Welcome back. This week I'm sharing a story from a Tuesday breakfast before a long drive to Nashville, a toddler who made some new friends in uniform, and a few local spots worth knowing about.

In this week's post:

Hey Kingsport,

There is a version of Kingsport that exists in the in-between moments. Not the ribbon cuttings or the announcements, but the Tuesday morning before a long drive, when you are sitting in a booth with your family trying to keep a two-year-old from reorganizing someone else's table.

That was us last week at Eggs Up Grill.

I had an early breakfast with my wife, my son Marshall, and his papaw before I had to head to Nashville for legislative meetings. Eggs Up has that quality a lot of us are chasing without always being able to name it. Good light. Friendly staff that actually means it. The kind of place where ordering coffee and nothing else does not earn you a look.

Marshall is two, which means breakfast out is less of a meal and more of a rotating negotiation. We ordered for him. He had other plans. Between bites and laps around the booth, he spotted a table of Sullivan County Sheriff's deputies seated nearby.

He froze the way toddlers do when something catches them completely.

Then he walked over, bashful and big-eyed, waved at them, and started asking questions in that half-language a two-year-old uses when he is very serious about something.

Those officers did not have to engage. We do not know what kind of shift they had come off of, what they had seen, or where they were headed next. Public service in this region is not an easy job, and the people who do it carry things most of us never see.

But they turned their chairs. They answered him. And before we left, they sent Marshall home with a small stack of Sheriff's badge stickers that he has since applied to nearly every surface in our house.

That does not happen everywhere.

It happens here because of the kind of people who still choose to show up for this community, in every capacity, every day. The officers at that table were not performing anything. They were just being decent to a little boy who wanted to say hello.

Kingsport is still a place where that happens. That is worth saying out loud.

What does your perfect Kingsport weekend look like? Hit reply and tell me. I'm genuinely collecting these and the best ones might end up in a future issue.

Cody Fair at The Sports Mill - Saturday, March 14, 8:00-11:00 PM Part of the Downtown Kingsport St. Patrick's Day Weekend Pub Crawl. Cody Fair is a singer-songwriter out of Elizabethton bringing country rock and high energy to 600 E. Market St. Good excuse to be downtown. More info

Generational Fusion with Dobyns-Bennett Wind Symphony - This Weekend A side-by-side performance featuring the DB Wind Symphony. If you have not seen what this program can do, this is a good place to start. More info

Spring Fun Sugar Cookie Decorating Class - Saturday, 11:00 AM A hands-on cookie decorating class that is a perfect weekend activity if you have kids or just want to do something a little different this Saturday. More info

This week we are heading to Bluff City. 146 Thistle Drive is a 2024 build in the Avoca School District, and it shows. Open concept living, granite countertops, stainless appliances, oversized island, and a primary suite that feels more like a hotel room than a bedroom. Four bedrooms, 2.5 baths, two-car attached garage, and all the energy efficiency that comes with new construction. Turnkey in a quiet neighborhood just minutes from Bristol.

So what do you think they are asking?

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This newsletter works best when it's a conversation. If you know a story that needs to be told, a person doing something interesting, or a place in Kingsport that matters to you, send it my way. Every documentary, every feature, every post starts with someone saying "you should look into this."

That's it for this week. Thanks for trusting me with your inbox. Let's tell some stories.

Talk soon,

Ryan