We are back in Austin to shoot for the series. Last time I was here was probably over four years ago when we featured Hotel San Jose and The Driskill in Great Hotels. We tried to stay in the Hotel San Jose, as it's one of my favorites, but the Hot Rod and Custom Car show is in town, and there's not a room to be had. We all feel this is just as well, as I'm sure it's rowdy and noisy into the wee hours of the morning. We end up staying in a Residence Inn. Nice room -- a kitchenette, free wireless and breakfast included. I love it! Resorts are pretty, but when you are working, you never use the pool, spa, golf course, so who cares? On top of that, you can't get a breakfast for under $25, internet is never free and forget having things washed or dry-cleaned. Just put me in a clean, safe hotel where there are restaurants and strong espresso nearby, and I am in bliss!

Day 2

We were doing a henna tattoo scene. It seems everyone in Austin has one. Henna is the way to go but we have to be careful where we put it as it then locks us down in the show for time. For instance, we are playing it off like I got it Saturday, so it now cannot show for anything we have for Friday. We try to do this with clothing, as well, but that becomes too difficult since the editor can completely change the line-up of the show once they realize the pacing of the thing. The back turns out to be the best place to put it. Austin is all about characters and who you meet walking down the street. It's definitely a place where you can rely on the kindness of strangers. While shooting the tattoo scene, the artist went next door to get a bottle of water. The man behind the counter asked what was going on with all the camera equipment, and she told him what was up. The man loved the Travel Channel and watched it all the time. Now here's where it gets freaky weird. The band he is in, named the Schotzies, were touring, and they were stuck in a hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska, because of a snowstorm. They wrote a song about it, and the title of the song was "Samantha Brown, Save Us From the Lincoln Snow." Hysterical. I was so flattered that someone had written a song about me. At the end of the show, you'll see how we worked it in.

Day 3

I think one of the best nights we had was at the Broken Spoke. This was voted the "Best Honky Tonk in Texas" by Texas Highway magazine. Willy Nelson played there in the late '60s when he was a clean-cut man without his trademark braids and beard. James White, the owner, was such a peach, and to have a man like that say he has watched and enjoyed my show, meant the world to me. The place is covered in framed photographs of his family and the musicians that played there. I was looking at a much younger James White holding a newborn. The caption read "James and his daughter Ginny" I followed the pictures of Ginny from newborn to little girl and so when a grown woman came up to me and said "Hi, I'm Ginny, James' daughter," I was so taken aback because I had last seen her as a 5-year-old. I told her the last time I saw her, she was this big! A couple of days ago, I realized that forget barbecue, I was in chicken-fried steak territory, and the Broken Spoke was famous for it so at 11 p.m. I ordered a chicken-fried steak with the expectation of only having a few bites. I ate the whole thing in five minutes. It was sooooo good. Now it was time for dancing, and when cable TV shows roll into town and want someone to dance with their female hosts, they call in a man named Peter. Man, the guy could spin you around like a record. He could make an elephant feel like they could dance, he was so good. We just didn't have a bad minute in Austin.

Me and Wes, owner of Hey Cupcake. What could be better than buying acupcake through the window of an airstream? His trailer is parked in a lot in SoCo, but be may to move it to make way for a high-priced condo development.

Cameraman Rob sporting his best German tourist look. He had to wade into BartonSprings with his camera, and when he rolled up his pants, we spotted his black socks. Then he hiked them up over his calves and put on the fanny pack to finish the look.

Ah, drinks out by the dumpster. I'm loving Austin.

This is the band Schatzi, which means sweatheart in German. Five yearsago on tour and stuck in Lincoln, Nebraska because of a snow storm, they wrote a song about me called "Samantha Brown save us from the Lincoln snow." It's a great song ... and not just cuz my name is in the title.