July 10, 2009, 2:54 PM |
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Back in Dallas. I say back because I was born here and even though I only lived here for a year and therefore have no recollection of it at all I still consider myself a little yellow rose. I have been back to Dallas a couple of times and I always enjoy it mainly because the people here a bigger than life and what the cityscape here lacks in personality the people more than make up for.
My day off falls while I am in Dallas and I am told by the hotel staff of the Katy Trail which sort of cuts thru the city on what used to be a raised railroad bed. I head out and what a little jewel this trail is that takes you passed small croppings of bamboo forests and lilac bushes all the while keeping you safe from traffic. Its such a lovely jog I outdo myself and run a lot further than I usually do, my muscles are already starting to ache and I just think “oh no” I’m sure the Texas wardrobe is going to be of the high-heeled kind. It could be a long shoot day tomorrow.
Continue reading: Dallas »
Posted By: samantha brown
July 2, 2009, 8:05 AM |
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Santa Barbara Blog I love Santa Barbara, how could you not? It’s devastatingly good-looking with its mountains and oceanfront. I arrive and do what I always do at a destination: head out for a jog to get some exercise and take in my surroundings. I get back to my hotel, shower and head out to a nice-looking restaurant nearby that had a great menu and wonderful wines by the glass. When I walk up to the host she says she’s sorry but the kitchen is closed. I look at my watch. It’s only 9:30! She didn’t seem to think that was a strange time to close everything down. Oh well, I can tell by my level of perturbness that I am cranky because I am really hungry so instead of looking for another exciting menu I decide to go right next door and have a bowl of soup and a beer.
Continue reading: Santa Barbara »
Posted By: samantha brown
June 26, 2009, 4:37 PM |
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I have a day off and it’s a glorious 40 degrees and blue sky. Alan, Damion and I want to put in a half day of snowboarding at The Canyons but we hear the conditions are hard, not a lot of snow and we all are worried we are going to injure ourselves the day before we have to work. Man, we are sooooo lame.
The crew goes into downtown Park City, while I have no desire to shop so I head up hill to where the homes are. I find some beautiful trails. I must look strange hiking these trails while holding a purse.
Ate lunch at a great local spot called Karleens. Homemade soups, salads and baked goods. It’s such a local establishment that the same people who are sitting next to me are also in the pictures that are posted all over the walls. I am listening in on the town gossip right now.
Continue reading: Sundance »
Posted By: samantha brown
June 18, 2009, 8:11 PM |
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The episode in Maui has an added twist: make everything as eco-friendly as possible. I also have the added fun of turning the camera towards my crew to shed a light on our collective bad habits of a production crew that aid in the deterioration of this earth. This is going to be fun.
As a production crew we are really just a walking garbage dump, the amount of waste we generate has never been lost on us as it literally piles up in our minivans before us.
Every morning we all come out with our cappuccinos in the cardboard cup with the wraparound snuggie. There is a tower of Styrofoam containers with cold half-eaten egg sandwiches and hardening ketchup.
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Posted By: samantha brown
June 12, 2009, 1:07 PM |
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Joining me for this cruise are my friends Pete, Kinga, Liz, her husband Dossi and my Mom! You may remember Liz from other Great Weekends episodes such as Miami. And she’ll be in an upcoming New York City episode! This being Liz’s third time should officially gives her “recurring role” status.
All of my friends met when we all moved into the same building. We were all new to the big city, scared, overwhelmed and poor. The best of friendships are made in those times.
Is there anything better than spending the night dancing? The whole crew gathers in the 70′s Dance club and after a round of margaritas and mojitos we all hit the dance floor with our best interpretive dance moves. We also have dinner with the Captain and his crew. All my friends were hoping we would get to sit at the Captains table. We are all from the Love Boat generation and there are just some things you can’t let go of.
Continue reading: The Carnival Cruise »
Posted By: samantha brown
June 9, 2009, 1:16 PM |
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Stay up to date with the show! You can grab this widget and post it on your MySpace page, Facebook page, on your own site or even iGoogle. The Samantha Brown’s Great Weekends widget is updated weekly with the upcoming episode photos, sneak peek video and Sam’s blog posts about each location. Don’t miss out!
Posted By: travel channel
June 5, 2009, 9:23 PM |
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First up, it’s the Italian Festival in East Boston. While we are shooting all things Italian, our contact becomes audibly upset at me when I go over to the deep fried Oreo cookie stand. “I don’t want that in the show, ” she says. “It has nothing to do with being Italian!”
I try to make light of the situation by reassuring her it’s just a light moment not meant to take away from the focus of the festival. “You should only show things that are Italian,” she said. So we head over to where I am going to learn how to throw pizza dough in the air. Only issue is our pizza maker is from Mexico and doesn’t speak English. I tell her that’s okay I speak Spanish, but of course our lovely lady of publicity does not want that to happen because, you guessed it … it’s not Italian.
This is one of those days where I could really go off on a producer. They have signed me up to be in a sausage eating contest. I have an Italian sausage maybe once a year and it’s also close to 100 degrees out which alone feels heart attack inducing.
Continue reading: Boston »
Posted By: samantha brown
May 28, 2009, 12:05 PM |
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Chicago is one of those cities that has it all: great food, a famous music scene, shopping and just to rub it in — a beach. As a New Yorker I find it hard to contain my jealousy as I jog along the lakefront watching Chicagoans lay out in the sun, play beach volleyball and swim. But then I remind myself that they have only three months of nice weather 
I stopped at a great neighborhood bar called the Map Room that serves over 200 types of beer that represent thirty different brewing styles. I feel at home because it’s called “a travelers tavern” you could taste a world of beers without ever leaving your stool.
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Posted By: samantha brown
May 21, 2009, 3:05 PM |
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I remember from my days of traveling here that The Hawaii National airport has outside gardens. This is perfect as I always crave breathing Real god made air, I don’t care if it’s muggy air, rainy, frigidly cold just as long as it hasn’t been pumped thru a system, recycled for our breathing enjoyment.
The Hawaii National airport is special as most of it is exposed to the outdoors. The planes are right there and you could touch them as nothing is blocking you from doing so save maybe the length of your arms. Palm trees frame the open breezeways and it’s highly common to see large palms and other tropical flora frame the large plans like Air Canada (I bet that plane is really happy) although it is scheduled to leave for frosty Vancouver in an hour. Anyway the greenery surrounding the plane acts like a large lei around the fuselage and you can’t help thinking that this is what airports are like in paradise.
Continue reading: Big Island Hawaii »
Posted By: samantha brown
May 14, 2009, 3:43 PM |
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This weekend is all about doing it up in high style in Atlanta. Atlanta is a city I have been to more than any in the world and yet not really. I have connected thru it easily a hundred times but have never stepped foot in it. At the airport it was very strange leaving thru the gleaming glass doors instead of running to the B terminal.
Starting our shoot at the Georgia Aquarium. I had no idea that Atlanta has the largest aquarium in the world and holds 3,000 fish and by fish I mean sharks, manta rays and whale sharks — four of them to be exact. This is reason alone to go to Atlanta for the weekend.
I actually get to scuba in the largest tank in the world (they don’t like to call it that) we enter the room that puts you above the aquarium. Picture an entire football field of water — the size just overwhelms! You can look down and see the massive picture windows and the people pointing and staring.
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Posted By: samantha brown
