(upbeat music) - [Announcer 1] This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer 2] "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.

(dramatic music) (water running) - [Narrator 1] In the heart of Tennessee, there's a little slice of heaven you've just gotta see.

(dramatic music) Oh, man.

Wish you were here.

- Hi, I'm Katelyn Steakley.

Welcome to "Wish You Were Here!"

Are you ready to explore more of Tennessee's Upper Cumberland?

Before we meet up with our "Wish You Were Here" field correspondents, let's have some adventure of our own right here in McMinnville at the Cedarwood Pumpkin Patch.

(upbeat country music) I'm here today at the Cedarwood Pumpkin Patch in McMinnville, Tennessee with co-owner Lucas Patterson.

Lucas, thank you so much for having us.

- Thank you for coming.

- I can't think of a better place to be in the fall than a pumpkin patch.

It's my understanding that this all started when your dad planted eight acres of pumpkins.

- Yeah, we've been doing the nursery about 40 years or so, and then 2001, I think I was like five or in kindergarten or whatever, I was like, "Daddy, I wanna grow some pumpkins."

So we grew some pumpkins and then they did really well, which sometimes doesn't always happen with pumpkins.

Then, you know, 20, 22 years later, here we are.

My mom was a school teacher, so she's like, "Well, I'll get all my friends and all my classes to come visit."

And then we had little field trips and it's grown ever since.

- That's amazing.

- Yeah.

- So it's truly like a father son thing and it started that way.

- My mom helps too, so yeah.

- [Katelyn] That's awesome.

You guys have everything from corn mazes to the pumpkin patch.

What are some of the things that we can expect when we visit Cedarwood?

- [Lucas] So we have all the basic pumpkin patch stuff, like the corn mazes, the petting zoos.

We have a bunch of super slides.

Kids really enjoy that.

We have a corn crib in the back, it's like a sandbox but with corn.

We have a pedal cart track, it's like go carts but they pedal on it.

Adults do it too.

There's a giant boat.

We fixed that up so kids get in and drive it, there's all kinds of old farm equipment scattered around.

We have a little duck pond, they feed the fish, and we have a pumpkin patch back behind the corn maze they can pick from, 'cause everybody gets a pumpkin when they come to the pumpkin patch.

That's something everybody seems to enjoy.

And of course fall's always good time to get a pumpkin and carve it, set it on your porch, really get in the spirit.

(laughs) - Yeah, that's so much fun.

- Yeah.

- [Katelyn] That's one of my favorites, too.

- [Lucas] Yeah.

- Is there an age limit on any of these attractions?

I'm just asking for a friend.

- [Lucas] Not typically.

There's some stuff, we have like little tricycles that little babies ride.

But pretty much everything else is adult friendly.

And we also do bonfires and live music on the weekends.

We have live of music every Saturday evening and we have a few on Fridays.

We have the bonfires every Friday and Saturday night, and that includes, it's just a, you buy a $4 package that gets you like hot dogs, marshmallows, chips, and a drink.

- [Katelyn] Oh that's awesome.

- [Lucas] You get to roast the hot dogs and stuff on the fire.

We give you little cookers to poke 'em with.

Got it around the pond, there you can watch the sunset.

The live music's like a little postcard.

- Which one did you have the most fun creating?

- One of the main things that come to mind, we have, about the giant boat.

So my dad, he was driving down the road, he saw that, like in a old car lot or something, just it was beat up, it had holes in it, all that stuff.

And he was like, "I want that."

And so we got that.

And of course he didn't figure out how he was gonna get it here.

It's a big giant like yacht almost.

So, we fixed that up.

We, you know, it was a site to see trying to get it off the trailer and get it in the ground, get the hole dug.

But that was really fun.

We've got it all fixed up.

Kids can like play drive it.

There's sand around it.

There's jet skis now.

So, but then I got stories on pretty much everything that we've added.

- [Katelyn] What is your season to visit the pumpkin patch here at Cedarwood?

- [Lucas] So we typically open the last weekend of September and then we go until Halloween.

- [Katelyn] Is fall the only time of year that you can visit Cedarwood?

- [Lucas] It's the only time you can visit for like all the activities, the pumpkin patch festivities, but we are a nursery full-time.

This almost turned into a hobby.

We do a lot of oaks, maples, evergreens, all that stuff.

A lot of bushes.

- [Katelyn] That's awesome, it's beautiful here.

- [Lucas] Thank you.

- Lucas, thank you so much for having us.

- Thank you for coming.

(upbeat country music) - Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area reaps a long, rich cultural tapestry that dates back thousands of years.

Recently, Field Correspondent, Rafferty Cleary, hiked to Charit Creek Lodge in Big South Fork to get a taste of life in the 1800s.

- Hi, I'm Rafferty Cleary.

Join me as I take the path that has long since been traveled.

In the early 1800s, long hunters traveled this route to follow Daniel Boone across the Cumberland Gap.

Today, we're traveling to the historic wilderness lodge at Charit Creek.

(upbeat country music) - [Narrator 2] Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area encompasses 125,000 acres of wilderness that spans across five counties.

With more than 150 miles of marked trails, there's no shortage of hiking opportunities.

- Hello, from Charit Creek Lodge at Big South Fork National River and Recreational Area.

Manager-Concessioner, Gregg White, is with us.

Gregg, thanks so much for the time.

We appreciate it.

- Oh yeah, happy to be here.

- [Rafferty] Walking through some trails and some wonderful wilderness on my way into the lodge today.

And I couldn't help but to kind of do so by trying to step back in time a little bit, because I understand there was some history on some of the trails that lead here to the lodge settler's used, is that correct?

- Yeah, the trail you came in is known as the Sheltowee Trace, and it's the way that Daniel Boone came into this area.

And the folks that lived down here in the 1800s took that trail to come down to this homestead.

- The history here at the lodge, it's incredible.

Some of these buildings, 1800s, I understand.

- The first one built in 1817, and it's been used as a homestead since then.

The latest homestead structure was built in about 1850.

So a lot of the structures are super old.

- [Rafferty] What makes Charit Creek Lodge so unique?

It's just a destination to really unplug and escape back into nature.

- [Gregg] That's right.

It's like you said, a step back in time to a simpler time when you don't feel so connected to everyone, and maybe everything can slow down for a minute.

- Gregg, tell us a little bit about what Charit Creek Lodge has to offer for the folks who wanna give it a try.

- When you hike the trail down here, it really is like stepping back in time when you enter the property.

Once you get to your cabin, it's a really nice place to relax.

There's lots of things to do around here.

There's games, sitting by the creek, depending on the weather getting in the creek, looking at our grounds, at our wildflowers, or gardens, or native plants.

You could just spend a couple hours on the property looking at the 30 acres and seeing all the beautiful things that are around depending on the time of year.

You know, all the seasons are different.

If you come in the fall, then you want to know what it's like to come in the winter.

When you come in the winter, you want to know what it's like to come in the spring.

So, most of our guests always talk about coming all four seasons to see what it's like.

Because it's really, Charit Creek lets you really get that relationship with the season that maybe you don't get in the city, where you're really in touch with it and you see the weather changes, the day, and how different it looks in the winter and the summer.

(upbeat country music) - [Narrator 2] Experience the untouched beauty of Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

Like the writer Henry David Thoreau once said, "Take a walk in the woods and you will come out taller than the trees."

(upbeat country music) - We get out in nature, go different places, Gregg, and we hear the term like, oh, this is off the grid.

But no, this is like off the grid here at Charit Creek, isn't it?

- It is.

We don't have cell phone signal, no internet, and no electricity.

So, definitely is a peaceful time if the phone's not ringing.

- [Rafferty] Yeah.

- [Gregg] It's really nice.

- [Rafferty] I noticed the, kind of the old lamps in the dining room when I was walking past.

- [Gregg] Right.

- [Rafferty] I mean, it's the real deal.

This is a living life, I think.

- As a joke to play on that rusticness, I have these little stickers I put on the wall, and it's fun to watch people try and plug things in.

(Rafferty laughs) But it brings their mind back around to like where they're at, and to decompress and let that stuff go, and reconnect with nature, your surroundings.

- I have to ask before we let you go about kind of like your mascot here, so to speak, at Charit Creek Lodge.

Booger, who's- - Everybody loves Booger.

- [Rafferty] Who is Booger?

- Well, so he's my hound dog, but he's lived here since I have back in 2014.

And he's named after Booger Blevins who lived close by.

Some of the logs from the cabin that he built when he was here in the early 1900s are part of one of the cabins we have here today.

- [Rafferty] We walked in, hiked in, but that's not the only way you can get here to Charit Creek Lodge, is that correct?

You have other options?

- Well, you could probably take a boat pretty close by.

- [Rafferty] Yeah.

- Hiking is definitely the most popular way.

Some people ride their bikes in, mountain bikes.

And then some people ride their horse in.

- Hmm.

We'll do a little horseback riding later today, won't we?

- Yeah, let's do it.

- Okay.

All right.

(upbeat rodeo music) (triangle chiming) - It all started with the pursuit of harmony and four baby goats.

Gandhi said it best, "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

A mindset and way of life echoed throughout the foundation of one Tennessee business.

Field Correspondent, Shan Stout, visited Harmony Lane in Smithville, Tennessee for a tour of the farm creamery, and maybe some goat cuddling.

(upbeat country music) - Hi, Katelyn.

Hi, everybody.

Now as you can see- (goat crying) Oh, I know.

We're having a wonderful time here in Smithville, Tennessee at Harmony Lane Farm and Creamery.

And I'm here with Julie David, owner of the creamery.

Now Julie, (laughs) as you know, this is one of the happiest places on earth, but your origin story starts out with your search for a health remedy.

- Yes, it did.

I was deathly sick with a condition called gastroparesis.

I was researching what to do and raw goats milk came up.

So I found a man, I was getting some goats milk from him for a certain period of time.

I looked at my husband and I said, "Why don't we get some goats?"

So I can have my own milk.

So I did that.

- And you started out with just four.

- Four, and we're up to 150.

(Julie and Shan laughing) - 150.

- [Julie] So that was some time ago, but that's what really got me started.

Yeah.

- Wow, that's amazing.

Now you do not just have goats milk, you have many goats milk products.

- Right.

So that's the thing, goats milk is the same as cow milk, anything you make with cow milk, you can make with goat milk.

And so we're gonna make feta, chevre, which is French for goat cheese.

Fudge, we make a lot of fudge.

We make goat milk caramels, ice cream.

So a lot of products.

- I've not tried the ice cream, so I am very excited about that today.

And everything here is so amazing, but the experience is also wonderful.

You have visitors that can come here to Smithville, to the farm, and take a farm tour.

Tell us a little bit about what our visitors can expect, - Right.

- besides the baby goats.

- Right.

You can come here and experience the farm.

A lot of people wanna see the cows up close in person.

Children nowadays don't know where their meat comes from, so we raise our own Angus beef herd.

We raise our own Berkshire hogs.

So you can take a farm tour, you'll tour around the property about 40 minutes, see all the animals.

Then you can actually milk a mama goat by hand.

- [Shan] Oh my goodness.

- [Julie] So you can see where your milk comes from.

- [Shan] Okay.

Now you have a lot of different animals here on the farm, not just goats and cows.

- [Julie] Right.

- [Shan] Tell us a little bit about the farm animals.

- [Julie] I wanted to get some animals that people could experience, spend time with.

Believe it or not, people drive hours and hours to get here to get a llama selfie.

(Shan laughs) We have four llamas.

We have two emus, Whelan and Willie.

We have a miniature donkey.

We have a standard donkey.

We have a scarlet macaw we can put on your arm for pictures.

A wild mustang that used to be wild that is tame now.

- [Shan] No!

- [Julie] So we're gonna offer horse rides in the future.

- [Shan] Oh, this is amazing.

- [Julie] Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Now Julie, we're gonna have to talk about the goat cuddling.

As you can see, if you are stressed, maybe you've had a hard day at work, you may wanna come out to Harmony Lane Farm and just cuddle some goats because this is literally scientifically been proven to reduce your blood pressure.

- [Julie] You are right.

- [Shan] And your anxiety, all kinds of of things.

But all in all, it is just a lot of fun.

- Goat therapy is real.

Goat therapy is real.

We have people come, they're in just a bad mood, they leave in a better mood.

We're gonna wrap a little baby goat in what we call a blanket burrito and put it on your lap.

So, you'll get goat kisses like this.

And if that doesn't make you happy, nothing will.

- That's true.

We can't cure you if that doesn't work.

Now, here at Harmony Lane, we want you to experience it.

We want you to come out.

So let's go take a look at all the farm has to offer.

I can't wait.

- Let's do it.

(upbeat country music) - As you can see, you can make a lot of friends here at Harmony Lane Farm.

(upbeat country music) - For thousands of years, people have been mastering the art of playing marbles.

A game that has been played throughout many different cultures and across many continents.

Passed on from one generation to the next.

Today, the craft of playing and making marbles remains a timeless piece of folk life tradition.

Field Correspondent, Rafferty Cleary, recently visited Standing Stone State Park for the 39th Annual National Rolley Hole Marble Tournament in Overton County, Tennessee.

(upbeat music) - I'm at the National Rolley Hole Marble Championship here at the beautiful Standing Stone State Park.

Park Ranger, Bob Fulcher, hanging out with me today.

Bob, what better setting for a tournament like this.

Standing Stone State Park, such a gorgeous, gorgeous element to the Upper Cumberland.

- Yes, this is a beautiful park.

It has new deal roots of course, and was chosen to become a park to try to restore some areas that had been over cut.

And now, you know, there's a state forest that surrounds this park.

The park itself has trails that reach out around a lake from a beautiful new deal dam, you might say, that was created with giant limestone blocks.

It is a gorgeous area on the Highland Rim of Tennessee, and it is a beautiful Tennessee landscape, lush, rich forest now.

A fabulous place for somebody to visit any time of the year.

(TV static) - [Announcer 3] We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special news bulletin.

It's off to the fanfares of the 39th National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship in Overton County.

Come one, come all.

This year's Marble Championship in Standing Stone State Park is a site to behold.

The world famous rolley hole marble players took center stage, demonstrating skills found nowhere else.

Reminding us once more that they are the world's greatest.

Some of the finest marble players hail from Clay County, but travelers come from all over the world.

Watch as marble players warm up for the championship around the Georgia hole.

At the time of championship inception, only one active marble yard remained in Tennessee.

Through years of dedication and Flint grinding from one folklorist, the Rolley Hole Championship is now considered one of the greatest public folk life demonstrations.

Come stay a while and listen to the live music.

Watch the marble making demonstrations, and talk with park interpreters about the tricks of the marble trade.

Mark your calendars for the National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship here in Standing Stone State Park.

(TV static) - Bob, I understand you played kind of a pivotal role in bringing this annual event to Standing Stone State Park.

Can you go through the history of how this all got started?

- You know, I lived in Nashville when I first started working in Tennessee State parks, went to a big festival that was being held in Nashville on the Centennial Mall.

There was a man there named Bud Garrett.

And he was there to play the blues, but he had insisted on bringing his marble making machine to this festival, show it off.

And so he was set up with that thing.

I didn't know what was going on.

Talked to him about it, and he was from very close to Standing Stone State Park.

That was one of the parks that I had responsibility for.

Bud was the first one to tell us about the game.

This folklorist working for us for a summer, she got Bud to come down and make a little marble yard.

It's an old game.

The people that are still playing it right here now, they were raised with marbles being played as something that was serious.

It has a great appeal in this area as folks are raised up, and now the schools have got it going on again.

That's happened on and off where the school systems have supported it.

And I do believe that this old game will be played for a long time into the future.

- There's multiple games associated with marbles, but rolley hole is highlighted here today.

What is it?

Tell us how it's played, the rules.

- Not everybody in today's cultures played croquet, but if you have played croquet, you would understand rolley hole.

I believe rolley hole is a precursor to croquet, and rolley hole, you know, you've got a course, a pattern, that you've got to follow.

So you've got to defend different places, three different places on this big yard with two players.

And just the decisions that you have to make, the skill that you have to acquire, all that makes this interesting to guys who grew up with baseball, softball, football, basketball.

- The ultra competitive folks.

- But they wanna play this marble game.

Because it's different, it's tough.

You better have some strategy or you're not gonna make it.

Be prepared if you're up here.

Sit down, knuckle down.

And you might wanna watch a few marble videos, try to get that grip just right, 'cause if you're gonna be competitive, you better know a little back spin.

You better be able to turn that marble just like driving a car.

Nice.

(Rafferty laughing) (upbeat music) - [Narrator 2] Before we close this show out, what do you say we go for a hike and enjoy just a taste of the beauty Cumberland County has to offer?

Field Correspondent, Shan Stout, recently had the pleasure of exploring part of the Appalachian Trail that cuts through the southeastern corner of Cumberland County at Black Mountain.

(relaxing guitar music) - Now on this beautiful day, like many others this time of year, there are many tourists that are hiking right here at the Black Mountain Overlook, and it is a great day for it.

There are leaves changing around us as we speak.

We have a slight little breeze in the air.

It's a beautiful fall day.

I am here with Ranger Anthony Jones.

Let's talk a little bit about the Cumberland Trail.

Now this is a state park and you don't wanna miss the scenic Black Mountain while you're here.

- No, this is a state park.

In 1998, we became Tennessee's 53rd state park, the Cumberland Trail.

It was a idea that started in the 70's, in 1971, the State Scenic Trails Act was signed into law in Tennessee.

So the Cumberland Trail was born from that act being signed in.

And then we've worked on the Cumberland Trail from that point up until 98 when the state recognized it as Tennessee's 53rd state park.

We run from one end of the state all the way to the top, to the other end of the state.

So we start at Signal Point, Chattanooga, or if you're hiking from north to south, we start at Cumberland Gap, Kentucky, and we encompass that whole eastern part of the Cumberland Plateau.

Runs along the stretch overlooking kind of the Tennessee Valley and we're in and outta gorges.

So this section is easy.

This Black Mountain section, we have a loop up top that's a mile long that is fairly easy.

It's easy to hike.

You're just getting to see the overlook now, but we have these giant boulders and stuff.

People come up here and they rock climb and they do bouldering where they climb up the rocks, and it's just a great place, this area is, to bring your family, do a little day hiking stuff.

- Okay, now speaking about newcomers coming to the Cumberland Trail for the first time, let's talk about the special gear you might need, or items you may need to bring.

- Well, anytime you come out hiking, you need to bring a backpack with some extra water in it.

And you want snacks in there as well.

Tell someone where you're going.

Tell people where you're going.

If you come and camp on the Cumberland Trail, we have camping registrations that you can fill out so we'll know where you are if something happens to you in the woods, if you get lost, or have an injury, and those things do happen when we're out.

- And dress in layers because it's getting a little warm up here on the mountain.

Now, I think we've done enough talking.

I think it's time to zip our lips and get to some more hiking.

(relaxing guitar music) - [Narrator 3] There are more than 50 trailheads for the 12 segments of the Cumberland Trail.

Take the path through the stone door and visit the stone giants that stand silently by.

Walk the newest edition of the Cumberland Trail and hike to the beautiful Ozone Falls, and watch as it plunges 110 feet below.

(relaxing guitar music) - There isn't anything quite as special as fall in the Upper Cumberland.

Whether you're getting a bite to eat at the country kitchen, pumpkin picking, or looking to get lost in the corn maze, visit Cedarwood Pumpkin Patch here in McMinnville, Tennessee.

Join us next time for more Upper Cumberland Adventures.

Wish you were here.

(upbeat music) National Rolley Hole Marble Tournament in Overton County.

(hands slapping) Dang it!

Ah!

(upbeat music) - [Person On Set] Here we go, go.

(Shan screaming and laughing) (people on set laughing) (macaw clicking) (upbeat music) - [Announcer 2] "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.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer 1] This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music)