Samantha Brown on Places to Love, Route 66, and the Travel Habits That Save You Money
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Megan, who is your number one favorite public figure in travel?
Sally, you already know the answer. It's Samantha Brown.
Yo, I agree. Many of us know her from her days on the Travel Channel where she hosted numerous shows. I was a huge fan of great hotels. In fact, I was such a huge fan that when I was younger, I actually brought a photo of Samantha Brown into my hairdresser and I was like, please make me look like Samantha Brown.
No way. That's iconic that you got a Samantha Brown haircut. I am a real fan. Sally, we get to talk to her for real today on the show.
We are starting off the year strong with our best guest ever.
Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars. I'm Megan Coyle. And I'm Sally French. And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip.
Happy New Year, everyone. And we just came off a nice winter break. So Megan, I need to know, any big trips for you over the past few weeks?
Not much. I did go home to see my family and my friends and also went to see my boyfriend's family and friends. So yeah, it was just a lot of hanging out on the East Coast. What did you do?
Okay. Well, you did travel if you went to the East Coast, which is much further than I went. I went down to Oceanside in Southern California, which I got to say is an amazing city. I had never been before. It is a quick train from San Diego. There is even a free shuttle from the San Diego airport to the train station. And And I got to say, I hate driving. And so it was amazing to have this weekend in Oceanside. Everything is walkable. I did kayaking. I did biking. And did you know they have the Top Gun house in Oceanside, which you can see for yourself?
Oh my gosh. Is it real? Like, is it where they actually filmed something? Yeah, yeah.
It's a real house. They actually moved it. There's this whole history. And now there is some Top Gun memorabilia. memorabilia inside, but it is a pie shop. It is called HiPie. And this is my favorite thing is I feel like in travel, there's this trend where everyone wants to get the biggest, the baddest to the best dessert. And then suddenly we have these milkshakes that are like $20 and they're bigger than your whole body. So the HiPie, they have these little tiny pies. They are only $3.50. So you can get multiple if you want, but I love just a little taster. I was a huge fan of HiPie.
Oh my gosh, do we have those pies at Costco? That sounds right up there with a 150 hot dog. Ooh, yes, I love it.
This was a little pie. And then I will say the other thing I did close to home is I went to multiple of these nighttime light events. I feel like I see these more and more. They're at zoos and gardens. So I actually went to two. I went to one at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. I gotta say it was only okay. It was first off $38 and it was also so crowded. I almost was like, God, should they charge more? Because it's... It's so crowded, but it was already really expensive. But then the other one I went to was at the Oakland Zoo. It is called Glowfari. And they bring in these lanterns. They're made by a Chinese company. So they're kind of like Chinese lanterns. But the zoo people design the style of the lanterns
So there was an area that was like bigger than life bugs and there was coral under the sea. And then the craziest, they had a whole theme of lanterns that looked like Oakland. There was a giant Bart lantern, if you know, you know. So amazing. And I feel like this is a new trend is all these nighttime light events to give new life to destinations that they're not just a daytime destination, they're a nighttime destination.
Oh, yeah. I mean, I've been going to the National Zoo Zoo Lights in Washington, D.C. for years and sounds very similar.
Yes.
You know, actually, my favorite holiday display is at the Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. They make these replicas of all of the monuments in Washington, D.C. out of plants completely. Whoa. Is it a nighttime thing or a daytime thing? It's a I think it's mostly daytime. Oh, daytime.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–18:06
2
Who is Samantha Brown and what is she promoting this season of Places to Love?
18:06–26:36
3
How do Samantha and her team find affordable local gems off the main tourist street?
26:36–40:21
4
How did COVID change the 'travel like a local' trend and support for small businesses?
40:21–44:30
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
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