Different strokes. We found it a nice place to visit not a big fan of Pigeon Forge and Asheville was too expensive. We ended up near Williamsburg,Va and fell in love with the area.
Richmond's airport is about an hour away. Just an hour or so flight to DTW. Three hour drive to the Shenandoah Valley, Raleigh, maybe 6 hours to Hilton Head with Myrtle Beach in between. Snow ( if any ) is mostly gone in a day or two. No unsightly black snow mountains.
DC is a two hour train ride.
And there's Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. The perfect location for us