Episode 3829

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

- [Announcer] 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 and Byways, discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made-in-Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at TNTrailsAndByways.com.

- [Announcer] The co-op system in Tennessee consists of independently owned co-ops, driven to serve farmer-owners, rural lifestyle customers, and their communities throughout Tennessee and in five neighboring states. More at ourcoop.com.

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

- This week, we'll see big talent in small paintings, go to a tea party, Southern style, explore the lifestyles of the rich and famous from Nashville's history, and get an adrenaline rush near Chattanooga. It's not a bird or a plane, it's "Tennessee Crossroads." I'm Miranda Cohen, thanks for tuning in. In life, it is said that good things come in small packages. The same can be said for the world of art. Coming up in our first story, we meet a talented young woman who is making a big statement with her small masterpieces. Jennifer Bezaire is delicately blending her pastel oils into clouds and lush trees, creating an array of colors with a skilled hand, detailed and tranquil, and her love of art and a desire to paint came from a very familiar face.

- I mean, I painted in high school, in my parents' garage, with stinky, like, oil paints and paint thinner, 'cause I watched Bob Ross . Saturdays, it would be on PBS. It's not as easy as he made it look, but he really did make it look easy, and he was just so easy to watch and listen to, and encouraging.

- [Miranda] From her early inspirations from the PBS icon to now creating almost daily in her home studio, Jennifer Bezaire's art is making a big impact through her very small creations.

- [Jennifer] It probably started because I was buying handmade paper, and a lot of it is not very large. and I was painting on handmade paper, it was tiny, I just started going for, like, teeny, tiny little brushes, and then I eventually was like, I should frame my stuff in vintage frames.

- Jennifer Bezaire's pieces are all true works of art, of course, the oil painting, but also the frame. She hand chooses each frame. They are all vintage, and they all have their own story to tell.

- [Jennifer] So I started specifically looking for paintings, or frames for paintings, and now, when I paint, normally, I choose my frame and then paint to go with it, like the colors, I figure out the layout of my painting to fit within that frame.

- [Miranda] Most of the gilded frames come from Italy, dating back to the 1950s or beyond.

- And I started looking at all these cute little round frames, and they're all tiny, so I think it just kind of, I boxed myself into small stuff .

- [Miranda] Almost immediately, Her pieces caught the eye of some very successful designers, and Jennifer began grouping her smaller pieces together to create beautiful arrangements. Her paintings and thoughtful groupings have graced the pages of "Southern Living" and "Create! Magazine."

- I do mix my colors, and honestly, I used to only paint with primaries, 'cause it's amazing what some of them do. It's like, hey, if I wanna paint this color, maybe these mix really well.

- [Miranda] Whether artistically arranged together or standing alone, each work has meticulous attention to detail, every stroke gently capturing a beautiful landscape or seascape.

- It's very hard to do those tiny details all in one pass. I tend to sit and do a painting all in one session because they are really small, and it's very, it's very hard to do these little details in oil, because it tends to just wanna blend all together.

- [Miranda] Jennifer loves to draw her inspiration from nature, and it was on an early morning hike with her sister, Pam, when the volunteer state showed off her most beloved bloom, and the gifted artist quickly turned to her canvas.

- My sister and I went hiking down in Brentwood, Smith Park. It was gorgeous! It might have been back in May, and there was just this big bed of irises I was like, I wonder if I could paint that. And I picked some frames, some wall frames, and tried to paint them. I don't think they're my best work, but people really did love them.

- [Miranda] Love them is certainly an understatement. Her colorful iris depictions are highly coveted, and like most of her work, the majestic purple blooms will quickly sell out as soon as they are released, a beautiful way to bring a little touch of Tennessee inside and share her passion for painting with others.

- When people message you and say how much they love something or what it means to them, it's very humbling, because I'm just painting something that I think, I think is pretty, I enjoy it, and it's nice when somebody else really connects with it.

- For many of us, the words tea room conjures up visions of tiny finger sandwiches, scones, and those dainty little tea cups. Well, you can get tea at the Beacon Light Tea Room, as long as it's ice tea. Next, we'll take a look back at Joe Elmore's visit to this historic restaurant in Bon Aqua.

- [Joe] Before Interstate 40, Highway 100 was a main route from Memphis to Nashville. Then, as now, the Beacon Light Tea Room has been a roadside haven for hungry travelers.

- We like to make people feel comfortable and at home, and give 'em a good meal. 20, we'll have it ready, okay? Thank you. Bye-bye.

- [Joe] Kim Winn and her husband bought the place in 2008, and today, not much has changed since it first opened near Bon Aqua in 1936, especially the signature biscuits, preserves, country ham, and fried chicken. These days, the Beacon Light is a dining destination, especially for folks who wanna get away to the country for what's like a visit to grandma's house.

- And the people. It's just like family, coming here.

- [Joe] The restaurant's Southern fried chicken is almost legendary, especially prepared so it's crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

- Now you have to cook it in a cast iron skillet. That's the secret. That's just the old-time way to, you know, that we all grew up when we had fried chicken, you know, and that's what we do here. We have skillets going all the time.

- [Joe] Oh, and just before it's served, each piece gets a short dip in the deep fryer for a little extra crunch. You haven't jumped on that so-called hot chicken bandwagon yet, have you?

- No, no. We try to stay away from the hot chicken . The other chicken keeps us pretty busy.

- [Joe] Now, even before placing your order, you'll get a basket of Beacon light biscuits, which garner rave reviews from food critics and customers alike. You have a special recipe for that?

- Oh, we do, we do have a special recipe for that, lard and buttermilk, and that's what makes 'em.

- [Joe] Lard and buttermilk.

- Lard, not shortening or vegetable oil, lard, yeah .

- [Joe] Okay . Now the homemade biscuit toppings are not jellies, not jams.

- [Kim] It's a preserve, so it has more of a liquid consistency to it, and we just put the fruit in, and sugar, and just let 'em cook. And they're really good over some hot biscuits.

- [Joe] And a lot of customers wanna take some home. While fried chicken rules the roost on the menu, country ham and red-eye gravy run a close second. In case you've never tried to cook this Southern classic, well, Kim's gonna take you through the steps.

- [Kim] We put a little butter with the ham, and a touch of hot sauce in there, and you let that sear to the skillet, and then you add a coffee-water mix to this, and just stir it, and then you let that come to, let it come to a little boil. The boiling pulls the salt out of the ham

- Oh, okay.

- to give it that flavor, and then it'll be ready for us to eat, okay?

- It's not just everywhere that you can go and get country ham and red-eye gravy, but it's my favorite. If I come in in the morning, or in the afternoon, evening, it's usually scrambled eggs and country ham.

- [Joe] It goes without saying, many customers are regulars and they don't mind the extra miles required to reach this roadside gem.

- [Kim] We have people from all around that come to see us, Memphis, Nashville, several that come from even out of state when they're coming to visit Tennessee.

- We love the food. It's consistent, friendly, you can't get it in the city, and we just love the restaurant, we love the people.

- [Joe] Jim Levine's a regular who loves the place so much, well, he recorded a song about it for charity. ♪ Built in 1936 ♪ ♪ From a lot of stones and a bunch of sticks ♪ ♪ 75 years and still it's going strong ♪ ♪ So if you're hankering for Southern cooking ♪ ♪ Where every waitress is so good-looking ♪ ♪ This is just a place where you get along ♪

- [Joe] When you're open six days a week, well, you have to put in plenty of hours of hard work, but for Kim Winn, the happy faces of satisfied customers make it all worthwhile.

- I do love it, and, you know, the customers that come in here, there's so many of 'em that are repeat customers, and you just, you get to know 'em, you know. I think that's just the atmosphere that we want the Beacon Light to have. ♪ Under that Beacon Light sign ♪

- In our next story, Alex Denis gives us a lesson in Tennessee history and fine architecture. The volunteer state has more than its share of antebellum homes, but few can compete with the ornate beauty of Nashville's Two Rivers Mansion.

- [Alex] Tucked at the end of a dramatic, tree-lined driveway, it's a sight to behold. The mansion, built in 1859, is one of the earliest ornate Italianate houses built in Middle Tennessee, it's well-preserved grandeur a glimpse of the past.

- And when you're at the front gates, looking down in here, I mean it is just so majestic to see this big, beautiful house just appears. You know, you can see the carriages, and the ladies in the big dresses, and it just has a magical feel to it.

- [Alex] For decades, Laura Carrillo, community coordinator for Metro Parks, has advocated for Two Rivers Mansion. The home sits on 14 acres and spreads its ornate detail, both inside and out, across more than 10,000 square feet.

- It actually gets its name, from where we sit in this property, a half mile to the east is the Stones River, half mile to the west is the Cumberland River, so that gives you two rivers.

- To fully appreciate this incredible build, you must start where it began, here, the first dwelling, which has stood strong for more than 215 years. Step inside and you are transported back to 1802, where pieces from that era fill the rooms. Original pine floors stretch wall to wall. The cozy home with two bedrooms and an attic that runs the entire length of the house, served as an investment for a man looking to create a homestead in 1819. Instead, it would become his legacy.

- William Harding died fairly young. He didn't even live long enough to see his only child born.

- [Alex] The child, William Willie Elizabeth Harding, grew, and so did the family's property, into an 1,100 acre estate.

- [Laura] And they actually gave this back to Miss Willie as an endowment for marriage.

- [Alex] Her young husband, David H. McGavock.

- [Laura] Now this was not an arranged marriage, this was just two people that fell in love. She had the land and the house, and he had the knowledge. They were the perfect union when they got married in May of 1850.

- [Alex] The newlyweds wasted no time building two Rivers Mansion for $8,000, and no detail was spared. The ceilings are more than 14 feet tall on both the first and second floors, accented by original medallions. Floor to ceiling windows allow light to pour in, highlighted by ruby red glass, a sign of wealth. The thick walls are filled with sawdust to help with insulation.

- [Laura] It just layers and layers of detail.

- [Alex] Ascend upstairs, and room after room is outfitted with period furniture. Fine art enhances the walls, some original to the home.

- [Laura] This is probably my favorite piece in the house. This is a love message. This was painted by C.E. Lenoir in about 1880. It's in its original frame.

- [Alex] Two Rivers took eight years to build, and the family expanded with it, their names forever marked in masonry, alongside those who helped.

- [Laura] I really believe that that's the child of Henry Harding. Henry Harding was one of the slaves, and they put her little feet into the mortar of the bricks, which were all made here on the property.

- [Alex] Still fully intact, the mansion tells an incredible story of love, struggle, and redemption, a storied past preserved by Mary Louise Bransford McGavock, the last of the McGavock family, until her death in 1965.

- [Laura] You know, they weren't all this famous, but they left behind this era and this house that's just magnificent.

- [Alex] Even today, two Rivers Mansion reflects the taste, textures, and colors of the post-war era, and remains a centerpiece for gatherings, both public and private.

- [Laura] I love giving tours to the locals, 'cause you start talking about the other families, the other houses, the street names, and you start, you just see them kinda like, "Oh, okay, that's why," you know, and that's who they are, you know, and it just gives, it's naturalist history.

- Thanks, Alex, beautiful place. Since the dawn of time, people have dreamed of flying. Sure, you can hop on an airliner anytime you like, but that doesn't give you the sensation you'll get from our next destination. Our adventurer, Cindy Carter, took to the wild blue yonder a few years back by jumping off a perfectly good mountain at the Lookout Mountain Flight Park.

- [Cindy] The view from atop Lookout Mountain is breathtaking, but for those who want to up the ante, the view is even more thrilling when you're just hanging out among the clouds. It's pretty, pretty magical. And hang gliding magic is something Rebecca Taylor experiences every chance she gets.

- I love that first couple of moments of the flight, when you have your hang glider on your back and when your feet are lifting up off the ground. That's what kind of got me hooked was just the first couple inches of flight. It's absolutely magical having a pair of your very own wings.

- Morning.

- Morning, how are you?

- Welcome to Flight Park. How's it going?

- Good. How are you?

- [Cindy] Rebecca helps hundreds of people earn their wings at the Lookout Mountain Flight Park just outside of Chattanooga.

- Both you guys are going up today?

- [Cindy] This hang gliding and paragliding school teaches students of all ages how to soar through the sky high above the Tennessee Valley.

- [Rebecca] On average, it takes about 7 to 10 days to learn how to fly a hang glider by yourself.

- [Cindy] Instead of training wheels, beginners have training hills, where they put their new skills into practice over and over.

- Eventually go from our small hill to our big hill, and pretty soon, right off the ramp.

- [Helper] Clear.

- [Flier] Yo, whoo! Whoo.

- And Rebecca says once pilots start stepping off ledges like this, they are also stepping into a community of like-minded, free-flying, fearless folks.

- You can call people up, stay in people's houses, or say, "Hey, I'm going to France, do you know anybody?" "Yeah, sure, here's my friend Peter." So it's a worldwide community because of this one sport linking us all together.

- [Instructor] All right, I'm gonna get down next to you here, okay?

- [Cindy] For those not quite ready to go it alone, tandem flights are a more mainstream and popular option. The Flight Park does a few thousand of these every year.

- I'm joining the Peace Corps tomorrow, so this is like my adventure before my adventure.

- [Cindy] For tandem flight adventures, students like Addison Bird are strapped to the pilot instructor.

- And then your other hand is gonna hold on right there.

- [Cindy] They're both then secured to the glider, which is tethered to a small plane.

- All right, Addison, you feeling ready?

- I'm ready.

- All righty.

- [Cindy] The plane takes the glider up, up and away, about 3,000 feet, before cutting it loose.

- A lot of people think that we're going up there and doing something that's gonna be really terrifying, or really shocking, something like that, but we can make it exciting, we can make it pretty scary, if we want to, but most people are pretty surprised with how calm it is.

- [Addison] They're, like, pulling you, and you, like, feel it, like, the tension, and then you let go, and it was awesome, awesome.

- [Cindy] Notice, we refer to Addison as a student. That's because these aren't just thrill rides.

- Everything good?

- Yes, a little tight on my neck.

- [Cindy] Before anyone goes up, students receive a roughly 10-minute tutorial on how to fly the glider.

- As long as you're moving through the air at enough speed to keep the wing flying at, you know, the right nose angle, it'll fly.

- You don't really feel like you're doing it, but you're up there, flying.

- [Cindy] Yeah, maybe, but I just had to find out for myself.

- Face back forward, whoo hoo.

- Whoo! Once locked in, and instructor Ted reinforces that Hang Gliding Flight 101.

- To make this go faster, bring yourself forward. That's faster. As you let go, it slows us down. If you wanna turn one way or the other, if you wanna go this way, you just wanna bring your full body over this way. Yeah, now bring your shoulders over, too,

- Oh.

- Just like, yeah, feel that?

- Oh, yeah.

- Moving your weight over?

- Yeah. Sky still looks good, wind is right, time for takeoff.

- Here we go.

- Oh, my gosh, here we go.

- We're rolling.

- Oh, it's the runway.

- Yeah. and we're flying.

- Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh!

- As cool as takeoff is, and it's pretty cool, nothing beats the view from above where Ted is quick to point out landmarks and the beautiful birds who've decided to fly with us.

- There's another one right there, oh, man! Oh, that's pretty awesome. Usually they don't like to get that close. That's really cool.

- [Cindy] Once we cut loose from the plane, Ted and I are on our own, and the teacher lets the student take the wheel, or in this case, the control bar.

- The lighter you grip on it, the more control you have.

- The experience is everything our friends have described, thrilling, cool, peaceful, present, humbling, and yeah, awesome! Like a lot of outdoor sports, this tends to be male-dominated, but when you're up in the air, we are all equal, and Ted has made me feel great! The joke is, like, to fly like a girl is actually to your benefit, because women can be really nimble, we're not muscling things around, so usually, women in flight, we can definitely give the boys a run for their money. Since the Wright brothers, folks have longed to soar above the earth using rising air currents and thermals to stay aloft. This is amazing. Just like the birds, or kites, or even Superman.

- Ah-hah, hmm, well done!

- Thank you.

- [Cindy] And when a hang gliding flight finally does come to an end, you can't help but wonder, when will I get another chance to defy gravity and just hang out for a while among the clouds.

- Thanks, Cindy. Brave lady! Well, that brings us to the close of another show. Now you can watch us anytime on our website at tennesseecrossroads.org, or on the PBS app. Thanks for watching. We'll see you again next week. Take care.

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

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

- [Announcer] Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways, discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made-in-Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at TNTrailsAndByways.com.

- [Announcer] The co-op system in Tennessee consists of independently owned co-ops, driven to serve farmer owners, rural lifestyle customers, and their communities throughout Tennessee and in five neighboring states. More at ourcoop.com.

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