The Baton Rouge Blues Festival has been an annual affair for 25 years. The two-day event attracts more than twenty thousand passionate fans, and as a metaphor for the community’s engaged spirit, it’s free of charge.

From rockabilly to blues and soul, the west Tennessee towns of Jackson and Brownsville have long histories as incubators of classic American music and musicians.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Faith Morris, chief marketing and external affairs officer at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis , Tennessee.

Come along with correspondent Tom Wilmer as he explores current facets of Memphis, Tenneesee.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from Memphis , Tennessee , where he visits the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum with John Doyle, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s first permanent exhibit outside of Washington D.C.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Captain Bert Minshall aboard the "Wild Goose," a yacht formerly owned by John Wayne, berthed at Hornblower Cruises in Newport Beach Harbor in California.

Join Spud Hilton , former San Francisco Chronicle travel editor, as he rediscovers his hometown. Hilton shares insights about the city’s fabled Union Square —the heart of San Francisco since the Gold Rush days.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer discovers why the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco was proclaimed as the best place to work in the Bay Area . Wilmer visits with Michael Dunne, area vice president of Hilton Hotels & Resorts; Nora Johnson, front desk training supervisor (celebrating her 47 th year with Hilton); and John Bernier, area director of human resources.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Dublin-based Tourism Ireland , shares his passion for exploring Ireland and experiencing the 1,600-mile-long Wild Atlantic Way . Start at a Dublin pub named The Bar With No Name —a place you’ll have to search for as there is no sign out front—but well worth the walkabout.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Thomas Crosby, CEO of Pal’s restaurant chain, at the firm’s first diner in Kingsport, Tennessee . Today there are 29 Pal’s throughout northeast Tennessee and southwestern Virginia. Crosby shares insights into Pal’s corporate model , via which he says employees earn a living wage. Annual employee retention at Pal’s is approximately 76 percent—while the national fast food industry annual turnover is close to 100 percent.