Episode 4008

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- This time on "Tennessee Crossroads," we'll meet the team behind a barbecue tradition in Lexington. We'll paddle through a remarkable wildlife area just outside of Memphis. We'll take the easy way to the top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga. And we'll go back to 1995 in a farm of a different sort in Paris. Those of you with a sweet tooth better stick around for that one. Howdy, everyone. I'm Ketch Secor, welcoming you back to another episode of "Tennessee Crossroads." Well, we visit a lot of barbecue restaurants on this show, but few of them have been around as long or have had as much impact on their community as this one. And Vicki Yates recently visited B.E. Scotts Bar-B-Que to find out the secret to their success after all these years.

- It's summer, one of the hottest summers we've had in years. And what food says summer best? Hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, how about barbecue? Today we drove to Lexington, Tennessee after hearing great word of mouth about one barbecue restaurant in particular. B.E. Scotts Bar-B-Que has been a staple here since 1962. Known for cooking whole hogs, their customers are loyal.

- It's good. We don't never pass it by, you know. We've been to Jackson. We started home. I said, "We'll eat at, the barbecue place."

- [Vicki] So what makes B.E. Scotts so good? Well, first you need to understand what makes them different. Zach Parker, who had plans to become an EMT, took over the restaurant after his father, Ricky Parker, passed away. He says B.E. Scotts is named after the man who originally taught his father the ins and outs of preparing barbecue.

- Scott's started in 1962 by Benjamin Early Scott doing whole hog barbecue, just a little roadside on a two-lane highway. My dad took over in 1989, and I was born in '91, so I went everywhere from sweeping floors, washing dishes, cooking pigs, serving customers.

- [Vicki] But there's something else that differentiates the barbecue here.

- I would say it's the 24-hour process of cooking the whole hog, the cinder block pits, the hickory wood, the cardboard insulation. You see a lot of people, everybody wants to try to make something easier. There's parts of me that if it's not broke, don't fix it.

- [Vicki] Something else he believes in is making sure your crew is treated like family and that everyone can contribute.

- [Zach] My procedures is operations, making sure that everybody's in place, everybody's doing their job, their task at hand, and making sure they're putting out the best product they can. You can go as far as pit room management. They're making sure hogs are loaded, hogs are off, quality's there.

- [Vicki] At the top of that list is Preston Lewis.

- [Zach] My pit room manager is very, very well-rounded, but he's been with me since he was 14. So now he's 19, 20, he's 20 now, and he's doing an exceptional job.

- Also steadily working here at Scott's is Tennille Parker, Zach's wife. Despite getting her nursing degree and tending to their six-month-old daughter, she put nursing on hold when Zach's dad died to help out with the business.

- So I do a lot of the scheduling, work on payroll, just check in with employees, making sure that things are operating smoothly. I would have to say that my favorite part is definitely all of our customers leaving happy. Thank you.

- [Vicki] And while most people make their way to their Lexington location to eat-

- We just get the barbecue and the chips and the drink most of the time. Now you can get chicken and all the other good stuff, but we just always get the sandwich.

- [Vicki] The establishment also has a thriving catering business.

- If you start talking about my catering coordinator and my front of the house manager, she has probably been here just as long as I have. She might know a little more than I do when it comes to that catering and coordinating because she's exceptional.

- [Vicki] And as if they didn't have enough to take care of, they are also owners of Jack's Creek Bar-B-Que down the road. Its menu highlights a different style of barbecue. And when you speak of different types and tastes of local barbecue, Zack, whose B.E. Scott's ribs were honored recently by Southern Living Magazine says he doesn't believe in competition.

- [Zach] Yes. All barbecue places, restaurants, your normal person is going to eat two to three times a day. I firmly believe that when you start creating competition, eventually you're taken away from somebody's family.

- [Vicki] But the locals always seem to find their way to B.E. Scott's, where they line up at lunchtime with Mr. Carlos behind the counter as the ultimate prep guy for such specialties as fried thick bologna sandwiches, sides of baked beans, coleslaw, and potato salad, and the ever popular barbecue nachos.

- The goal to me is not about how much money can we make today, right? The goal is to put out a good product, spread the name. And as you know, it's not my name on the business, never will be. My goal is the legacy of what Mr. Early Scott left and Mr. Ricky Parker left my dad.

- Delicious. Well, thanks, Vicki. Hey, that looks like a tight-knit group making some really great food. Well, next, we head west to a natural area where you can get a unique view of cypress forests only accessible by boat. Zephyr McAninch and our friends at WKNO Memphis' PBS station explain how to experience this for yourselves.

- [Zephyr] The Wolf River is a 105-mile waterway that cuts across the southwestern corner of Tennessee, flowing northwest from Holly Springs National Forest in Mississippi all the way to downtown Memphis, emptying into the Mississippi River near Mud Island. But about an hour outside of Memphis, the Ghost River and Lost Swamp portions of the Wolf River are hosts to hundreds of plants and animals that you just can't see in the city center.

- The Ghost River section, the Lost Swamp section, and other sections of the Wolf River are incredibly ecologically valuable. One of my favorite things about the river are the cypress forest that you get to paddle through. And I think that that's unique for our region, and having old growth cypress still standing in our region of West Tennessee is an incredible thing that we should all be able to appreciate.

- And there are so many ways to appreciate it. Along the river, there are several amazing natural areas open to the public to enjoy, from the various walking and cycling trails of the Greenway Corridor that runs through much of the Memphis City limits, to some of the paddling opportunities a little bit further out. But depending on where you go, you might still want an experienced guide.

- The Lost Swamp and the Ghost River sections of the Wolf River, they are natural areas. It's not a park, it's not a nature park, it's nature. And so you need to go with an experienced guide, whether it's a Wolf River Conservancy staff, which is an excellent choice, or another paddler who's well experienced in the area. I mean, you can get lost out there if you're truly a tenderfoot.

- The Wolf River is open to the public and we would encourage people to go out and explore. There's really something there for everyone. If you're looking for a challenging paddle, the Wolf River has those sections. If you're looking for a leisurely paddle down the river, it has that available too. And so talk to us at the Wolf River Conservancy and we can help you determine what's best for you getting out on the river. The Wolf River Conservancy offers guided paddles both to private parties and to the public once the first Saturday of every month. And if you're interested in joining us for one of those first Saturday paddles, visit our website, wolfriver.org, and you can find the sign up information there. We have an amazing river guide cadre who loves taking people out on the river. And if you're interested in joining us, just get in contact and we'll let you know when our next public paddle is.

- Not everybody would call themselves a nature lover, but I think every single person who lives in the Mid-South needs to experience the Lost Swamp one time. I've been out there a few times with non-naturalists, and I think a one-time visit is an absolute, absolute must. It'll change your perspective on nature.

- I think that the Wolf River is unique because when most people think about West Tennessee, they just think about the Mississippi River. They don't necessarily think about the ecological diversity or the natural heritage of the Mid-South. And if you're interested in having your perceptions expanded about what West Tennessee is, I would encourage anybody to come and paddle the Ghost River section or the Lost Swamp and come and visit us at the Wolf River Conservancy.

- Whenever I'm out in the Wolf River, immediately, it's a profound sense of peace. You just don't realize how noisy the world is and how much is going on around you, and the quietness, the stillness, the gentleness of being out there in the Lost Swamp, oh, it affects you just immediately and profoundly.

- I think when you're in some of the more remote sections of the Wolf River, like the Ghost River section or the Lost Swamp, you are surrounded by beautiful nature. You're floating through cypress swamps, and you don't realize you're only an hour, hour and a half away from downtown Memphis, and it's truly an escape. It's a breath of fresh air and allows you to clear your mind and experience just ancient nature, as very few Mid-Southerners and Memphians get to do on a daily basis.

- Terrific. Thanks, Zephyr. Definitely worth checking out the Wolf River Conservancy's website to plan a trip of your own. Well, no doubt you've heard of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, but there is more than one choo-choo in the scenic city. High atop Lookout Mountain, Miranda Cohen found one that takes passengers up, up, up above the clouds on a trip called America's Most Amazing Mile.

- [Miranda] It is called America's Most Amazing Mile.

- All right, please have your tickets ready and make sure to walk your step...

- [Miranda] Since the late 1800s, people have traveled to Lookout Mountain to do just that. Take in the spectacular views of the Tennessee River Valley, some 1600 feet below. The first cars carried coal and workers, but soon the magnificent views from above became the attraction. The sightseers showed up and the opulent Lookout Inn Hotel was built as a mountain resort.

- Chattanooga has always been a tourist town, so them building the hotels, there was more and more people coming to flock to the mountain.

- [Miranda] They also came to work and to trade, and it became evident that there needed to be a safe, fast, and cost-effective way to get travelers up and down the mountain. That's when the idea of the Incline Railway was born, a convenient and adventurous way to get people from point A to point B. Today, the hotel is gone, and so are the boilers and steam that once powered the two railway cars on this parallel track, but the thrill of ascending and descending the mountain is still thriving.

- Our cars run about six miles per hour, and it goes from an elevation down in the valley of like 600 feet above sea level, and then we get to the top of the mountain, it's like 1,200 feet above sea level. The car, the track is one mile long, and the grade at the steepest point is a 72.7% grade. And our cars are actually built on an 18 degree angle, so that way, if you come up the mountain, you're not falling out of your seat, so therefore the cars are built on a angle. So when you're at the bottom, you're kind of reclined in your seats, but when you get to the top, you're sitting level.

- [Miranda] The story of the Incline Railway director, Matthew Higgins, is just as interesting as the railway itself. You see, Higgins grew up on Lookout Mountain in the shadow of the railway.

- I was raised right beside the Incline Railway. My parents' house was probably within rock throwing distance of the incline track. So growing up, I just always wanted to work there because you could see the maintenance people as they walked down and greasing the track.

- [Miranda] In fact, Higgins and his friends put pennies on the track in the hopes of getting a smashed souvenir so many times that the conductor paid a visit and offered to fuel his fascination with the railway by offering him a job.

- [Higgins] My first job was actually the night janitor here. I started out doing cleanup after hours, and my dad would come up and pick me up after hours after I got done cleaning.

- 36 years later, Higgins is the director of the Incline Railway. He calls all the shots, constantly overseeing the boarding, loading, and unloading of the cars, monitoring traffic and the weather. He can also answer any questions the tourists have about Lookout Mountain, or the engineering marvel, that is the nation's steepest and safest incline railway. The Incline Railway in Chattanooga is called a funicular railway. It even has fun in the name. It is an ancient term, meaning pulling a rail car up the hill with a rope, but today, it has done a lot more high tech.

- These here are our 125 horsepower motors, and then we have a coupler here that goes to a gear, and this here is one of our brakes for this particular side of our equipment. And then we just have different gear reductions here to more or less have the horsepower to be able to move our 12-ton cars up and down the mountain.

- Just like the cars themselves, Higgins and his team are in constant motion, ensuring a safe, seamless, and scenic ride for the tourists.

- [Higgins] On a typical busy day, we can haul anywhere from three to 4,000 people, and that's running nonstop from daylight to dark.

- [Rider] Thank you.

- Have a good day, thanks for riding.

- Oh, it was great. It was steep at the top, and the views were tremendous from the top.

- [Miranda] Once at the top of the mountain, there are sweeping observation decks that offer panoramic views. You can tour the engine room or treat yourself to homemade fudge and hand-dipped chocolates. And everything and every one that goes up must come down, and that is a thrill too.

- [Higgins] The view through the roof is kind of like it's an astrodome roof, where a lot of people say it's almost like riding in a greenhouse 'cause there's so many windows in the top of the cars, the side of the cars. There's just so many windows, and the view is beautiful in the springtime.

- [Miranda] You can ride the rails rain or shine, and thanks to the ever-changing color show, you will always see something different. But the one thing guaranteed is a journey like no other.

- [Higgins] If you've never ridden an incline, it's an experience that you will never, ever forget. We get so many people that are just scared of heights, but once they get on the car, they actually say, "This isn't half bad at all," 'cause the view is just breathtaking, so they forget about their fear of heights and say, "I can do this."

- Wow, looks like a million dollar view from that train. Thanks, Miranda. Well, finally, we revisit a story from our eighth season. Al Voecks followed his sweet tooth to Paris, to this week's "Retro Crossroads" segment, where he found a farm that raises a different sort of crop.

- 37 years ago, a lady by the name of Sally Lane Jones started satisfying the candy cravings of people in Paris, Tennessee, and all of Henry County, for that matter. News of what she called her candy farm soon spread, and the rest, as they say, is history. Sally Lane has since moved from Paris, although she does still live here in Tennessee, but her candy farm still exists, and it's been in the same location for the past 37 years. The operation today is under Jerry and Jean Peterson's name, and while the names have changed, and even the area has changed somewhat, some things have remained constant, such as they make candy the old-fashioned way by hand.

- We moved here from Southern California and was looking at Tennessee, and came back here and looked at it and bought it, and trained us and started working in it. It's all still handmade, cooked in the same copper kettles. Nothing has changed other than we've added some new ones, new candies.

- [Al] The training soon paid off, and today Jean and Jerry make over a hundred different types of candy. But even with all the variety, there is no doubt as to what the signature candy of Sally Lane's really is.

- [Jerry] That being our mints, which is our trademark, the pink and green mints. We don't sell hundreds of pounds of those in a year, it's tons.

- [Al] Tons of them.

- [Jerry] That's no exaggeration. It's an ice cap with peppermint flavoring in it, and then also it has the... The pink one has a little crunch in it, which is another candy we make and grind up and put in it.

- [Al] As far as your chocolates are concerned, what's your best seller?

- [Jean] Kentucky Lake Frogs.

- [Jerry] Right.

- [Al] Kentucky Lake Frogs.

- [Jean] Uh-huh.

- [Al] What is a frog? Same as a turtle?

- [Jean] It's similar to a turtle. Turtles is a trademark, and we saw you can't call it a turtle. You have to come up with your own name. This is why like you go to Gatlinburg or someplace, they'll have them bear claws or the millionaires in Texas, that kind of thing, something that's regional.

- [Jerry] Chocolate, caramel, and pecans. And we also make them in white chocolate, which is our snow frogs. Our candy also is not loaded with preservatives. We just make candy up as we need it. So we might make this one today and that one today, and several different ones one day, and then we make everything up just as we're going to need it.

- [Al] There's chocolate everywhere you look. The mints, of course, are legend, but you'll also get some of the best peanut brittle in the state.

- [Jerry] I believe a lot of the factor is that you're putting hand ingredients in it. It's being done with pride. We're not a big store where we take a lot of pride in what we're making, it all being handmade. Just the hand touch is not being done by machine. It's all being done by hand. We'll be pouring this on the table now. Burns can be very bad, but a candy burn is really bad because it just sticks to you and burns right in. I read an article one time about a man who was interviewing people for making candy, and he says, "I pay more attention to their hands than their resume, because if they have a lot of candy burns on their hands, I know they've made candy." Those two knuckles are peanut brittle. That's licorice. What I'm doing here is that I'm cooling it, also I'm stretching it out a little bit. Once it is rolled out with the rolling pin, the best peanut brittle that you can make is peanut thin. Now what we're doing here is stretching it all out before it starts setting up, which it is doing. You work on the biggest pieces first, and then we'll go back over it and then start breaking up the smaller pieces. This is hot enough that you could not possibly do this without gloves on. A girl came in here about seven, eight years ago and said that she had worked here 18 to 20 years ago, and we still use the same little hammer to break up our peanut brittle with that had a broken claw on it. And I came down here and got it and I said, "Do you mean this one?" So this little hammer has been breaking up the peanut brittle and coconut brittle for over 30 years here. If it ever should break, I'm going to frame it. And as you can see, it's all handmade.

- [Al] As with anything else handmade, it's always best right out of the oven or kettle, if you prefer. These days when we're maybe a little more health conscious than we had been in the past, has this affected the candy market? Are people concerned about this?

- [Jean] Yes, they are. They're still buying candy. A lot of people will take it as a treat though. They have worked hard all week or all month, and like this is a treat and they come in and they want just a small amount of candy just kind of as a reward for treating themselves well otherwise as far as the health market goes. And then we have some people that come in and want something that's sugar-free, or fat-free, or low-fat, trying to... They want something as far as the dessert goes, but they don't want necessarily want a lot.

- If there is such a thing as a chocoholic, well, this is where you have to be, because if you can't satisfy your craving at Sally Lane's, then you've got major troubles. There's only one problem, however, where do you start? I think I probably have one of these. And then I'll have one of these, and I got to have a frog.

- And believe it or not, Sally Lane's Candy Farm is still putting out a bumper crop of delicious candies in Paris. You can find them on East Wood Street now. Thanks, Al. Well, that brings us to the end of another great show, but please check out our website at tennesseecrossroads.org, where you can watch your favorite stories, and don't forget to leave us a video message for our 40th season so we can feature you on the show. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see y'all next time.

- Hi, Tennessee Crossroads, it's Crystal in Antioch. I wanna thank you for 40 years of highlighting Tennessee's beauty, history, and local businesses. Please don't stop. Full speed ahead to 40 plus more years, but don't ever, ever, ever change your theme music. Love you guys. Bye.

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