- [Announcer] This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

- [Announcer] Wish you were here produced under an agreement with the Upper Cumberland Development District and made possible in part through support from the United States Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration.

- In the heart of Tennessee.

There's a little slice of heaven, you've just gotta see.

(grand orchestral music) - [Announcer] Oh man, wish you were here.

- Hi, I'm Katelyn Steakley.

You're host for wish you were here.

If you're here, that tells me one thing you're ready for more Upper Cumberland adventure.

And boy, do we have some adventure in store for you.

But before we meet up with our correspondence, let's go do some exploring of our own right here in Bloomington Springs at the Sulfur Ridge tree house.

(modern calm music) I'm here today at Tennessee's first luxury tree house with owner Susan Dyer.

Susan, thank you so much for having us.

- We're so glad you're here.

- [Katelyn] I feel like I've been transported into an enchanted forest fairytale.

I think we've all dreamed of building a treehouse at one point in our lives.

But what you created here is truly something special.

What are some of the experiences that guests can look forward to when they book a weekend stay here at the treehouse?

- I think they love being secluded in the forest and get to connect with nature.

They actually get to spend a lot of time with each other and reconnect together.

I have guests that say, Susan, we've talked more and laughed more and danced to the jukebox.

We've talked more than we've talked in 20 years of their marriage.

So it's, it's wonderful.

They're not, they don't have a lot of distractions.

We don't provide a television.

So they, they love that actually.

They spend time in the hot tub.

We have a fire pit outside on the patio.

They have a gas grill.

They can cook if they want.

They love exploring the area.

Middle Tennessee is a wonderful place to be the outdoors.

They're endless.

There's so many state parks with hiking.

There's state parks with waterfalls.

Some guests never leave.

They bring their food in and they stay all in.

They don't go anywhere.

- Yeah, I don't blame 'em.

It's beautiful here.

- Thank you.

- [Susan] Something happens when people visit the treehouse.

I think you step away from the busyness and the craziness of life and you get to relax and experience more time with the person that you're with.

And then say the treehouse is really special to us.

And in some way it takes a life of its own and it becomes special to our guests too.

- [Katelyn] Everywhere I look there is a creative twist of eras and items incorporated into the treehouse.

Can you tell us a little bit about the unique items that we can find here?

- [Susan] Sure.

Probably one of our best features or one of our favorite features is when you come through the front door.

The front door is dated 1848 off an old mansion near Shelbyville that was used during the civil war as a hospital.

So we love that feature.

Probably one of my favorite pieces at the treehouse would be the jukebox.

It's a 1973 Rockola.

It's interesting how it affects the guests.

Sometimes they'll play the jukebox and they cry.

And we leave them $5 worth of quarters.

They're on the house because we think that's important.

You can set a jukebox to play automatically, but we thought to really have the experience, you need to drop your quarter in and choose your song.

So that's how they do it.

- That's really unique.

- Yeah.

I have a tendency sometimes to judge their character on how many quarters they play.

(both laughing) Yeah.

- I love it.

We also have another area on our property called Shasta Camp.

Shasta Camp is three retro campers.

They're actually 2015, but they are retro inspired to look like they're 1961.

You can play a life size Scrabble game.

There's horseshoe, there's corn hole.

There's the stock tank pools on the hot summer day.

You can sit by the fire pit in the evenings and sit under the stars and have smores.

It's a fun experience, a very retro vibe at Shasta Camp.

- They're absolutely adorable.

I passed them on the way in, and I'm really excited to explore those today.

- Thank you.

- Thank you so much for having us, Susan.

It was wonderful.

Exploring the treehouse and viewing the beautiful property.

- Thank you for having us.

We're honored.

(modern calm music) - Two brothers set upon a mystical journey to share their craft beers with the world.

And dreamed of one day, starting their very own brewery.

A dream we are so thankful they never lost sight of.

Let's join field correspondent, Matt Bael on the banks of the Calf Killer River for a tasting that is truly unparalleled.

(funky music) - [Matt] I'm here in beautiful Sparta, Tennessee at Calf Killer Brewing Company.

And I'm joined today by co-owner of Calf Killer Brewing Company, Don Sergio.

Don, thanks so much for having me.

- Absolutely, absolutely glad you guys are here.

- We are glad to be here.

So tell us about Calf Killer and how things got started here.

- Well, that's a, that's a way back story, man.

My brother and I started home brewing about 2001 and the hobby just went ape.

My wife and I bought this property here that you see.

it wasn't like this when we bought it, but we bought the property in 2003 and it had a little horse barn on it.

We can refer to the, watch this, dig it, man.

PowerPoint presentation Y'all!

See I can scroll in for you a little bit.

Wee!

Anyways, so it had a little horse barn on it.

And we turned it into the home brewery with a hundred percent recycled materials.

I always say we were Pinterest before Pinterest was Pinterest.

- [Matt] Somebody had to get it started.

- [Don] That's right.

- [Matt] So as far as coming out to the brewery, I mean, it's just beautiful here.

We're on the banks of the Calf Killer River.

There's a gift shop and then folks can come hang out here.

Tell us about what the experience is.

- [Don] We take great care of people.

We have outside space.

So if you like to hang out outside and you like to drink awesome beers.

You can commune with nature if you want to.

With nature and nature's product.

- [Matt] Now, do you have, and this is probably asking you like trying to pick a favorite child, but do you have a favorite beer or a favorite style or a something that stands out to you?

- Well, here's the deal.

I do always tell people when they ask me, what's your favorite beer?

And I said, I don't know, man.

They're like, they're like children to me.

You know?

And so that's a good pertinent question.

But anyways, if I had to pick one, we can't cuss on television.

So I'm gonna go with my next favorite.

I'm gonna do the smokey treat.

I love the smokey treat.

And the reason is because it's made with pete smoked barley the same they would use in single malt scotch, but it's not like any other beer, any other place.

- And it's a smokey treat.

- And it's the smokey treat.

One of our goals was to always allow regular people to drink good beer.

You know what I'm saying?

- Sure.

- And so that's part of, if it's, there's a motto or a theme to the Calf Killer way, that's we care about all walks of life.

- You said you make things, you recycle things.

You are not just a good brewmaster, but also a talented craftsman and even make the handles for the... - We do make the handles.

We made that's one thing we had to learn how to do to be a distributor.

We have to have a tap handle.

We have to have a sign.

What better to have a natural beer than a natural chunk of wood.

All the tap handles are different.

We'll cut them outta the wood sometimes.

Sometimes we'll just pick 'em up off the ground.

Like, well, that, one's pretty cool.

Sometimes we'll find something twisty and weird and it's it just, it's kind of cool.

- And all handcrafted here, all onsite from things coming from onsite.

That's great.

Speaking of onsite, maybe we can go inside and you can let me try some of these delicious beers before we go.

- That's a good idea.

- I think so too.

Thanks.

(funky music) - Matt.

Are you ready to have a beer man?

- I am so ready.

Yes.

- Do a little sampling.

Let's do this.

Awesome.

Reta is gonna grab us a little bit of a beer here.

So Matt, this beer here is what we call it.

As I said, ye old Calf Killer Quasi.

Quasi is a funny word for almost or kind of.

So we always say that this hazy summer gift is a refreshing conundrum.

Is it a wheat beer?

Not really.

Is it a pale ale?

Not quite.

Does it identify as a Pilsner?

Almost, but it is the ol Calf Killer Quasi.

Almost like every beer, but unlike any beer.

Mm tasty.

- It is hard to pinpoint exactly what that is.

- Yeah.

- But there's a lot of unparalleled and complexity going on there.

- Absolutely.

That's what happens.

That's what happens.

It's the name of the game, baby.

The motto.

You ready to try something else Matt?

- I am ready.

- I think Rita's got a special treat in the bag this time.

Ah, yes.

Rita's pouring the Smokey Treat.

- Yum.

- Mm, thank you, Rita.

Awesome.

So this is one of our favorites, but notice the subtle hints of smoke and it gives way to a nice fruity note that comes from actually our yeast strain producing esters, which are chemical compounds that make up fruit flavors.

We failed chemistry.

But anyways, here it is.

Smokey Treat.

Cheers, dude.

- You failed chemistry, but you passed beer with flying colors.

This is delicious.

- Thank you, sir.

I love this one too.

Isn't it unique?

Makes me happy.

Have I got a deal for you though Matt?

I'd like to see you in a Calf Killer t-shirt and I'd like to give it to you, but in order to do this, you need to do the ring game out there.

Play the ring game, get it in three tries.

The t-shirt is yours.

If you mess up or you don't get it, then you'd be doing the dishes for Rita.

- Challenge.

Acceptance.

(funky music) - Dale Hollow Lake is renowned for its crystal waters and trophy fishing.

Recently field correspondent, Rafferty Cleary visited Dale Hollow Marina at Cedar Hill in Salina, Tennessee to do some fishing of his own.

I wonder if he had any luck catching anything.

- Hey, everyone Rafferty Cleary here coming to you from Salina, Tennessee on the beautiful Dale Hollow Lake at Cedar Hill Marina today, we're trying to catch a Dale Hollow Mondo.

(acoustic guitar music) - [Announcer] The upper Cumberland remains a premier fishing location for anglers far and wide.

Dale Hollow Lake is renowned for its crystal waters and trophy fishing with more than 650 miles of shoreline and 28,000 acres of exceptional waters.

There are plenty of opportunities to cast a line.

- [Man] It's just about right there - [2nd Man] Off to the right of you.

- Yeah.

Just right close as you can get to without... That just, yeah.

Let her fall.

- Gah lee.

- Keep forgetting.

(beeping) There's 175 to a hundred on this power right now.

(beeping) Just leave your bail open cause it's still sinking.

Cause you're down there like 20.

There you go.

Perfect.

You ready?

I think he's on Denny.

Hit him Denny hit him.

- Oh he, oh yeah.

Ain't a big one.

Maybe is a big one.

He's a little bigger now he's gainin weight.

Oh my goodness.

- Oh yeah.

- I got.

- Oh yeah.

- I got him.

- There's all three types of crappie in here.

Black nose, black crappie and white crappie.

It's beautiful lake we're at it's 28,000 acres.

It's 600 miles of shoreline that you'll notice, there's no development on this shoreline at all.

It's never gonna have it.

That's one of the beautiful things about this lake.

Fish is like three lakes.

We got a, the upper part of the lake is where there's two rivers that come together, the Obey and the Wolf River.

But then it opens up in the middle and it's got big open flats and humps and islands and it it's a whole different, unique fishing style.

Then you get to this end of the lake where we're located with Dale Hollow Cedar Hill Marinas.

It's like a Upland reservoir.

It's really deep and steeps got the rock walls and it, you know, excellent fishing too.

It's three different types of fishing and it's fishable year round.

(country music) - Yep.

It's a mondo.

- Oh my Gosh.

- Oh my.

- Holy smokes.

- Now that!

- That's a mondo.

Oh, there!

He got one.

- You've got one.

Nice and slow, slow and steady.

- Oh my goodness.

- Nice.

Nice oh snap.

- Now this, hopefully we got this on video.

These are both black nose.

So we need to talk about... hold that fish for me.

I'll hand you yours here in just a moment.

Now that is a double, a double mondo and what makes these things really cool?

Turn it like this.

You see this black Stripe.

Thank you, Tennessee fish and wildlife.

These fish were brought up here in the eighties from Arkansas and they had exchange program, but these are originally a strain.

It's still a considered a black crappie but this is the subspecies.

- They were fun to catch kinda.

I know that much.

- That one's yours, right?

- This one right.

- Here.

Yeah.

- The bigger one is yours.

- Geez, man.

(country music) - Dennis Wilbert is hanging out with us as our late day continues.

He is the owner of Del Hollow Marina at Cedar Hill.

We're cooling off inside one of these cozy cabins here at the marina.

Just one of many experiences folks can come to expect when they visit here.

Can you kind of roll through some of those experiences, Dennis?

- Sure.

Yeah.

We, we have 12 cabins.

We have 10 motel rooms.

We have 12 houseboats ranging from four bedrooms to six bedrooms.

We have five pontoon boats and fishing boats, walleye boats.

We have pretty much anything you wanna do to enjoy this lake.

- There's a kind of a sentimental value to this place for you.

- Oh, absolutely.

Yeah, I started coming here when I was six years old and we came here every year for two weeks in July and got my heart real early and blessed to be able to buy it.

- Dennis, we were good stewards of the water while we were out on the boat today.

We threw a couple Del Hollow Mondos back, but we did bring some stuff back that we can hopefully cook up.

What do you got for us in store?

- We got a special recipe.

Corey is a gourmet cook.

It's a good diet type of fish.

It's good for you to eat.

He's preparing it for us now and he's gonna bring it over.

We're gonna fry it up.

And you're in for a treat.

(acoustic guitar music) - In August of 1920, a Tennessee governor from Livingston would shift the course of the nation.

Field correspondent Shan Stout recently visited downtown Livingston to learn more about an amazing piece of history.

And since she was already downtown, maybe do a little shopping on the square.

A day of history in shopping is a day well spent, indeed.

(country music) - [Shan] I am here in charming Livingston, Tennessee at the historic law office of the 35th governor of Tennessee Albert Houston Roberts.

And it's my pleasure to be here with Paula Stover.

You are the director of the Overton County Heritage Museum.

- Yes.

- Now Paula in 1918, A.H.Roberts ran for governor and he not only played a very important role in the state of Tennessee, but for our nation.

- Yes, he was the governor that signed the pivotal vote that let women get the rights to vote.

He signed that in 1919.

It didn't pass through the general assembly until 1920 was when it was voted in.

- And so can you imagine having an impact on the 19th amendment?

That's a, that's a big deal.

- It is.

Women had fought for rights to vote since not long after the civil war.

- I mean that's a serious legacy to leave for your family.

- It is.

- Now the Overton County Heritage Museum.

It's not just a museum that you can tour, but you have multiple exhibits that you feature throughout the year.

Can you tell us a little bit about those?

- We do.

We have a lot of permanent exhibits.

Schools, military.

We have two floors and we cover all Overton County history from beginning to end.

- So history buffs are just gonna love everything about this.

- They are.

We have a good medical exhibit equipment that doctors used.

Some are kind of primitive.

They wouldn't use... - Makes us grateful for our advanced technology.

- Yes it does.

- Now there's a lot about women's right to vote.

- Think in 2018, we began working on an exhibit for women's rights to vote, which A.H. Roberts, of course he has his ties.

He was born in Overton county, practiced law in Overton county, taught school in Overton county.

And he was a governor that signed the pivotal vote for women to get the rights to vote.

So we do have an exhibit, a permanent exhibit on that with a lot of information, that's some of, it's hilarious for us to read today, why women should not have rights to vote.. - But so that's part of our history.

- It is.

- Now I'm also curious.

You say that he has a lot of overlapping significance with other historical characters across Tennessee history.

- He does.

His secretary was from here in Livingston.

Her name was Miss Will Harris.

She never married, but Cordell Hull was also a lawyer and a judge in the area.

And he needed a secretary to travel with him to some of his courts that he had in other counties.

And he asked the bar, Miss Will because she did a good job.

- So, so he poached her secretary.

- He did.

- Now for those of you that wanna come and visit the museum, know that that's not the only thing you can do here.

The beautiful downtown square has so much shopping, - [Announcer] Explore the 18 unique boutiques in the historic downtown and grab a refreshment and stroll The Livingston Square.

(country music) - [Announcer] Livingston, Tennessee.

Where small town Southern charm, meets history on every corner.

- Nature is an awe inspiring, ever evolving organism that is always willing to share its secrets.

If we take time to listen.

Field correspondent, Matt Beal took a trip to the Half Hill Farms, Wellness Emporium in Woodbury to learn about some of nature's possibilities.

(acoustic guitar music) - [Matt] I'm here in beautiful Woodbury, Tennessee at the Half Hill Farms Wellness Emporium, and I'm joined by co-owner of Half Hill Farms and the Wellness Emporium, Christian Grantham.

Christian, thanks so much for having us here.

- Thanks Matt.

Thanks for coming.

- First of all, you're celebrating an anniversary this year?

- That's right.

It's our 10 year anniversary as a farm.

We started 10 years ago, growing vegetables organically bringing them to our local farmers market and slowly grew into what you see today, The Wellness Emporium.

Started with farming.

So that should tell you it started with struggle and we had no idea what we were getting into to do it, but we just knew we wanted to do something positive for our community that we just moved into.

Vince's mother actually came down with cancer and we were making mushroom products at the time.

And we knew in, in some of the research that we were doing, that that could help her.

Other people saw what it was doing for her.

And it just grew from there.

- I'm here today with co-owner Vince Oropesa and Vince, thanks for having us here.

- Good morning.

Thank you for coming.

- What are some of your most popular products?

- Our beverage line, which is on a tap system here in the, in the store here is very popular.

We have kombucha and kiefer, multiple different flavors, blendable flavors.

They're really wonderful.

Great for digestion.

But we also make apple cider vinegar tonics that are also wonderful for digestion and things like that.

And mushroom extracts, dual mushroom extracts, which are very, very popular.

- For those of us that may be new to words like kombucha or kefir.

- Okay.

- What are those products and what are the benefits to using those products?

- Well, kombucha it's a fermented tea product, basically.

That has things, the juices and things blended in afterwards, after the fermentation's done.

And what those are good for is your digestive system.

To help alkalize your digestive system.

- Tell us about that process and what separates those two things from each other.

- Well, kombucha is a process that is, it takes a lot more time than the kefir.

Kombucha can take several weeks to process.

There's a lot of sugar in there that's gotta be turned into a acetic acid, which is really good for your digestive system.

Kefir is a much quicker process.

It's just a few days.

One of the differences kombucha has a pellicle.

It sits on top of the kombucha and kefir grains just kind of hang out at the bottom and they bob up and down and eat sugars and stuff like that.

- Well, Matt, I have set up here, some of our kombucha and some of our kefir, the two beverages that we make.

So the first one is tart cherry kombucha.

This is one of the first flavors that we actually, this is the very first flavor that we created.

Why don't you taste some of that?

- I'd love to thanks.

- And you'll notice there's a little bit of a sour flavor mixed with the sweet, there's a carbonation like a soda and it's cold.

- It does have a soda quality.

I'm not sure what it is I expected, but that's great.

- A lot of people don't expect that.

So this one is our ginger turmeric kefir.

So this is great for digestion.

And so how we made that, we literally take ginger and turmeric, both organic squeeze them into the kefir.

So it's like a cold press juice in a kefir.

- Hmm.

My first kefir.

Oh.

And if I can make a pun, have no ke-fear.

It's delicious.

I don't see how you pick.

- This is how we let people try to see what they would like.

Some people actually mix em together.

- Sounds like a good idea too.

Thanks so much.

- You're welcome.

(music playing) - The beauty of nature awaits you here at Sulfur Ridge.

Spend a weekend and listen to old tunes on the jukebox, 15 feet above the forest floor, or perhaps play a game of life size Scrabble at Shasta camp.

Whether you decide to stay in the treetop Chateau or the retro inspired camp, This unique getaway is one you are not going to wanna miss.

Join us next time for more adventures in Tennessee's upper Cumberland Don't you wish you were here?

- Today We're doing some crappie fishing.

- Be the ring.

All right, cue the dish doing.

- For a truly unparalleled craft beer... Dang it.

- Wish You Were Here produced under an agreement with the Upper Cumberland Development District and made possible in part through support from the United States Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration.

- This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.