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Samantha Brown’s Places to Love
A traditional Aboriginal didgeridoo performance, unique Australian creatures, and a history lesson on how the telegraph line connected Australia to the rest of the world.
The iconic Polk-a-dot Drive-in, the Pontiac Oakland Auto Museum, America's Playable Arcade Museum, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, the Ace Neon Sign Museum, the Cahokia Mounds, diner food, and the mighty Mississippi River.
Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest commercial street in North America; Loy Sing Meat Market, the oldest Chinese-owned business on the continent; bike tour; whale-watching excursion; tea time at the iconic Fairmont Empress hotel; and Butchart Gardens, a former rock quarry transformed into a beautiful garden.
Samantha joins a rehearsal of RENT at Manchester's historic Palace Theatre; walks down Cat Alley, a one-of-a-kind feline fiesta of street art and good vibes; and explores the city's history of innovation during the Industrial Revolution at the Millyard Museum. In Portsmouth, she visits the Museum of Dumb Guy Stuff then enjoys coffee, dumplings and a pint enroute to her former hometown of New Castle and a "beach day" with her mom, Ellie Mae Brown.
The City of Roses proves true to its name after a visit to Portland's International Rose Test Garden. The city cultivates American-made crafts, as Samantha discovers at Steelport Knives, Freeland Distillery, and Orox Leather. An inspiring trip down the Tualatin River shows off the region's beautiful scenery, and the visit wraps up at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
Melbourne, Australia, known as one of the world's "most livable cities," has a rich history as a gold rush town and has now become a mecca for artists and foodies. After a walk down the picturesque Yarra River, she attends a match of the Women's Australian Football League then travels to the breathtaking Yarra Valley and encounters kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas.
Rose Island Lighthouse; God's Little Acre, a Colonial-era cemetery whose gravestones tell the story of the African American experience in Rhode Island; the famous Cliff Walk views of windswept Atlantic and Gilded Age mansions; Marble House, the "cottage" owned by Alva Vanderbilt, a champion of the American suffragette movement; and harvesting clams.
Samantha highlights the delicious beer, wine and spirits she has encountered across the world.
Why the city is considered holy to three of the world's major religions; a variety of foods; a shop that provides precious textiles to the Pope; the Jerusalem library where Palestinian women are learning to raise honeybees on the roof; and at the Western Wall, excavated tunnels with thousands of years of Jewish history.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected; Jerusalem Bird Observatory; fabulous food and exotic spices at the traditional and extensive Machane Yehuda market; and wine made in a region that has been producing wine for thousands of years.
