow it to the top of the mountain to where the two springs come right out of the ground! (I’d pack a machete for the thickets.) That’s the best water you’ll ever drink in your life! We actually have a line running to our house from which we get fresh spring water. (The cabin and The Cottage House is on city water.) Please note, we do have different wildlife in our area. Turkey are abundant here, since no one hunts the property. Deer are also in the area. We also have black bear here. You may catch a glimpse of one, but I promise...they are more afraid of you than you are of them. A bear can smell your scent from a mile away and they usually steer clear of people. 🌟🌟🌟🌟Please understand that this is a working farm. You will see bees here. They are not in over abundance. We keep nests torn down and we spray the cabin and the barn loft. Bees are supposed to be here. They pollinate our crops. If they’re we’re no bees, we’d have no fruits or vegetables. You will see bees, but they’re not aggressive unless you mess with them. If you are from a city, you probably aren’t used to seeing bees. You will see them here. ‼️Due to my allergies to pet dander, no pets allowed. Thank you. If after you check in and we find that you have brought a pet, you will be billed $250 for a professional cleaner to clean the loft. I have asthma, sarcoidosis and I am highly allergic. When I go into a space where a pet has been, I can’t breathe and my eyes swell shut. Please, please no pets, period. (Also, donkeys will kill a dog or anything that gets in the fence with them.)‼️ ‼️Due to my horrible allergies to smoke, a lung disease called Sarcoidosis and having asthma...please, please no smoking nor vaping in nor near an opened door of the loft. Thank you so very much for not smoking. (Please no vaping inside the loft.) Thank you for respecting our property.) If after you leave, we smell smoke or vape scents in the loft, you will be charged a $250 professional fumigation fee. If I walk into a room where there’s been cigarette/cigar/vaping, my eyes and throat start to swell. It is a huge health risk for me. I can’t stress this enough. Please, please no smoking/vaping.‼️ 🌟Please be aware of the electric fence. We have cattle, donkeys, and miniature horses. The donkeys, absolutely love people!!!!! They are the sweetest natured animals we have. They will love all over you if you pet them. The white miniature donkey is Angel. She will back up to you wanting you to scratch her rear end!🤣The miniature gray donkey is Tucker. The full size gray one is Myrtle. If you sit on the ground, they’ll surround you and Angel will almost sit in your lap wanting you to scratch her rear end. 🤣 My favorite is Tucker. He’s my biggest baby and the sweetest of any of them. My big black cow, Annabelle is another big baby. I bottle fed her from when she was three days old until she was weaned and she’s very gentle. If you pet her, just watch that you don’t get in the way of her head swinging around to swat flies off her back. She’s got some real force with that swing! There is a fire pit in front of the barn, if you’d like to roast hotdogs or s’mores. We do have bundles of firewood for sale for $5 per bundle, or you’re more than welcome to bring your own. There is firewood in the “outhouse” above the barn. It sits just at the back of the big barn. There’s a box inside. You can leave your money in there. We just ask that you not start a fire on a windy day, nor leave the fire unattended. We prefer you stay with the fire until it almost burns out with no embers flying in the smoke or air. Please do not pour water over the fire to put it out. It will bust the concrete pad underneath. Thank you for respecting our property. We hope you enjoy yourself while you’re here and that you leave refreshed and renewed. We hope you have a very blessed stay with us! We want you to make yourselves at home! If you need anything at all, please let me know via text (sometimes I am on the tractor, mower or bobcat and texting is the quickest way to get to me) and I’ll do all I can to make your stay more enjoyable. Thank you and God bless you and your family! =) 🌟We just added a new fire tv to the loft. 🌟We just installed hardwire lined internet in the loft, so you shouldn’t have any problems whatsoever. 🌟There is a starter roll of toilet paper in the bathroom. 🌟Please dispose of sanitary items into the trash can. Please do not flush anything but toilet paper down the toilet. It will stop up and overflow into the first floor of the wedding venue. 🌟We provide liquid hand soap only. We do not provide bath soap nor shampoo. ‼️When you shower, please be sure all the shower curtains are inside the tub. If not, water will leak into the first floor area.‼️ We are always available for whatever you need. We live on the lower part of the property in the solid rock house. We like to give guests their space, but we can be of service at anytime. Guests are always welcome to hike the property. Watauga Lake is on the other side of the mountain. During winter months, we sometimes have snow when our town doesn't because we are at the 2,500 ft elevation mark. We have all 4 seasons here and each is beautiful in it's own way. ‼️CHECKOUT...Please put all wet/used towels and washcloths in the laundry basket provided. Please leave bedding on the beds. We’ll get that. Please wash dirty dishes and leave in the drainer on the sink. Just leave the trash bag in the can. We’ll get that. (If you need to take trash out mid-stay, please put it in the big can on the left side of the front porch of the big barn. Please don’t forget to leave the key inside the key code box. To close the box, you’ll need to enter the code and pull the knob down, place the key inside the box, re-enter the code, pull down the handle and close the box. Have a safe trip home and a very blessed and healthy rest of the year! 🌟🌟Please note that the only reason I have marked the loft as “not suitable for infants” is because of the stairs. You are more than welcome to bring your precious children and the playground is free to use anytime during your stay!😊 Playground quiet hours are 10pm-9am. The entire 33+ acres and the adjoining Cherokee National Forest is here for your hiking enjoyment! We’re here anytime if you need us! The big barn sits in the middle of our 34 acre farm just at the edge of the woods. Our farm borders the Cherokee National Forest and is on a dead end road. Our farm is on a mountain at the 2,500 foot elevation mark, allowing us to have more snow in the winter months. Our farm is just one and a half miles from Highway 19-E in Elizabethton, Tennessee. 🔴We are right in the middle of many attractions in our area. The Appalachian Trail is only 10 minutes away and can be accessed from Shook Branch parking lot at Watauga Lake or at Little Wilbur Dam on our side of the mountain. Watauga Lake has many attractions with fishing, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, boat and paddleboard rentals and is only 5-10 minutes away. It's only 5-10 minutes to the Laurel Falls trailhead. Its only 5 minutes from our famous hometown Stateline Drive-In Theater, open seasonally. It's only 20-30 minutes from Bristol Motor Speedway. 🎿⛷🏂 SKIING, SNOWBOARDING, SLEDDING It's only 45 minutes to an hour to snow skiing in the Western North Carolina mountains. Its only one and a half hours from Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. It’s only two hours from Cherokee Indian Reservation where the casino is. It's 15-20 minutes from Johnson City. It's 5-10 minutes to downtown Elizabethton where grocery stores and the shopping district are. There is a car show every Saturday night throughout the summer months. It’s in “the old part of town” on East Elk Avenue. THINGS TO DO‼️ 🌟Painting class by me 🌟Jeep Excursion by me 🌟Learn to can green beans 🌟Kayak rental by me 🌟Bike Tweetsie Trail 🌟Make a homemade quilt by me 🌟Hiking... 🌟Twisting/Compression Falls 🌟Laurel Falls 🌟Blue Hole (water falls) 🌟Beauty Spot Gap 🌟Roan Mountain (Balds) 🌟Roan Mountain State Park 🌟Sycamore Shoals State Park 🌟Caving in Erwin/Unicoi County 🌟Appalachian Trail 🌟Bike the Tweetsie Trail 🌟Rafting 🌟Please schedule your activities through the app. If you have trouble with scheduling, please let me know and I will help you. FOOD: If you’re looking for the BEST, most authentic Thai food, then you must go to Thai AM in Hampton. It’s a very small restaurant with the only cook being our friend, Wanna. Her husband Dave and their friend Berta helps out. She’s only open on certain weekend evenings, and if you don’t order early, you won’t get food. (She’s only open 4pm-8pm when she’s open.) This is a hidden treasure of a restaurant by locals who love Thai! She also only opens in the warmer months. She goes home to Thailand in the winter. If you’re looking for a true homemade breakfast with real brown gravy and biscuits fixed the old timey way, then our friend Lisa at The Laurel Fork in Hampton is the place to go! She also has daily specials and if you’re lucky to be here on a Wednesday, you’ll love the bbq boneless pork ribs! But order early! (By 4:00) They run out quick! If you're looking for good pizza in our area, we suggest Jiggy Rays Downtown Pizzeria...ask for "The Gobble Gobble" if you want an unforgettable turkey sub! If it's BBQ you're yearning for, check out Big Dan's BBQ. There's also The Escape Room downtown for those on a search for a bit of mystery and fun with a little of our area history thrown in! The second weekend of June, The Covered Bridge Days is a celebration you don't want to miss. Little Wilbur Dam is only 5-10 minutes away and features Observation Knob with a gorgeous panoramic view of the lake and mountains. You'll find a very interesting history to the lake inside the observatory at the point. The mountains seem to rise straight up out of the lake. Watauga Lake is just on the other side of our mountain. In the fall months, the leaves are the brightest on our mountain because the cool air from Watauga Lake comes over the ridge. Watch for all the wildlife while driving on area roads. To park and enter the loft, drive to the upper, far end of the big barn. There is a gravel driveway above the big barn on your right that leads around to the back of the barn. There’s a set of steel stairs on the back of the barn that lead to the loft. Please note...there’s hand soap only in the loft. Not body wash nor shampoos. There is plenty of room for a couple of air mattresses, should you have a larger family. You’ll need to bring your own air mattresses and sheets. 🌟All comforters, blankets, sheets, towels and couch covers are washed before each guest arrives. We do not reuse comforters or blankets between guests. Clean sheets, towels, and wash cloths are provided. If you find that you need more towels, please let me know and I’ll bring some right up. If you’re staying more than one night, sometimes I’ll leave a basket with fresh towels on the porch at the door.(Please rest assured, no one will enter the loft after you check in.) There is a queen bed, dresser, armoire, table, two lamps, couch, recliner, full size fridge, stove, oven, coffee pot, microwave, a set of pots and pans for cooking, and a table with two chairs. There is a full bath with an antique claw foot bathtub with a shower. There's silverware and two coffee mugs. There is a two person set of fine china. There are two small wine glasses. Please be mindful that we have pump hand soap on the sink, but we do not furnish bath soap. There is a huge walk in closet in the bedroom with hangers and a washer and dryer. There’s dish soap under the sink along with other items. Check out is 11:00am. Feel free to hike the 33+ acre property. The view from on top of the mountain behind the barn is gorgeous! Please be aware of the electric fence where the cattle, miniature horses, and miniature donkeys are. We hope you have a rejuvenating and blessed stay with us! Again, thank you so very much for choosing to stay with us! If you need anything at all while you’re here, please let me know, day or night. ‼️Due to my allergies to pet dander, no pets allowed. Thank you. If after you check in and we find that you have brought a pet, you will be billed $250 for a professional cleaner to clean the loft. I have asthma, sarcoidosis and I am highly allergic. When I go into a space where a pet has been, I can’t breathe and my eyes swell shut. Please, please no pets, period. (Also, donkeys will kill a dog or anything that gets in the fence with them.)‼️ ‼️Due to my horrible allergies to smoke, a lung disease called Sarcoidosis and having asthma...please, please no smoking nor vaping in nor on the porch of the loft. Thank you so very much for not smoking. (Please no vaping inside the loft.) Thank you for respecting our property.) If after you leave, we smell smoke or vape scents in the loft, you will be charged a $250 professional fumigation fee. If I walk into a room where there’s been cigarette/cigar/vaping, my eyes and throat start to swell. It is a huge health risk for me. I can’t stress this enough. Please, please no smoking/vaping.‼️ ‼️Please note, if after you leave, the key is not returned, you will be charged $250 for a new lock system to be installed by a professional. Please return the key to the key lock box. Each time you open or close the lock box, you have to enter the code.