- [Narrator] Tennessee Crossroads is made possible in part by Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways.

Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made in Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails.

More at TNTrailsAndByways.com.

- [Narrator 2] You can't predict the future, but you can count on Tennessee Tech always putting students first.

Our faculty, staff, and students have shown strength, compassion, patience, and kindness during these trying times.

For us it's personal.

That's what you can count on at Tennessee Tech.

- [Joe] This time on Tennessee crossroads, we take a delectable day trip to Papa Kay Joe's in Centerville.

Then join a bird watching party at Knoxville.

We'll explore the history and architecture of Nashville's Two Rivers Mansion.

And meet a topnotch saddle maker near Monterey.

Hi everybody, I'm Joe Elmore.

That's the line up for this edition of Tennessee Crossroads.

Sure glad to have you.

(upbeat theme music) We love it when some of you tell us you use our show as a guide for your Tennessee day trips.

Well, here's one for your to-do list.

It starts with a scenic drive to Centerville, then a stop at Papa KayJoe's.

It's a family owned barbecue joint that's been in business over two decades.

(upbeat music) If you're driving along highway 100, just south of Centerville, don't be surprised by the tempting aroma of barbecue.

And the source?

A Hickman county dining favorite since the year 2000, Papa KayJoe's.

(upbeat music) PapaKayJoe's is a true family business.

Headed by a man known as the Pitmaster Pastor, Devin picker.

While the fruits of Devin's labor are savored in the dining room, the real work happens in this state-of-the-art smoker.

Thanks to experience and some special cooking techniques.

- [Devin] So everything pretty much is wrapped up right now.

'Cause it only needs so much smoke.

Once it gets enough smoke and to color, then we just wrap it up and then it finishes off in its own juices.

- [Joe] After trying both Devin prefers Boston butt to pork shoulders for apparently good reason.

- [Devin] Shoulders are good.

They have a lot of waste.

And so as I opened this place, we transitioned just to cooking Boston butts.

Which as you'll see, just has one bone in it.

Very little waste.

And so you get a lot more yield out of that.

And we'll pour just a little bit of this back over the top of it.

You don't want too much because it'll become greasy.

But if you don't put enough on it, it'll dry out over the course of time.

- [Joe] The same cooking and marinating process is used on his chicken quarters and ever popular ribs.

- People talk about a fall-off-the-bone rib.

I mean that's... (laughing) That is fall off the bone.

We only serve these on Friday and Saturday and we go through 'em pretty quick.

What I have learned in the restaurant business is consistency is key.

People want to know that what they got on their first visit, hopefully it's good.

They're gonna get that same product on the second visit and on the hundredth visit.

(relaxing music) - [Joe] That consistent quality caught the attention of both 'Southern Living' and 'Garden and Gun' magazines.

Now the whole Pickard family is involved in dishing up the barbecue and sides from beans and potato salad to turnip greens.

All with the free serving of friendliness.

Thanks in part to Devin's mom, Debbie, better known as Oma.

- [Oma] And how are y'all today?

- Hey lady, how are ya?

- Haven't seen y'all in a while.

How are you buddy?

- [Customer] I'm Okay.

- [Devin] Oma is like a Walmart greeter.

She'll come in here and she'll just walk to different tables and talk to folks and "Hey, how are you?"

"Where are you from?"

"This is my son's restaurant."

Then she still finds time to make the pies in the cakes like she has done here and we have a banana pudding today.

That's her recipe as well.

So she's got a finger, especially in all the sweets.

(somber music) - [Joe] While the pickers have been blessed with success, It wasn't always smooth sailing.

Back in 2016, a kitchen fire completely destroyed the original structure.

- [Devin] You know somebody said, you really can't be a legitimate barbecue joint unless you've burnt down at least once.

(laughing) And so I got that dreaded knock on the door at three o'clock in the morning in 2016 and they said, we got a problem.

And I remember I came down here.

All the electricity was off.

It was in the middle of the night.

The shell was still standing, but everything was gone.

- [Joe] That fire destroyed just about everything inside the structure, except ironically the wall mementos.

Which pretty much make this place like a Pickard family museum.

(upbeat music) There are all sorts of surviving family and local sports photos and souvenirs.

Even the old scoreboard from the Hickman County gym.

But the most prize mementos are the newspaper columns written by Devin's late father, Bobby Pickard, better known as Poppy.

- [Devin] My dad wrote what he called Yesteryear in our local newspaper, Hickman County Times.

And Bradley Martin who's the newspaper guy here was so kind to daddy and asked him to write some articles about things from years ago.

- [Joe] Another survivor of the fire is this bar.

Which is the object of a very interesting legend.

- [Devin] Many years ago.

It actually was in, I think a bar.

A literal, in a beer joint, bar on the square.

A long time ago.

And that Davey Crockett was in there and had a few too many to drink and got up on the bar and danced.

So that that's the only folklore for that.

I don't know if it's true or not, but you can't tell me that it's not.

- [Joe] In addition to a pitmaster at restaurant tour, Devin is pastor of his own non-denominational church, just down the road.

- [Devin] The Lord has blessed me with just the best parents, the best friends, the best coworkers, the best children, all that.

And so we really see Papa KayJoes here as an offshoot or a branch to Hope Church.

Nobody's ever gonna go hungry here.

As long as they come in and say, "I'm hungry."

We're gonna feed 'em.

(upbeat music) - [Joe] Oh about the name Papa KayJoe's, Papa stands for Devon's dad.

Kay and Joe are a couple of his kids.

For customers, the name has been synonymous with extraordinary barbecue and friendly service.

Devin and his family want to keep it that way.

And no doubt Poppy will be watching.

I can't imagine doing anything else.

I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Hickman County is just the most...

It is God's country.

It's just the most wonderful place.

We have a kind of Leave It to Beaver life and I wouldn't want anything else.

(upbeat music) - If you've ever taken a walk in the woods, you've probably noticed some of Tennessee's most beautiful residents.

Bird watching is more popular than ever.

And with more than 400 different species native to the Volunteer State.

Well, this is a great place to enjoy them.

A photographer in East Tennessee regularly hosts parties for our fine veteran friends.

As Miranda Cohen shows us in this story.

- [Rebecca] Those bird's way up on the wire (camera shutter clicks) are purple martins.

(upbeat music) - [Miranda] As the sun rises on this beautiful day in east Tennessee, Rebecca Boyd is already hard at work.

All 416 acres of the seven island state birding park, which is nestled along the French Broad River are busy and bustling.

It's the ideal place to capture the perfect photograph.

(camera shutter clicking) - [Rebecca] I was born and raised here.

I've never lived anywhere else.

This is home.

I'm proud of my home.

I think this is one of the most beautiful places to live in the entire country.

(upbeat music) - [Miranda] A love for the great outdoors and a budding photographer.

And one day her two great passions seem to merge.

- [Rebecca] When I got my first really good smartphone with a really good camera on it, around the same time that a friend of ours said, "Hey, you want a bluebird house?

I've got one, I'll put it up in your yard."

So those two things kind of came together the same time, of oh, and I can take pictures of the bluebirds.

(camera shutter clicking) - [Miranda] And that's how Rebecca Boyd became a wildlife photographer and created her studio, Ridge Rock Arts.

The park and her own backyard provide a bounty of beautiful native species.

- [Rebecca] My yard has kind of become just a bird sanctuary.

'Cause over the years, I've feed every day.

I keep out sunflower, safflower, suet, meal worms, you name it for every kind of bird and they've just accumulated.

So at any given time, there's probably 30 or 40 species of birds flying around my yard.

- [Miranda] And when Boyd began to market her work a fellow artist suggested that she needed to do more than just take a picture.

She needed her photographs to tell a story.

And that's when she landed on a unique and lavish idea.

- [Rebecca] Bluebirds are probably my number one passion.

Got a picture of a female bluebird, didn't think too much of it.

I thought, "Well, that's cute."

Posted it on Facebook.

A fairly accomplished artist out of Kansas saw it.

And she sent me a private message and she goes, "Oh my, you are onto something here."

- [Miranda] The photograph was one of her two resident Tennessee, bluebirds she named Bodie and Becall.

And instead of photographing them mid-flight or in their natural habitat, she set a beautiful table and invited them to an elaborate tea party.

- [Rebecca] Alrighty, I'll do tea parties.

I'll just start doing some more tea parties.

So I thought if I can do it once I can do it twice.

So I posted a couple and I was getting a lot of good responses.

- [Miranda] Boyd's tea parties became an instant hit and it seemed everyone was trying to get on the invitation list and who could blame them.

Thanks to her family heirlooms and a local China dealer, she has an enviable collection of rare and vintage porcelain cups and saucers.

And those exquisite dainty cups are filled with delicious treats.

That is if you're a bird.

(upbeat music) Now like any perfect hostess, Rebecca Boyd will set a beautiful table and prepare the kind of food she knows her friends love to eat.

But like any dinner party or tea party, the hardest part is waiting for the guests to arrive.

And for these very special guests, Rebecca will wait and wait and wait.

(camera shutter rapidly clicking) - [Rebecca] I've probably waited as long as two hours.

And then it's the waiting and the cussing and the, no, turn around this direction.

A lot of it has to do with timing and waiting until they turn the right direction and pose in the right direction.

They're all real.

I guarantee you I do no Photoshopping at all.

If the birds are there the birds are real.

- [Miranda] Boyd produces prints and note cards available through her social media and her website, Ridge Rock Arts.

And she always creates a wildlife calendar.

But this year her upcoming calendar is entirely made up of tea party images.

- This is the first all tea party.

My other calendars have all been all bluebirds, but this is the first one that's been just tea parties.

I try to kind of match the pictures to the season, the best I can.

- [Miranda] I think that's the first one I saw and it just absolutely is gorgeous.

The look and the expression on that bird's face.

- That one was really fun.

That was actually taken...

It looks December, but that was actually taken in March when we had a snowstorm.

(camera shutter rapidly clicking) - With every click of her camera, Boyd is capturing more than the vivid images in front of her lens.

She is capturing a moment in time when some very special guests dressed in their very finest are attending a real Tennessee tea party.

- [Rebecca] And to me, it's the innocence, it's the beauty.

It's the... (birds chirping) It's watching their behaviors and seeing how different birds behave different ways.

And to think that it had that kind of impact, even if it was on one person, it's worth all the waiting and all the sweating and all the bird feed and everything.

(laughing) Just to know that it really made somebody's day.

If anything, I'd like to say that I brought a little joy into some people's lives by sharing my photography.

(upbeat music) - Thanks Miranda.

In our next story, Alex Dennis gives us a lesson in Tennessee history and fine architecture.

The Volunteer State has more than it's share of antebellum homes, but few can compete with the ornate beauty of Nashville's Two Rivers Mansion.

(upbeat classical music) - [Alex] Tucked at the end of a dramatic tree lined driveway, it's a sight to behold.

(upbeat classical music continues) The mansion built in 1859, is one of the earliest ornate Italianate houses built in Middle Tennessee.

It's well preserved grandeur, a glimpse of the past.

- [Laura] And when you're at the front gates looking down in here, I mean, it is just so majestic to see this big, beautiful house just appears.

(upbeat classical music continues) You know you can see the carriages and the ladies in the big dresses.

And it just has a magical feel to it.

- [Alex] For decades, Laura Carillo community coordinator for Metro parks has advocated for Two Rivers Mansion.

The home sits on 14 acres and spreads its ornate detail, both inside and out across more than 10,000 square feet.

- [Laura] It actually gets its name from where we sit in this property.

A half mile to the east is the Stones River, half mile to the west is the Cumberland River.

So that gives you two rivers.

- To fully appreciate this incredible build, you must start where it began.

Here, the first dwelling, which has stood strong for more than 215 years.

Step inside and you are transported back to 1802 where pieces from that era, fill the rooms.

(upbeat piano music) Original pine floor stretch wall to wall.

The cozy home with two bedrooms and an attic that runs the entire length of the house served as an investment for a man looking to create a homestead in 1819.

Instead it would become his legacy.

- William Harding died fairly young.

He didn't even live long enough to see his only child born.

- [Alex] The child William Willie Elizabeth Harding grew.

And so did the family's property into an 1100 acre estate.

- [Laura] And they actually gave this back to Miss Willie as an endowment for marriage.

- [Alex] Her young husband, David H McGavick.

- [Laura] Now this was not an arranged marriage.

This was just two people that fell in love.

She had the land and the house and he had the knowledge.

They were the perfect union when they got married in may of 1850.

- The newlyweds wasted no time building two rivers mansion for $8,000.

And no detail was spared.

The ceilings are more than 14 feet tall on both the first and second floors accented by original medallions.

Floor to ceiling windows allow light to pour in highlighted by ruby red glass.

A sign of wealth.

The thick walls are filled with saw dust to help with insulation.

- It's just layers and layers of detail.

(upbeat violin music) - [Alex] Ascend upstairs and room after room is outfitted with period furniture.

(upbeat violin music continues) Fine art enhances the walls, some original to the home.

- [Laura] This is probably my favorite piece in the house.

This is a love message.

This was painted by C.A.

Lenor in about 1880.

It's in it's original frame.

(upbeat music) - [Alex] Two rivers took eight years to build and the family expanded with it.

Their names forever marked in masonry alongside those who helped.

- [Laura] I really believe that that's the child of Henry Harding.

Henry Harding was one of the slaves and they put her little feet into the mortar of the bricks, which were all made here on the property.

- [Alex] Still fully intact.

The mansion tells an incredible story of love, struggle, and redemption.

A storied past preserved by Mary Louise Branford McGavick.

The last of the McGavock family until her death in 1965.

- [Laura] You know they weren't all this famous, but they left behind this era and this house that's just magnificent.

- [Alex] Even today, Two Rivers Mansion reflects the taste, textures, and colors of the post-war era.

And remains a centerpiece for gatherings, both public and private.

- [Laura] I love giving tours to the locals.

'Cause you start talking about the other families, the other houses, the street names, and you start... You just see them kind of like, "Oh, okay!

That's why!"

And that's who they are.

And it just gives...its Nashville's history.

(upbeat music) - Jay Bauman is an artist and craftsman born into a family of leather workers who made fine belts and holsters.

But when Jay saw leather, he didn't see belts and holsters, he saw saddles.

Well nowadays his saddles are sought by horse owners across the country.

Rob Wilds, traveled to the community of Muddy Pond to watch him at work.

(upbeat music) - [Rob] Jay Bauman was destined to work with leather.

He's the third generation of his family to go into that craft, learning from his grandfather Josh.

- [Jay] When I was 10, 12 years old, I got to spend some time in my grandpa shop, in and out.

I wasn't working.

I was just, "Go say hi to grandpa and see what he was doing."

So I got to see him make stuff.

And then I spent a lot of time in my dad's shop as a kid and learned things.

- [Rob] And his father, Aaron, who's still at work, making belts and holsters.

- [Jay] I learned a lot from my dad.

I'm still learning stuff from my dad.

- [Rob] But when Jay saw leather, he didn't see belts, He saw saddles.

(upbeat guitar music) - [Jay] In my dad's store I repaired a lot of saddles and we made a lot of things there too, but it wasn't really creative things.

And that's why I wanted to get into custom saddles.

I like the creativity of it and it intrigued me.

- [Rob] So Jay was determined to design and build beautiful custom saddles.

Even though his own father, Aaron, warned him that he would almost certainly go broke doing that.

- [Aaron] I was wrong and he was right.

People are tired of cheap stuff.

They want quality.

And therefore he proved me wrong.

- [Bill] So this is a... - [Jay] This is a narrower tree, yeah.

- [Bill] Yeah.

She's probably gonna take something wider, 'cause she's pretty wide.

- Right?

Yeah.

- [Bill] She has to be to haul big ol' me.

- [Jay] Exactly.

(laughing) - [Rob] Now, horse owners like Bill Mitchell of Cookville drive to Muddy Pond, and it's not easy to find, to get just what they want.

A saddle that fits both horse and rider.

- [Bill] I'm looking for something in a western satellite.

I like the idea of kind of a roper because it has a higher back.

- [Jay] Right.

- [Rob] For folks who love to ride, the personal attention and one of a kind design are money well spent.

- [Bill] You invest a lot of money in your horse, your truck, your trailer.

- Mm-hmm.

- [Bill] You might as well have a saddle that matches the rest of it.

- [Jay] Why not be comfortable when you're out there riding, doing what you want to do?

- [Bill] Yeah.

- [Rob] Well thanks to the internet, customers don't actually have to come to Muddy Pond, but Jay says wherever they come from, they are all like Bill Mitchell.

- [Jay] They want to talk about it, you know?

They want to know that they're getting something special.

Most people can design their own saddle so that they feel involved in the process.

And it's theirs when it's done.

I mean it's their own.

Usually no one else has a saddle exactly like that.

- [Rob] Since someone sits in the saddle, the seat is very important.

- [Jay] One of the first things that you do is put the ground seat in a saddle and shape the seat.

Which is a part that it's not visible when the saddle is finished, but that's what's gonna make the saddle ride good.

You have to get the leather shaped right.

And you have to do that by hand, you have to glue a piece of leather and then shave it down and contour it to make the seat shaped right for the rider.

And that's something that you don't see whenever the saddle's finished, but you know if it's shaped right or not.

- [Rob] Then comes more cutting and fitting and sewing and creating, which is what drew Jay to leather work years before, that creativity.

He would hang around his grandfather's store back then.

Now Jay's own kids are here watching and learning, maybe planning for the future.

Even Jay's wife, Regina, who had no knowledge of or interest in leather when she married Jay, decided that she better get with the program.

(upbeat music) - [Regina] So Jay and I started a personal leather goods brand called Urban Southern.

And we have handbags wallets, that type of thing.

- [Rob] Now this is as urban as it gets in Muddy Pond, Tennessee.

But thanks to the internet... - [Regina] We sell all of the United States, mostly in the southern states, but we also sell a lot to Australia, New Zealand, a few to China.

That's amazing to think that a leather handbag made here in Muddy Pond, Tennessee goes all the way over to Australia and someone's carrying it over there.

- [Rob] Yeah, carrying bags or riding on saddles Jay creates.

It's a modern day story with a timeless beginning really.

I mean you know the one, where the guy has an idea and makes it a reality.

The story of Jay Bauman, saddle maker.

(upbeat music) - Thanks Rob.

You know we're always on the go.

And now you can watch us on the go anywhere, anytime.

Just download the PBS Video APP on your phone to access hundreds of Crossroads episodes and even thousands of PBS favorites.

Well, that's gonna do it for this week on Tennessee Crossroads.

Thanks for joining us.

Please join us on our website, TennesseeCrossroads.org.

You can follow us on that Facebook thing of course.

And we'll be back next week.

See you then.

(upbeat jazz music) (upbeat jazz music continues) (upbeat guitar music) - [Narrator] Tennessee Crossroads is made possible in part by Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways.

Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made in Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails.

More at TNTrailsAndByways.com.

- [Narrator2] You can't predict the future, but you can count on Tennessee Tech always putting students first, our faculty, staff, and students have shown strength, compassion, patience, and kindness during these trying times.

For us, it's personal.

That's what you can count on at Tennessee Tech.