Episode 3924

- [Announcer] "Tennessee Crossroads" is brought to you in part by

- [Narrator] Some of our biggest checks have also made the biggest difference. The Tennessee Lottery, proud to have raised more than $7.5 billion for education. Now that's some game changing, life changing fun.

- [Announcer] Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways where adventure, cuisine, and history come together. With 16 scenic driving trails, you can discover why Tennessee sounds perfect. Trips can be planned at tnvacation.com.

- [Narrator] Middle Tennessee State University College of Liberal Arts helps students explore the world, engage minds, enrich lives, and earn a living. More at mtsu.edu/cla.

- This week we'll head to Dixon County for some great barbecue, go on safari without leaving the car and take a tour of the Dale Hollow Dam and Reservoir. Sounds like a darn good show. Howdy, I'm Ketch Secor welcoming you to "Tennessee Crossroads." You know, for decades hungry folks could find great barbecue along Highway 70 in Dickson County, Tennessee. When the original restaurant owner retired, a customer jumped in. Laura Faber shows us that traditional barbecue is back in White Bluff.

- [Laura] It's been at least 12 hours since this brisket has seen the light of day.

- [Jason] I've always sort of had a passion for barbecue.

- [Laura] Every Friday and Saturday, it smokes low and slow, and customers line up for it.

- It's really good, it's like a Texas-style brisket. So it's literally just 16 mashed pepper, coarse salt and maybe a few other things. And it's cooked low and slow, 12 to 14 hours, and it gets wrapped in a butcher paper to finish. It's really delicious.

- [Laura] Jason Johnson is one of the owners of Pig N Pub at the Bluff, a barbecue restaurant in White Bluff serving pulled pork and ribs, beef brisket, smoked turkey and chicken and other specialties.

- [Server] I've got the barbecue sandwich and the brisket grilled cheese.

- I think the food is outstanding.

- [Laura] Michael Johnson is Jason's dad. He is also part owner of Pig N Pub. Their main business, JWC Specialties, a commercial building company that does metal work, sits next door to the restaurant, which has given easy access to their favorite lunch place. You might remember that for 30 years another barbecue restaurant called Carl's Perfect Pig resided here.

- [Michael] Everything I have here is the way I like it.

- It is delicious, really good. The whole thing's good, it just really is.

- [Laura] The Johnsons were regulars and friends of Carl.

- Yeah, we used to come over here and eat at Carl's all the time. When he decided to retire, my dad took an interest in buying the business from him. He came to me and he's like "You like to barbecue, don't you?" And I'm like, "In the backyard."

- [Laura] Michael figured that since people were used to barbecue here for decades, he needed to continue that. But not before completely renovating the building and upgrading the kitchen.

- [Michael] We incorporated the metal in here, which is a barbecue atmosphere. You know, you got copper. The siding is like a rust patina imitation, so it's got that feel. I put this old wood floor in here.

- [Michael] That's, old barn wood is resawn.

- You enjoy.

- [Jason] The people that have come in here, they're just like amazed at the facelift that we've done here with this place. They can't believe just how different it looks, and, you know, we've done a few different things. Like we've got a patio on the side here, and then we've got a lower bar area with a hangout spot down there.

- [Laura] They added a drive through, which is popular.

- Thank you so much.

- They even have a place for pups. Lizzie is Michael's dog, sort of the mascot of Pig N Pub, and having this dog park as part of the restaurant was really important to Michael who's a dog lover. And the customers love it too. Good girl. The food is good. Their wings are smoked then fried to add crunch. The brisket nachos served with everything but the kitchen sink are amazing. Fried bologna sandwich, yes, please. The pulled pork sandwich is one of the most popular things on the menu, and the meats, wow. Pulled pork, ribs, brisket, and the hickory smoked chicken.

- [Jason] I had came up with my own rub that I used for years just in the backyard, and we implemented that in a lot of our food. So between me and another gentleman, we came up with how we were gonna cook the food. So we knew we wanted to have like quality food, especially with our brisket because we cook our brisket and our pork shoulder through the night. We load the meat at six or seven at night, and it cooks low and slow all night long until the next shift comes in that morning and pulls it off.

- [Laura] Most of the sides are family recipes like the potato salad made with honey mustard.

- [Michael] The collard green recipe is ours. The potato salad is my grandmother Nelly King's recipe. The jalapeno cornbread, that's my recipe. I mean, we got home style recipes here.

- [Laura] They did keep a little bit of Carl, namely the sauce. Emily Bigham says it's still made by a guy named Bill from Kingston Springs

- That is definitely one of our staples. People will come in and get big containers of it all the time. There's a mild and a hot. The mild is definitely a little bit sweeter. They're thinner sauces. They have vinegar in them, they have tomato in them. We also have Alabama white sauce that we make in-house.

- [Laura] At the end of the day, the goal for Michael and Jason Johnson is to serve great food in a place that feels like home.

- [Jason] We wanted to have quality food. We wanted to make sure that the food was good, and we didn't want to compromise in any other way. We wanted to make sure that we gave people great food.

- [Michael] I just like to have a place that when you come in and you feel like you're welcome, you are somebody.

- Well, hey, Crossroads fans. I'm honored to be joined by our friend Vicki Yates. We're here to kick off this year's Keep Crossroads Traveling campaign.

- Please don't touch that remote. We'll be brief and get right back to the stories you love.

- That's right, but it takes funding to bring you those stories, right? And this is the one time of the year when we ask for your help. How long have you been a Crossroads fan? 10 years, 20 years? Did you know that we are in our 39th season? Just think of all the places and people that we visited over the years. If you value the wonderful stories you see on "Tennessee Crossroads," please help us continue to make them possible.

- You've already made "Tennessee Crossroads" one of the most watched locally produced programs in the entire PBS system. We're so honored to be a part of your lives and want to say thank you because we wouldn't be here without your support and loyalty. Please call the number on your screen or you can make a pledge online. And when you do, we have a few ways to say thank you for your support.

- You can help keep Crossroads traveling with a financial gift that is just right for you. At the $60 level or $5 a month, you can show your support with this polyester blend short sleeve t-shirt. For $96 a year or just $8 per month. You will receive a 12 ounce bag of Traveler's Brew Coffee. It's a whole bean custom blend by Bongo Java that's made exclusively for Tennessee Crossroads. With a pledge at the $156 level or $13 a month, you can enjoy both the coffee and the t-shirt. Thank you for your loyal support that keeps us on the road.

- We also wanna invite you to an upcoming event at Nashville PBS that's become pretty popular over the last few years. Laura Faber has the details.

- You're invited to "Tennessee Crossroads'" fourth annual whiskey tasting Saturday, February 28th, 2026 showcasing some of the best whiskey producers from Tennessee and Kentucky. Each distillery will feature two to three products with many of them hard to find. Tickets are $75 for general admission or $200 for the VIP package. For details, use your phone to scan the QR code on your screen or go to wnpt.org/events. Thanks for helping to keep Crossroads traveling.

- We're looking for 550 pledges at any level during this campaign. If we reach that goal, Crossroads will remain on the air during our March membership drive. Your pledge is made even more important when you consider the fact that we've lost our federal funding. We're counting on your support to help us close that gap in our budget and keep the Crossroads crew rolling. Creating a weekly program is expensive. When you factor in personnel, equipment and travel, it adds up quickly. We want to start 2026 on a firm foundation to ensure we can keep our crew on the road. That's why the Keep Crossroads Traveling Campaign is so important. It's the one time of the year that we ask you, our loyal viewers, to help fund the show you love. Please call the number on the screen or pledge online to keep "Tennessee Crossroads" traveling. Thank you. Before we wrap things up, let's take another look at the thank you gifts we have for you.

- You can help keep Crossroads traveling with a financial gift that is just right for you. At the $60 level or $5 a month, you can show your support with this polyester blend short sleeve t-shirt. For $96 a year or just $8 per month, you will receive a 12 ounce bag of Traveler's Brew Coffee. It's a whole bean, custom blend by Bongo Java that's made exclusively for "Tennessee Crossroads." With a pledge at the $156 level or $13 a month, you can enjoy both the coffee and the t-shirt. Thank you for your loyal support that keeps us on the road.

- Thanks, Miranda. Well, Ketch, it's time for our regularly scheduled programming. What's next?

- Vicki, we're going on safari. A few years back, Joe Elmore headed to northwest Tennessee and discovered a unique family adventure with all kinds of exotic animals. Here's what he found.

- Visitors wanna see animals in a naturalistic areas, large open spaces. I mean, people just don't wanna see animals in cages anymore.

- [Joe] Since Tennessee Safari Park opened in 2007, it's become one of the top tourist attractions in the state. A drive through zoo where you traverse seven and a half miles of open territory inhabited by about 150 species of exotic, free roaming animals. Most are very glad to see you, and for good reason.

- [Woman] Oh, my God.

- [Joe] This 300 acre park is part of the Conley family farm, which has been around since the 1850s. According to John Conley, the idea was a result of economics as well as a special love for exotic creatures.

- We had to figure out a way to make the family farm work. We had a few exotic animals here, and we loved it. The family came together and said, we've gotta make it work. We really didn't have any other choice. And so we started small, grew ourselves into it, and it's been, it's been an amazing adventure.

- [Joe] Well, here's how it works. You drive up to this window where you purchase tickets, cash only, by the way. And don't forget to buy some buckets of feed for the fun part. Then you slowly drive through the open park and stop wherever you wish, and here you'll quickly discover some animals like ostriches have terrible table manners.

- You know, they want close up encounters with animals, you know, they don't wanna see 'em from a distance. Our concept creates a perfect opportunity for visitors to see animals from around the world in a safe environment, and they wanna see big, beautiful, healthy, fat animals and lots of babies, and this is the place to come.

- By the way, unlike traditional zoos, this one does not use tax dollars or donations to thrive. It's totally self-sustaining, and even a boon to the local economy.

- We brought a $50 million economic impact to this area, which I mean that in itself is amazing. The park has the highest grossing ticket sales in the state history, and that's of any zoo. And so that brings an amazing accomplishment to my family and just kind of hammers home what we're doing, we're doing it right. So these are Greater Kudus from South Africa.

- [Joe] While Safari Park is mostly known as a tourist attraction, it's also an ambitious breeding center for rare and endangered species.

- A lot of these animals are extremely endangered, and the work we're doing is gonna save these animals for future generations. She's expecting a calf, and so like I said, we have 16 of the painted camels, and so they come in all different color variations, and spotted, and the blue eyes are probably the most striking feature.

- A Brazilian tapir, pretty rare occurrence. And he's so, man, he's built well.

- Yeah. Yeah. No, I do not look like food. You'll often find John's wife Whitney at work behind the scenes in the nursery, today nurturing some ostrich eggs and chicks, so they become healthy adult birds. After you complete your ride through the exhibit area, there's also a 20-acre walkthrough park and petting zoo. Here you can even get a close feeding encounter with a giraffe. Visitors can easily spend two to three hours at Safari Park, which by the way is open year round, except for holidays. For John Conley, every day's unique and demanding, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

- You know, we're always doing something new and exciting. Animals are being born daily. Yesterday afternoon I delivered a Bactrian camel, and before that we were working on plants and flowers, and so it literally, it's something different every day. There's, no day is the same. The public obviously loves the concept, and so we just keep growing on what works.

- You know, folks, Tennessee has more than its fair share of beautiful rivers, but they're less beautiful when they overflow their banks and destroy lives and property. That was the case with the Obey River until the Dale Hollow Dam tamed it, began generating electricity and provided a fantastic recreational area, as Ed Jones explains.

- Dale Hollow is known as a vacation destination. We protect it jealously. We have the beautiful pristine shoreline and forested hillsides. We're very proud of our lake and what we do here. People will come out and recreate and enjoy, and you never think what this was like before Dale Hollow was here.

- [Ed] Sandra Carmen has thought a lot about what was here before Dale Hollow Dam tamed the Obey River. As a park ranger, she knows more than most about what was gained and what was lost.

- William Dale came to this area. He married a lady out of Willow Grove, Rachel Irons. They bought a 449 acre farm in 1808, and it is told that there still was in the Dale family until 1942 when the dam was begun and the lake began.

- [Ed] That beginning marked the end of a way of life for residents up river from Dale Hollow.

- There were two major communities that were totally inundated: the Willow Grove community and the Lillydale community. So there were a lot of people that did sacrifice back then by giving their farms. The Corps of Engineers and the federal government relocated over 2000 known grave sites onto private property because those folks, they really did sacrifice quite a bit so that we can have what we have today.

- It was hard times for those folks. All the families had to leave their farms where they had been for generations. You know, I could relate to that because I farm myself, and it would be hard for me to leave my place.

- [Ed] Dale Hollow Superintendent Stanley Carter can also relate to their fate on a much more personal level.

- My family, on my mother's side and father's side, we are from the upper headwaters of the Obey River itself, and where my mother was born is, it's underwater now. With that being said, with this dam being in place, it has saved millions upon millions of dollars just in flood control alone, not to mention the the hydroelectricity that we produce.

- [Ed] Enough electricity to power a city of 45,000, power that was sorely needed back in '38 when the Army Corps of Engineers got the green light to begin planning the mammoth project,

- March 2nd of 1942, construction began. It was completed in October of 1943, so that was record time. The dam, it is 200 feet tall, 1,717 feet wide. It goes straight down to bedrock, and on each side it goes straight down to bedrock.

- The original purpose for this dam was for flood control and power generation. One of the most interesting things that you're going to see as we go downstairs, it's what we call the actuator cabinet. And the actuator cabinet is what opens and closes the gates, allowing more or less water into the turbine. We produce 18 megawatts of power per unit. We have three units, which is 54 megawatts is what we're able to produce.

- [Ed] The roar of the rushing water, the enormous size of the concrete mountain holding back the Obey River, it's hard to fathom the sheer scale of it all, but then consider that this huge remote complex is just a tiny part of a nationwide electrical network known as the grid.

- Several years ago, the whole eastern seaboard had all the blackouts. I was inside this powerhouse when that happened, and we felt that. The generators, they started making these weird sounds. When you work here, you know what these units sound like, and you know when something ain't right. So we just started doing some investigation and found out that we had a large section of the country that had blacked out. That was all the way up in New York, edge of Canada. We still felt it here.

- [Ed] After the tour, you'll want to reconnect with the soothing natural wonders of the Dale Hollow Reservoir.

- It is so large that even if you're out on a boat, even on the busiest times, there are places that you can go and tuck into a cove and be undisturbed. We do have over 27,000 acres of water and almost 25,000 acres of land. We have about 2.6 million visitors a year that come to Dale Hollow. We have 15 commercial marinas on the lake and two group camps. So with those commercial marinas, they can rent boats, house boats, watercraft, so there is a lot of water sports that are available here. Because we have such crystal clear waters, we're very popular for scuba. We also manage and operate four class A campgrounds with over 400 campsites, everything from a tent site to an RV site with water and electric hook up, so you can get an away from the city experience. Come out and breathe the fresh air, but it is just a jewel of Tennessee. It's just gorgeous.

- Well, folks that'll do it for this week, but check out our website at tennesseecrossroads.org and remember to keep crossroads traveling. Thanks for watching.

- [Announcer] "Tennessee Crossroads" is brought to you in part by

- [Narrator] Students across Tennessee have benefited from over $7.5 billion dollars we've raised for education, providing more than $2 million scholarships and grants. The Tennessee Lottery, game-changing, life-changing fun.

- [Announcer] Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways where adventure, cuisine and history come together. With 16 scenic driving trails, you can discover why Tennessee sounds perfect. Trips can be planned at tnvacation.com.