Tennessee Crossroads 3730

- [Announcer] "Tennessee Crossroads" is made possible in part by... - [Phil] I'm Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham.

Here in Cookeville, Tennessee's college town, we are bold, fearless, confident, and kind.

Tech prepares students for careers by making everyone's experience personal.

We call that living wings up.

Learn more at tntech.edu.

- [Narrator] Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways.

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

More at TNTrailsAndByways.com.

- This time on "Tennessee Crossroads," we'll have a cold one at a Nashville diner that's been serving for a century.

Then indulge in everyone's favorite food group, chocolate, feel like a kid again at a Memphis museum, and jump off a mountain in Chattanooga.

Hi, everybody, I'm Joe Elmore.

Welcome again to another "Tennessee Crossroads."

(calm music) According to a recent study, the average lifespan of a restaurant is about five years.

Most new ones close during their first year.

Well, what does that say about a place that's been in continuous operation for nearly a century, amazing?

Well, so is Brown's Diner, as we'll discover in our first story.

(lively ragtime music) If you could time travel to Nashville back in the 1920s, you'd find a growing city of about 119,000 people.

Crossing the new Church Street viaduct into downtown, you'd enter a busy retail and business center with cars parked on both sides of the street while shoppers navigated the sidewalks.

Of course, time and transformation would change that landscape forever.

If you need proof of how drastically Nashville is changing, well, just go downtown and look at all the cranes.

But if you need proof of how some things never really change, just come to Brown's Diner.

It's a beer and burger landmark that's been around since 1927.

That's when Charlie Brown and his wife, Oda, opened a converted mule-drawn trolley car for business, and Brown's Diner was born.

(upbeat country music) Brown's has been in continuous operation for nearly a century with only three owners.

Bret Tuck is number three.

In 2020, a group of investors purchased the property from the previous owner who'd retired, but they needed a special someone to take over the historic diner.

Bret was offered the chance to buy it.

- And I said, "Well, that sounds fun.

It sounds cool, I love Brown's.

How long do I have?"

And he said, "Well, probably till tomorrow morning."

- [Joe] The place needed numerous interior renovations, but Bret, who was a longtime fan of Brown's, couldn't resist the challenge.

- Next morning, called the guys, and said, "I'll do it."

And January 1, 2021, they bought the land, and I took over Brown's Diner.

And yeah, some people are happy that I did it.

Some people are not happy I did it.

A lot of people think I'm an idiot, especially my wife, so.

(laughing) (upbeat country music) - [Joe] Over the years, Browns has become a favorite watering hole for famous musicians and construction workers alike.

It was the home of Nashville's first beer license.

So for Bret, the challenge was to make it profitable without losing its heart and soul.

- [Bret] To take something that really wasn't mine, you know, and try to make it mine but not change the soul, you know, there's a fine line for making it work and making it something else.

And so it's, you know, it's a lot of decisions you gotta make.

There's a lot of things that you have to do to really hold that soul and keep that soul going and keep that history moving forward and not cut it off and start a whole new history.

- [Joe] It looks, you know, the same as I remember it always.

- [Bret] It's pretty much, there is not much changed other than new roofs, new floors, same old bar, and then I redid the kitchen completely.

It needed it, it needed 100% redo, so I just tore it down and put a new one up.

And a lot of people ask me, you know, "Did you change the flat top?"

I said, "Yeah, I changed the flat top."

And they're like, "Oh, that flat top was so good.

It's been here forever."

I was like, "No, it was bought like seven years ago."

(laughs) It was bottom-of-the-line, cheapest, flat top you could get.

(mellow country music) - [Joe] One of the main things that hasn't changed is genial Ron Kimbro behind the bar.

He's been pulling drafts here since the mid 1980s, swapping tales with every conceivable type of customer.

- Top-notch lawyers, felons, we've had bank robbers that are regulars, and they brought the money here and wanted to hide it.

- [Joe] About those famous Brown's burgers, the bun supplier has changed, but the burgers, well, they're the same, just a little bigger.

(lively country music) - [Bret] I added about an ounce, a ounce of burger meat to the burger just to make it a little more hefty, and that's all I've done.

Same seasoning, same way we serve it.

So the bun and a little bigger burger, that's it.

- [Joe] And if you have a sweet tooth after your meal, well, Bret's mom's got you covered.

She brings in these beautiful cakes every day.

(lively country music) To Bret, the real secret to ongoing success is the customer base, one that's supported Brown's continuously since the '20s.

- [Bret] And I mean, it's just the people.

It really is, the people that work here.

It's the people that kept it going.

It's the local community.

Most of our regulars are probably, are the ones, we call 'em unicorns.

They've been in Nashville their whole lives.

- [Ron] I always said I wanted to stay here in some form or fashion until Brown's turned 100 which won't be but about three years.

Now, I don't know, I'm sure they'd rather have a beautiful blonde back here than me.

- [Bret] And then you can hear the walls talk when you walk in occasionally.

They'll tell you stories.

(laughs) (lively country music) - It's probably safe to say that we're all passionate about something.

Just ask a Tennessee Vols fan.

Well, our next story spotlights a delicacy that's a passion for many of us, chocolate.

Miranda Cohen found a couple in Tullahoma making a living creating that delicacy at a place called Water's Edge Chocolate.

- Don't you get that, too.

- You want some spoons for y'alls ice cream?

- [Ginny] It's delicious.

It makes people happy, and it's fun.

I mean, who comes into a chocolate store and doesn't smile and have fun?

- [Miranda] Ginny Wilson is certainly right about that.

Who doesn't love an old-fashioned chocolate shop?

- [Ginny] I think it's a feeling, it's a memory.

It's something that you experience.

- [Miranda] Ginny and her husband, Randy Wilson, are creating chocolate treats here in Tullahoma at their store they named Water's Edge Chocolates.

- Chocolate, for us, is a way to celebrate people.

Chocolate is my creative outlet.

I love creating things and making people smile.

And so that's kind of the essence of Water's Edge, is celebrating people and life's moments, and that's why we're here.

Do you wanna taste any?

- [Miranda] Tucked on South Anderson Street here in the middle of town, being on the water's edge is much more of a state of mind.

- If you think about the water, you think about being with family or having celebrations.

It's a special place.

That's what we wanted this place to be is a special place.

One of our favorite places is the water's edge.

Anytime we go on vacation or any days off, we go and find a river or a waterfall or hang out on the lake or go to the beach for a vacation.

And that's kind of where the Water's Edge came from.

- [Miranda] Ginny and Randy have turned this location into a delicious destination where you can see them pour all of the chocolates by hand, manipulating the temperamental goodness into bars, trucks, fish, fake aspirin, and lots of other whimsical shapes.

- [Ginny] We take it from a block form and melt it down, and then we have to temper it, which means that it brings it back to a workable temperature, and what we are going for is the final product of a shiny, crisp chocolate.

(bright music) - [Miranda] They also cover strawberries, apples, sandwich cookies, and cereal treats in chocolate and then form them into prehistoric dinosaurs and magical unicorns.

And as the operations manager, Randy Wilson wasn't about to let any of these tasty morsels get left behind.

When we cookie-cutter those out, there were lots of waste, and I was like, "We should do something with all this waste," being the bean counter.

So I just started making little balls in 'em and dipping 'em in chocolate, and they're amazing.

So yeah, they're one of our best products now.

- But by far, their most popular item is a decadent combination of two great flavors.

At the end of the day, here at Water's Edge Chocolates, they have to dance with the one that brought them, and that is no doubt their best seller, their chocolate-covered popcorn.

It is salty, it is sweet, and it is delicious.

And this popcorn isn't just drizzled.

It's actually covered in chocolate.

- [Ginny] So we pop the popcorn here.

It is just like you would get at the movie theater, and then we temper the chocolate and then put the chocolate on top and cut it and package it.

- [Randy] And people just love it.

I think it's different.

I think you can't get it a lot of places.

I mean, ours is covered in chocolate, not just a little light drizzle.

So it's hard to get that other places.

And it's just a nice combination.

- It's an absolutely fantastic gem in the area.

My wife will drop by here regularly and bring chocolate and popcorn home, and then because I don't have an off button, then I end up consuming most of it and turn into a flat piece of chocolate and popcorn.

And there's literally nothing better than, I think, that like that sweet-salty taste.

- [Miranda] Water's Edge Chocolates offers ready-made gift baskets, custom-made corporate logos, and even chocolate roses.

And if your taste run a little more frozen, you're in luck.

They are now serving up their house-made chocolate into lots of fancy ice cream flavors as well.

- I love that it's a small business.

I love that there's nothing else like this anywhere.

And I love that they have a little gathering place you can meet, and the chocolate is fantastic.

It's amazing.

- [Miranda] So whether it's for a sweet treat, the perfect gift, or just that feeling of a little happy break, come on in.

The water's fine.

In fact, it's delicious.

- And I think that is, it's an easy gift to give and know that you're gonna give an experience of delicious chocolate and possibly bring them back to a simpler time or a great memory.

Being able to see everyone who comes in the door, and we may not see when they give the gift or their reaction, but we just hope that it's received well and received with love.

- [Randy] My favorite part of the job is seeing the people's reactions when they come in the door, the smiles on their faces.

Without Tullahoma, we wouldn't be here.

95% of our sales are from Tullahoma and the surrounding counties.

We have people every day walk in and say, "Wow, I can't believe this is in Tullahoma."

- [Ginny] Ultimately, the Water's Edge is just time for community and then ways to build relationships.

And we have delicious ice cream and chocolates, and we make it all here, but it's also about the relationships with our customers, and that's really the most important part to us.

(bright music) - No doubt kids spend way too much time staring at screens these days.

Well, "Crossroads" excluded, of course.

Danielle Allen found a spot in Memphis that not only makes youngsters forget about their phones but also teaches them something in the process.

(bright music) - [Danielle] The Children's Museum of Memphis, where a kid can be a kid or a firefighter or policemen or anything they dream up, really.

This is where imagination takes center stage.

("Superstition") - At the end of the day, the museum is all about having, teaching children but doing it through play.

You know, everything, we don't have a lot of collections.

This is not a collections museum of dinosaur bones and artworks.

This is really a touch, play, and feel museum.

And so everything is designed to really engage a child's movement, creativity, and engagement so that they can have fun but also learn while they're doing it.

- [Danielle] Stephanie Butler is the executive director of the museum.

She says learning this way is essential to a child's growth.

- [Stephanie] Learning through play is a key part of human development.

All children, even when they're, you know, in diapers and Mom and Dad are interacting with them, a big part of how they're learning, you don't think you're teaching your child, but you are through playing peekaboo, through playing with different toys and so forth.

The museum is able to do that on a grand scale.

- [Danielle] That grand scale includes a station to plant vegetables, flying a huge plane through the sky, and there's even a place to go hang gliding.

It's a creative way to reinforce what's learned in the classroom, which is something parents appreciate.

- Lots of fun, very different creative-type things, out of the box, out of the ordinary.

(children chattering) - Oh, it goes around.

- [Danielle] The Children's Museum of Memphis has a history that's just as interesting as the present.

This building was once a National Guard armory.

It sat empty for years before the museum opened in 1990.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of kids have passed through, solidifying its place in Memphis culture.

- [Stephanie] It is a cultural amenity.

It's a civic amenity.

Certainly it's an important destination for people visiting the city.

We're certainly a regional draw, especially for folks in rural areas who may not have access to a children's museum.

So I think that that's important.

But I think at the end of the day, whether it's to visitors, one-time visitors to the community or our residents and citizens, what it does is it promotes the importance of children.

- [Danielle] Obviously, the museum is geared toward children, but there's one thing people of all ages enjoy.

(bright music) The Grand Carousel, immaculate horses fit for a king and a queen, and it's a ride that parents and kids equally get a kick out of.

It's a piece of Memphis history that connects the young and the old.

- [Stephanie] When Libertyland closed down, the carousel had been part of the fairgrounds and of Libertyland since the 1920s.

It's a 1909 Dentzel carousel.

Everything is hand carved.

It's an amazing work of art.

It's an amazing historical feature.

But when Libertyland closed down, it had gotten very safely mothballed and put away safely.

The community, the city really wanted to be able to keep it, but there wasn't a home for it.

The museum and its trustees really had the vision to think what better place, especially since we're located right on the site of the fairgrounds, to really able to be a home for the carousel.

- [Danielle] Getting a carousel running again was no easy task.

It had been in storage for years, so crews had their work cut out for them.

They had to carefully remove layers and layers of paint, but after a year of work, the horses looked shiny and new.

It now has the colors and look of the original carousel from more than 100 years ago.

- The carousel was fun.

I really liked to see my little sister having so much fun on it.

- [Stephanie] I think it's a great draw.

I think it does bring in a broader group of people who suddenly see the carousel when they're driving down Central Avenue and think, "Wow, I remember that from the fairgrounds or from Libertyland back in the day."

- [Danielle] The carousel also has a chariot for wheelchairs.

This is one of the many ways the museum is making sure everyone is included in the fun.

- [Stephanie] We're always striving as we improve our exhibits and so forth to make sure that exhibits are accessible, especially to those kids who have physical disabilities.

- On your mark, get set, go!

- Go, go, go, go, go!

- [Danielle] The Children's Museum of Memphis saw more than 260,000 guests last year, and they have plans to bring in more.

They're refreshing popular exhibits like the replica of the FedEx plane, and they're adding new additions to help children learn in new ways.

But no matter what kids play with here, the museum hopes to have the same impact on every child who walks through the door.

- [Stephanie] And I think whatever, wherever the child is coming from, whatever their background, their ability, we wanna make sure that we have an experience where they can come and be inspired and engaged.

And at the end of the day, we want people to come and leave thinking, "Wow, you know, I might wanna be a dentist, or I might wanna fly an airplane."

But at the end of the day, we're trying to think about what are we trying to inspire and teach kids with this, and then how can we design it so that kids are gonna have fun?

(bright music) - A long time ago on a mountain not too far away, a young TV crew reached new heights, literally.

Here's a classic from the "Crossroads" vault called "High Adventure."

("Jump") What makes people scale new heights of danger?

Could it be an innate appetite for adrenaline?

Or in the case of bungee, the thrill of facing death and defying it?

♪ Might as well jump ♪ ♪ Jump ♪ ♪ Might as well jump ♪ - Well, we found this place near Raccoon Mountain, just off I-24, where you, too, can get an adrenaline rush, push your personal limits.

In fact, the owner is a veteran skydiver who introduces high adventure even to folks in low places.

- No one right here goes away bored, that's for sure, stand by.

- [Guide] Run!

- Great, right, let her fly, let her fly.

Let her fly.

Let her fly.

All right, come on in.

You coming in?

Doing good, doing good.

Get ready for a landing.

- [Joe] Leon Riche can offer you the thrill of a ride on the country's first hang gliding simulator or the ultimate thrill of a jump off this 176-foot tower.

It's your choice and his pleasure.

- Well, believe it or not, I actually had a dream of one day of wanting to have a place where people could come and experience the thrill of adrenaline surging through their veins.

- [Joe] You're not scared, are you?

- Kind of.

- [Leon] Keep on running.

C'mon, you can do it, run!

- [Joe] Well, the simulator seems like a safe ride, if not always a graceful landing, and everybody's been trying it, even little Devon here who's a member of the High Adventure family.

- [Leon] Coming right on in.

(Devon laughing) - [Joe] Why is he crying?

- Because he doesn't wanna get out.

(laughs) - I was thinking about crying because I'm next.

Actually, the hardest part of this challenge is hiking up to the mountain ledge.

It's all downhill from there.

- [Guide] Okay, you feel safe and secure?

- Well, I feel secure.

- [Guide] (laughs) Okay, put your arms down a little bit.

- Okay.

- Walk forward till your legs touch the bar.

- Alrighty, get ready for takeoff.

Let's kick the tires and light the fires.

- [Guide] Run, run, run, run, run, run, run!

(glider whirring) - [Leon] All right, hold, pull it back in.

Oh, you got plans.

Okay, pick up speed now, more speed.

- Whoa!

(laughs) Hey, how about that solid four-point landing?

Counting the knees, that is.

Now I can see why the hang gliding simulator is so popular.

I may never personally know why people come here to bungee, but Leon knows.

- They do it for all sorts of reasons.

Some of 'em want overcome their fear of heights.

Some of 'em, that's something that they've always wanted to do.

And the phenomena with adrenaline is that once you get it, it's addictive.

- Jumping out of a plane or something like that, you can't see the ground, but you can see the ground, and you can see the people, and that's probably the scariest part.

- [Joe] Yeah, well, you're doing it again.

Are you scared now?

- Oh, yeah, can't hardly talk.

- Step up in there.

You wanna stand to the back of this cage the whole way up.

Hold that head back, and don't ever let those hands or legs come apart till the bouncing is done.

When the bouncing's done, you can put your hands out and let us know you're still alive.

What was your name?

- Joe.

- Nice knowing you, Joe.

- Nice knowing you.

- [Steve] Have a good time.

("Jump") - He's done this before, so I trust he knows what he is doing.

- [Joe] And I guess you'll be next.

- No.

(laughs) ♪ Might as well jump ♪ ♪ Jump ♪ ♪ Go ahead and jump ♪ ♪ Go ahead and jump ♪ ♪ Jump ♪ - In case you're wondering what's going on, having turned down the chance for high adventure, I'm gonna go for a medium adventure experience called a launch, right, Steve?

- Right, right.

- What's gonna happen?

- Well, we're gonna stretch these bungee cords just about as far as we trust them, you know, as far as we can stretch 'em.

- Well, you don't have to go that far.

- (laughing) Oh, we're gonna stretch 'em up there, though.

And then we're gonna release you and let them take you on up into the sky.

- Alright, and I'm suited up.

- That's right, it'll be a very relaxing experience for a moment there.

- [Guide] Ready, pull!

Hang on, Joe, hang on!

- Woo-hoo!

- Whoa!

- Yep, this is life in the medium-fast lane, and it's just my speed.

However, Leon insists that actual bungee jumping can actually help you in your real life.

- If you can, you know, jump out of a bungee tower, well, you know you could be the president of a corporation.

I mean, you know, 'cause you know you have grace under pressure, and if you eliminate fear, you got this thing.

- I guess I'll be stuck in middle management, then.

- [Leon] (laughs) Middle management.

- [Joe] Who knows?

Maybe next time I'll try the ultimate adrenaline rush from up here where it looks like a mile from the ground.

Unfortunately, it's probably the only way to really know what it's like.

- [Leon] All it takes really, believe it or not, is courage.

("Jump") - Well, gotta say goodbye after we remind you of our website, tennesseecrossroads.org.

And while you're there, you can download that PBS app, and of course you can join us right here next week.

We'll be looking for you.

(mellow jazz music) (bright music) - [Announcer] "Tennessee Crossroads" is made possible in part by... - [Phil] I'm Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham.

Here in Cookeville, Tennessee's college town, we are bold, fearless, confident, and kind.

Tech prepares students for careers by making everyone's experience personal.

We call that living wings up.

Learn more at tntech.edu.

- [Narrator] Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways.

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

More at TNTrailsAndByways.com.