This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

Wish You Were Here produced under an agreement with the Upper Cumberland Development District and made possible in part through support from the Tennessee Tech University Center for Rural Innovation and the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.

In the heart of Tennessee, there's a little slice of heaven you've just got to see.

♪Dramatic Music♪ Oh, man.

Wish you were here.

Welcome to Wish You Were Here Adventures in Tennessee's Upper Cumberland.

I'm Katelyn Steakley, your guide.

As we explore the holiday cheer and unique seasonal experience of this stunning region.

Together, we will uncover hidden gems, take in enchanting holiday lights, and encounter the remarkable personalities that define the charm of the Upper Cumberland.

Before we meet up with our Wish You Were Here field correspondents Let's see what's hiding in the hills of the Upper Cumberland for the holiday season at a unique Drive-Thru light display, Hidden Hollow Park, a longtime landmark, welcomes guests from near and far.

♪High Energy Christmas Music♪ Located just off highway 70 and Interstate 40, Hidden Hollow Park is a longtime landmark destination, welcoming guests with their holiday light display and nostalgia.

Today, we are visiting a true hidden gem in the Upper Cumberland, we are at Hidden Hollow Park.

This is owner Vince Taylor, Vince, thank you so much for having us today.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

Thanks for being here.

I am so excited to be here.

Hidden hollow is tucked away in between all the rolling hills here in Putnam County.

Can you tell me a little bit about the property, the history of the property and what people can expect when they visit?

Yeah, absolutely.

Hidden hollow has been here since probably the 1960s.

Arda Lee was the original owner, and he did a lot of the landscaping and a lot of the designing.

He was an engineer by trade.

So he came in and created, you know, a lot of the lakes and then the houses and buildings that are here.

And, we purchased it 17 years ago, and we've been coming in and refurbishing and redesigning and adding on more lights every year.

We open up Thanksgiving through New Year's for the Christmas lights display on the weekends.

The girls are working out there at the ticket booth, and they'll kind of give you a little descriptive on how to drive through.

And as they come in, we have a snack bar and a gift shop.

They'll come right by it.

And then over here, Santa and Frosty will be here greeting the guests and the little kids, and then we'll have pony rides, bonfires on Saturday nights.

So some really neat stuff for the kids.

Now, what kind of food is available for visitors?

We have snack bar food.

One of my son's.

Dalton.

He's going to do some funnel cakes for you in a little bit.

But, you know, there's hamburgers and there's hot dogs and and Phillies and hot chocolate, of course.

Coffee and all that fun stuff.

How many visitors do you think visit your property each year?

You know, it's really hard to say, but, you know, thousands and a lot of the people we see, tags from, of course, Putnam County, we see Cumberland County, we see cars from Kentucky, of course Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga.

Yeah.

So people are coming in, from all different areas.

So it's kind of a destination.

At Christmas time.

They'll come in and see the lights and of course go in town and do shopping and stuff and, and, and eat while they're here.

So, so kind of a destination for them.

What else can guests do?

Can they stay on site here?

Through the summer they can, of course, in the winter.

One of the Airbnbs is the Santa's hut, and, the other one is is shut down for the winter.

But in the summer months, we have two Airbnbs.

The guests can come and stay, and stroll the grounds and fish and do all the fun stuff in the summer months, in addition to holiday lights and lodging, you also have opportunities for events and weddings and groups as well.

Yeah, absolutely.

If they'll just call and we can talk to them about weddings.

We redid the wedding chapel on the hill.

It seats about 55 people.

So we do some weddings up there.

We've done church groups.

We have some coming out this week, for the Christmas lights.

So, yeah, if they will just give us a call.

We can entertain big groups also.

Yes.

That is wonderful.

I am so excited to explore today.

I know I used to visit here all the time when I was little, so I'm really excited to see the lights and explore with my kids tonight so that we can create some lasting memories.

Thank you so much for having us.

Oh you're welcome.

This unique attraction has provided years of memory making for families and is now a lodging destination as well, offering two unique rentals overlooking the park.

♪Cheery Music♪ Have you ever shopped in a barn at a southern marketplace?

It's an upscale and unique experience.

Field correspondent Shan Stout takes us to Red Boiling Springs, where farm charm meets the vibrant atmosphere of a beautiful open air market.

♪Light Music♪ From antiques and vintage finds to handcrafted items, delicious food, photo ops and live music, there's something for everyone at a southern market place in Red Boiling Springs.

Located near Dale Hollow Lake, acres of Grace farms transforms with each season creating an upscale open air market experience paired with Downhome hospitality.

Two of my favorite things have collided in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee, which is Christmas and shopping.

They are married together here at a southern market place, and this is on acres of Grace farm.

This is a working farm, but obviously today is not Farm Day.

Tell us a little bit about your origin story and how this all got started.

So this is our family farm, the farm that my dad was born on and was raised in, back in 2017 when Molly came on board with us and I shared with her one day this vision of, do you think we could ever have a business here?

And I'm pretty sure she thought we were crazy because the barn was about to fall in.

It was being held up with a telephone pole.

So we started that rush.

Yeah, sure.

Yeah.

She didn't run away, so that was a great.

But then we started working and we had an amazing team that helped.

Molly had beautiful visions.

Like, she can take anything that you dream of and try to help make it into reality, along with our team.

And that's exactly what happened.

We had hay.

This was my husband's hay barn.

It has chandelier.

It does have chandelier.

Now he does not use it for hay.

Sorry about that hubby.

But we we did.

We started repairing.

We started hosting events and farm to table dinners and and sharing our story of what we do here.

Let's talk a little bit about what we can experience when we get here.

Because when I pulled up, not only could I smell delicious food and there was shopping everywhere to be seen, but there was live music.

So you got a lot going on here.

And then when you get a little closer, there was snow at a southern market place.

You can enjoy, vendors of all kinds and all types.

We have boutiques, we have jewelry.

We have antique dealers, and they have curated some of the best finds from all over the country, and bring here to us other marketplace, and bring to Middle Tennessee, which we are super proud of.

Let's say one of our viewers decides, I'm going, I'm there.

And obviously, you may not make it to this Christmas at a southern market place, but you can do next holiday season.

But there are other barn sales throughout the year, so talk about how we can find out when those happen.

Yeah.

So we host them three times a year the first weekend in May, the first weekend in October, and then we host it the weekend before Thanksgiving for our Christmas marketplace.

Okay, now, this is not just a wonderful event to come and shop, but proceeds go to support great things they do.

So that is something that's near and dear to our heart is to always give back.

So a portion of the proceeds of every event that we have will go back to our community.

Our Christmas one is super special because we're able to host like a VIP.

night that helps us raise funds to do 150 holiday food baskets for hungry families in our community.

We also sponsor multiple families for Christmas.

That's what it's all about.

You're making us feel very guilt free about coming here and shopping and spending our money for wonderful causes.

Now let's talk about this gorgeous venue that's over here behind us.

This whole Christmas decorating that you see was done in three days because we had a wedding this weekend.

We did.

So Molly the staff.

Phenomenal.

So our venue name is the Barn at Acres of Grace.

We host weddings, family reunions, birthdays.

We can flip this from a Christmas marketplace, into a wedding, which we will be doing in two weeks from now.

So, you know, we can turn it into whatever you need us to.

Okay, now, if this isn't enough and you haven't found enough things to interest you, you guys have a walkthrough light show.

Now for this year, we have a walkthrough synchronized singing light show.

You can see singing cornstalks and and trees and it's amazing.

So we will have that open every Saturday night from November the 23rd all the way through the end of December.

And we'll have vendors and a food truck as well.

So even if you can't make it to a Christmas marketplace, you can still probably make it to one of our light show events.

You know, we already are donating to good causes around here, so that's very important to you.

Even Santa Claus himself has the Saint Nick project, so he's even working toward great causes to help people.

Santa is the best.

He's the best.

I intend to meet him a little later and cross check Mr. South's list with Santa's list.

Make sure that there's no overlap and that we're all clear before the big day.

Because Christmas is upon us, and this is a season of holiday fun.

We hope you guys mark your calendar for next year at a southern marketplace, and make this a holiday tradition for you.

Wish you were here!

Guests can plan a full itinerary, enjoying shopping at the marketplace, along with outdoor recreation in nearby Salina.

♪Light Music♪ Holiday magic is the best way to describe the next stop on our jolly journey through the Upper Cumberland.

As downtown McMinnville transforms for the season, let's check in with field correspondent Rafferty Cleary, as he enjoys an evening of enchantment and maybe even some ice skating.

♪♪ Located near Rock Island State Park and Cumberland Caverns.

Guests to McMinnville can enjoy a full winter vacation while visiting.

When downtown is merry and bright.

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Nursery Capital of the world, McMinnville, Tennessee and this downtown turns into a magical winter wonderland through the month of December.

This evening I have Jennifer Meredith, who is the Main Street director here, and Jordan Pupols, who is the tourism and marketing director for McMinnville.

This is an awesome scene for the Christmas holiday, and there's all kinds of activities that take place throughout the month of December.

Tell us what visitors and even community members can experience in downtown McMinnville during this time of year.

Christmas in the Park is an annual event that our junior auxiliary of McMinnville put on every year and they do a lot of fun activities for kids.

There's live performances, they like Christmas Tree, we have a Polar Express that has a little snow that comes out.

You have Santa, you have arts and crafts.

We have our lights that are just amazing all the way through the downtown area.

We have McMinnville on ice and ice skating rinks here behind us, and a lot of the businesses stay open late to like, serve like hot chocolate and do fun things that people can enjoy downtown.

I was driving through downtown and the Landmark Park Theater had something about Hark at the Park.

What is that all?

Yeah.

So Hark at the park.

This will be the 16th annual Hark at the Park.

It's really become a beloved part of the McMinnville holiday festivals here.

It's a Christmas musical variety show.

It features both past and current local talent here in our community.

And speaking of the Park theater, every year in December, they put on multiple holiday centric events, a lot of activities.

As you can see, but you can't have Christmas without a Christmas parade.

You do it big for everything else.

I'm sure this is a big deal.

The parade is.

Can you talk a little bit about what folks can expect with the McMinnville Christmas Parade?

Yeah, usually it's the first Saturday of December.

We always have the Parks and Rec department of the city.

Do I do the Christmas parade.

This year It's the Tennessee Christmas, I think.

And, we actually have it during the day.

Usually it's in the afternoon.

They have over 106, I think, that are signed up to be part of that parade.

So it's just it's just something that's fun.

There's always great involvement from the community to where can one find Santa Claus and when it's all over with?

Santa Claus is he is at the end of the parade every year.

However, we also have him in different events downtown.

He is always at Christmas in the park.

He was there this year.

And then we'll also have some, carriage rides and some hot cider and some stuff like that with our downtown businesses open late, you can make this into like a winter vacation.

What other things are there to do outside of all the activities in the downtown area?

If they wanted to come and make this into a winter vacation, what opportunities are out there for folks?

Yeah, so McMinnville and Warren County are really rich in natural beauty.

We're at the center of some of the most amazing state parks in the entire state, including Rock Island State Park, Burgess Falls, Fall Creek Falls, Savage Golf, and South Cumberland.

Those are all a very easy drive.

Within one day.

We also have Cumberland Caverns, which is Tennessee's second longest cavern system.

You're able to go in there, explore, takes some really amazing walking tours behind us.

McMinnville on ice.

I'm extremely, not coordinated, but I've come to challenge myself tonight.

Is there any way possibly that I can get on the ice tonight of course.

And what I like to say is that, with McMinnville On Ice skills are unnecessary.

smiles are required, however.

Okay, well, so you'll fit right in.

I wish I can say what you're about to see next is going to be graceful, but it will be far from it.

Let's go give the ice skating rink a stab.

♪Drum Roll♪ ♪Christmas Music♪ Carriage rides, shopping and a town square.

Trimmed with lights, ribbons and nostalgia.

Top it off with music, refreshments and fireworks.

Field correspondent Matt Beal is taking us to a small town with big holiday cheer.

Christmas in the country in Livingston.

♪Christmas Music♪ Carriage rides and small town charm paired with boutique shopping trimmed with Christmas lights and carolers with sledding and more.

Downtown Livingston showcases the joy of the season for Christmas in the country.

Season's greetings and welcome to Livingston, Tennessee and Christmas in the country.

We're here inside from the cold at Daisy May's Boutique and Ruby and Lee Coffee and Bake House.

Livingston may be a small town, but it's big on charm and never more so than during this time of year, when downtown is transformed into a picture perfect holiday postcard.

And here to share more with us today are Shannon Cantrell from the Livingston, Overton County Chamber of Commerce and Jean Gantt from the Downtown Revitalization Committee.

Thanks so much for being here today.

We appreciate you're spending time with us.

We're happy to be here.

Thanks for coming.

So Christmas in the country is not just an event, but rather a series of events.

Is that right?

That's correct.

We start out with Santa coming in on a sleigh pulled by horses, and then the tree lighting is at 6 p.m.. And then there's all kinds of other things going on around the square as far as different organizations have coffee, chili, soup, hot chocolate.

Tree lighting is always a monster event.

It really fills up the entire square with people.

And it's it holds a very special place, and we get good pictures of a great big number of people all at one time.

What are some of your favorite parts of the Christmas in the country?

Events?

Some things that you or some of the visitors look forward to every year?

Personally, I look forward to seeing what all of our businesses do.

They really, really go all out when it comes to decorating their businesses.

I don't think people realize how much time a business is put into that flip to Christmas.

I mean, they really, really put a lot of effort into it.

And I just love waiting to see what they're going to have out for Christmas because they're all different.

They're all very unique in their own way, and they look great.

And the one thing they all have in common while being different is they're all super festive.

Absolutely.

And that's great.

Is there something particularly that you look forward to?

I look forward to seeing Santa and the Grinch, Santa and the Grinch.

Run both ends of the Christmas spectrum.

Absolutely.

So speaking of festive things, tonight we have ponies dressed as elves out here.

Ready for pictures.

Yes, there are some ponies out there, some mini ponies dressed as elves.

And then also we have wagon rides or carriage rides if you will, that people can get on and ride around the downtown as well.

Someone planning their trip.

What else do they need to know?

Whether it's downtown or other scenic beauty around us.

We have lots things, we've got Standing Stone State Park For example, one of the few rustic parks still in Tennessee, lots of hiking.

Got a beautiful views out there.

We have the lake, we have Dale Hollow Lake, those close by.

And people don't realize, but we have almost 2 million visitors a year to Dale Hollow Lake.

a lot of those visitors come here.

They come to enjoy town and shop and see the scenery.

So we have plenty of options for, restaurants as well as shopping, which has made us a destination.

Well, it's great.

I look forward to walking around tonight and taking some of this in and and seeing how beautiful everything is, because it really absolutely is.

And we thank you for what you all do to help to promote and present this with us and to make the season special.

Thank you for helping us out.

Absolutely.

A year round shopping destination, this small town square offers boutiques and quaint hospitality, especially during the holiday season.

♪Christmas Music♪ The holidays are often characterized by shopping and taking in the beauty of colorful and seasonal window displays.

This small town takes that to a new and lively level.

Let's see what correspondent Shane Stout is up to as she explores Christmas on the square in downtown Smithville.

The sights and sounds of Christmas truly come to life in downtown Smithville with their Christmas on the square festivities.

Live window displays make for a unique and whimsical holiday experience filled with fun and lots of smiles and laughter.

Hi everybody!

Now, have you ever had one of those dreams where you feel like you're in a Christmas movie?

Well, deja vu, because I'm having one of those moments right now.

We're here in downtown Smithville, Tennessee.

And if the Christmas season has not struck you yet, just get ready.

And when I got this assignment, I was like, who am I going to interview for this?

And they said, Shan, you're interviewing your smother.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to smother.

And I'd like to welcome you to Christmas on the square.

She's so shy.

So this is not your ordinary Christmas on the square.

Let's just be clear.

You've got all the traditional characters.

We have Santa here.

We've got the Grinch here.

We have, the parade was earlier in the day, and so we had, gosh, it felt like a thousand different floats coming through.

Lots going on.

So Christmas everywhere.

But the stores are all in competition at this event.

So what's going on on this square here with the businesses?

Well, we decided a few years ago.

Let's add some live windows.

And it has been just magical.

We're known all over the place for these windows.

And every year they get more and more creative.

I can't wait for you to see them.

Okay, now for our viewing audience.

A live window that is a decorated Christmas themed window with live models.

And they all are doing something different.

But it all has to be holiday related, right?

Yeah, and it could be people.

Could be animals, could be both.

Okay.

So I've seen some pretty creative ones so far.

They're gorgeous.

They're elaborate.

Now the small businesses are involved and the community comes out.

So it feels like all 5000 are here tonight, but also for the leaders in the courthouse right now behind us have something special.

All the elected officials are.

They are giving out free food to everybody.

And then over at City Hall, they're giving free food over there.

They've got dancing lights outside just in partner libraries involved.

They got Santa over there giving pictures.

And that local church on the square, you know, they're giving out free soup.

Free chili.

Now let's talk about the mayor.

And, actually, my sister was, the grand marshals, but we also had their, what, honorary grand marshals that were here in the parade?

Yeah.

So Aaron and Thea Tippin were here.

Yeah.

So, and Aaron and Thea are always so nice.

They're a part of this community, and they're always giving back and doing all the things all the time.

So this is small town charm and its finest.

The population in Smithville is close to 5000.

So tiny little town, big Christmas cheer.

We hope that when you plan your holiday gatherings and visits and you want to do all the things, you'll put a pin in Smithville and come here to be able to celebrate with us at Christmas on the square.

The magic is everywhere.

And we're open all year.

Downtown boutiques, eateries and more.

Stay open late, offer specials and provide entertainment for all who visit.

♪High Energy Music♪ Holiday Drive-Thru.

Lights.

Unique shopping.

Small town and country charm and so many festive experiences to tease the senses.

This was an adventure that surely inspired you to plan a winter visit to Tennessee's Upper Cumberland.

Thank you for traveling with us today on this journey in uncovering the region's hidden holiday gems.

Until our next adventure, Wish You Were Here.

Greetings fellow explorers.

Sorry, I wasn't ready.

I was totally in la la land.

I was like, oh, it's going [laughter] Yeah.

I'm on.

My mouth is freezing.

I wish You Were here.

Produced under an agreement with the Upper Cumberland Development District and made possible in part through support from the Tennessee Tech University Center for Rural Innovation and the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.

This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.