Samantha Brown Tag Feed for 'dc' http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com Samantha Brown shows you all her favorite places to stay, dine, and meet new people. en-us Copyright The Travel Channel http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/template/sambrown/images/sambrownblog300.png Samantha Brown Tag Feed for 'dc' http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com Samantha Brown shows you all her favorite places to stay, dine, and meet new people. http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html PostZinger/v.1.0 DC http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/rss-read/dc Travel Washington is no doubt one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The last time I was there, I went on one of my epic walks --six Hours!!! The city was so gorgeous I just found myself walking down streets, through parks, pastsed monuments.... Samantha Brown Washington is no doubt one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The last time I was there, I went on one of my epic walks --six Hours!!! The city was so gorgeous I just found myself walking down streets, through parks, pastsed monuments. When I finally came to, I had walked all the way out to Chevy Chase. So this time around, as I headed out, I made a mental note that I had to control myself. I also brought my phone and some money, which is something I don't normally do, but realize too late that I might want to jump in a cab or maybe phone the hotel to ask them where I have waondered to. I rarely bring maps as welleither. I think I am just reacting off ofto having all my time being so overscheduled that I just for a brief period want the feeling of having no strings. But maps, phones and money all come in handy when you have no idea where you are.
The hotel we are staying at, the Helix, is great since it's close to iconic D.C. and yet in a real neighborhood. To my utter delight, we are around the corner from a Whole Foods. I have toyed with the idea of putting it in my contract that my hotel must be only .5 miles from a Whole Foods since, whenever I have access to one, it makes my week. I can make my own salad, pick up some homemade soup and a great bottle of wine, -bring it back to my hotel and watch "Sex and the City" re-runs. BLISS!!! My favorite experiences while in D.C. are a toss-up between Ben's Chili Bbowl and Etete, the Ethiopian restaurant. I loved Etete. Bbecause of supreme luck, I got to sit right next to some men from Ethiopia visiting their family. We all hit it off immediately, and all the men acted like the camera's and big lights shining arewere not even there. So instead of another scene of me eating alone, I joined their group, learning how to eat Ethiopian food from the pros.

The food was soooooo good, too. I was a bit disappointed that I ate so much on camera though, since we as a crew were eating there for dinner, as well. I always try to eat a little on camera so that I can really enjoy it off - -after all these years, I am never that relaxed when eating while the camera's rolling. I am always scared that I am going to dribble something down the front of me or choke (which I have done many times, they just edit that out). But the kind men kept feeding me, and I wasn't about to turn down that type of hospitality.

Ben's Chili Bbowl, shot the same day right before Etete (thank goodness no bikini scenes are in the near future) was amazing, since being a family business, we were made to feel a part of the family immediately. Shooting an institution is always tricky in the travel- show biz, since we want to show the daily ins and outs of an institution but obviously the big camera, a audio man putting mic's on everybody and holding a boom, and then me can really change people's behavior. No such problem at Ben's. Even though they serve the famous half- smoked hot dogs, they are all hams. And wonderfully so.

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Cameraman Paul Kloss finally gets to put the camera down and enjoy a Ben's Chili Bowl special.

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My new Ethiopian friends I met during the shoot at Etete.

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My executive producer at Travel Channel Lori Rothschild-Ansaldi with her beautiful (and always ready for camera) daughter Eva.

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When you shoot in a hotel room it's hard to find a place to sit. My director on the Washington DC shoot, Emma Davies knits on the john while I do some interviews that will later be posted on the website. Amelia Fogarty, my good friend from the marketing department conducts the interview.

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Director Emma and cameraman Paul take it upon themselves to "dispose" of the many drinks that are plied to me during the last scene of the day which Emma very smartly scheduled to be at bar at The Hudson.

samantha brown dc photos blog ]]> Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:39:03 -0400 http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/rss-read/dc DC (crew) http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/rss-read/dc-crew Travel Which way is North? I've never claimed to be good with directions. In fact, I'll be the first to admit that I'm directionally challenged. With this fascinating tidbit of my personal life in mind, I would like you to imagine someone like myself... Michael Petrella Which way is North?

I've never claimed to be good with directions. In fact, I'll be the first to admit that I'm directionally challenged. With this fascinating tidbit of my personal life in mind, I would like you to imagine someone like myself attempting to get around Washington, D.C.

I'm sure D.C. isn't all that tricky when you live there or have spent a nice chunk of time there, but for someone like me - shall we say, "compass-ly deficient" - it was a nightmare.

A good friend told me that the roads are designed in such a way to make it difficult for an invading army to reach the Capitol. I don't know if that's true, but it's totally awesome, so I'm going to go with it. Surprisingly, I took no solace in this intriguing fact as I drove aimlessly around looking for Rhode Island Avenue NW or Massachusetts Avenue SE.

I do however know the alphabet and how to count. So the grid part of the city wasn't so bad. I could get from P and 17th to U and 11th, no problem. But when you start throwing in so many diagonal streets, some traffic circles (sorry, U.K., "roundabouts"), and state names that don't seem to go in any discernable order - yeah, its official, I'm lost.

It would have been neat if they had the state avenues in order of their addition into the union (hey hey, history lesson!) - or alphabetical - or ANYTHING other than totally random. The only real pattern I could find is that New York and New Jersey intersect at some point. Just like real life!

Other things I've learned while studying the map are that Montana and West Virginia are not near one another; neither are Massachusetts and Louisiana. YET, you'll find a very lovely train terminal called Union Station at the intersection of the latter.

Luckily, we had a local production assistant and a GPS unit to get us around our shoot. However, the morning after our final shoot day, I was on my own. Instead of flying with all of our gear, I figured it'd be easier to just drive from - and back to - New York. After all, Google told me it's only four hours. Not so with Mini Magellan at the steering wheel. It took me two hours to get out of the city. Don't ask how, because I don't remember. All I know is I passed the same liquor store three times before figuring out that circular isn't the fastest way to Maryland, and subsequently Delaware and Jersey. Even if those states converge by the Library of Congress.


samantha brown dc petrella washington driving ]]> Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:20:38 -0400 http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/rss-read/dc-crew