After more than 20 years of traveling the globe, becoming who some say is the most recognized and trusted woman in travel television, Samantha Brown finally visited Louisville last summer on her first trip to Kentucky.
Over several days, she filmed an episode featuring our city and the Bluegrass for PBS’ two-time Emmy Award-winning series “Samantha Brown’s Places to Love.”
After visiting more than 70 countries in her career, what did she think of our home?
I caught up with Brown by phone ahead of the episode, which will air Saturday on PBS. Of coursea travel show host is going to have nice things to say about a place they’re featuring, but you know what? Her enthusiasm for Louisville and Kentucky was genuine.
Growing up with a background in acting, and hearing about our celebrated arts and theater scene, “Louisville was just this place to go if you were an actor,” she says.
How refreshing is it to hear Louisville thought of as an arts destination? (I mean, we all know that, but I can tell you from my far humbler jaunts around the globe that most people mention a certain fast-food chicken purveyor in the same breath as Louisville.)
But it was Muhammad Ali’s legacy, particularly the Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth St., that elevated Louisville to world-class destination status in her mind. He may have belonged to the world, but we claim him, and the museum honoring him helped draw Brown here. That, and bourbon—her husband Kevin, who’s the producer of the show that created together, is a huge bourbon fan, she says.
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“We’ve wanted to do Louisville, Kentucky for a long time because of its history,” Brown says. But she’s not stuck in our storied past. It’s “stepping into the more modern age as being a real city of the moment as well,” she says.
What’s appealing about this show’s format, and her approach, is that she takes the tropes of a destination and looks for new ways of telling those stories. And she accomplishes that by highlighting the folks who live and work and play there.
“What I love about the show is it really is seeing a destination through its people,” she says.
“So the process always begins with ‘what is it known for?’” she explains. “And how can we show that in a different perspective?”
To wit: “it's absolutely known for horses, for the Kentucky Derby,” she says, but instead of the standard-issue footage of hats bobbing around on Kentucky Derby day, she featured the Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farms, where she chats with founder Michael Blowen for a unique lens on the industry synonymous with Kentucky.
That approach continues, with a tour of Buffalo Trace Distillery where local legend Freddie Johnson shares the history behind the bourbon boom —including putting to right any misconceptions that early producers were just old whiskey guys with guns and dogs, in funny hats. Not so, he says. They were structural engineers, biochemists, arborists, he explains.
This look back at the postcard-perfect aged rickhouses is contrasted with the modern facilities and approach of Bardstown Bourbon Company, where Brown learns she can sip barrel-proof bourbon like a champ —and finally grasps what bourbon's all about, anyway.
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“I mean, my husband has explained bourbon to me for like 10 years, and all of a sudden Dan [Callaway, vice president of hospitality] comes along and I'm like, I get it, OK!”
While they couldn’t spend all 23 minutes of the show’s airtime on bourbon —Brown was particularly impressed with the art program at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, and dedicated time to that as well as to Louisville Stoneware, 732 Brent St., —they had to shine a light on Bourbons Bistro, 2255 Frankfort Ave.
When her husband came to scout Louisville for the show, she explains, Jamar Mack of KOBBE, Kentucky’s Original Black Bourbon Enthusiasts, took him to Bourbons.(And here’s where it’s particularly fun to look at ourselves in the mirror of a travel show.)
“That night he was like, ‘you won't believe the night I had,’” she says. As a bourbon enthusiast, “he found his Mecca.”
Those of us living here probably take for granted that any day of the week we may see bourbon celebrities just out living their lives, but for someone not from here to run into what Kevin called “big people in the bourbon industry,” that’s a big deal.
And it was a slice of Louisville life that shows in many ways who we are as a city.
Brown was only here for a few days, but it’s clear she did her homework and took seriously her job of finding out —and showcasing —what makes us tick. Kudos to her for getting below the surface.
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“Louisville is this city that has such history, she says, “and yet is very sophisticated.” She was struck by how much passion people have but observed that we’re laid back.
“People are just really at ease with themselves,” she says. “You come to Louisville, and all of a sudden you feel that energy and, and it's really lovely. You really felt that kind of raw spirit.”
“I'm so excited to do Kentucky and Louisville for the first time,” she says. “What travelers need to realize is that at every destination, there's a soul of that place. That comes from the people, and you need to get to know the people.”
Tell Dana! Send your restaurant “Dish” to Dana McMahan at thecjdish@gmail.com and follow@bourbonbarbarellaon Instagram.
'Samantha Brown's Places to Love'
WHAT:Samantha quickly learns at the start of her journey that Kentucky is synonymous with Bourbon. Her first stop is the Buffalo Trace Distillery where Samantha talks about its rich history with third-generation employeeFreddie Johnson. She then stopped by Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farms, where she meets founder Michael Blowen to chat about horse racing and his mission to save these horses' lives. With many interesting and exciting stops along the way, Samantha finishes her trip in the Bardstown aka the “Bourbon Capital of the World” to sample whiskey and talk more about the history of bourbon.
WHEN:Feb. 12, at 1:30 p.m. on KET andFeb. 14, at 3p.m. on KET2.
HOW TO WATCH:on PBS, check local listings for exact date/times
Samantha Brown's Top 3 Kentucky Experiences:
- Visiting the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, 2075 Clermont Road, a 16,137-acre arboretum, forest, and nature preserve located in Clermont, Kentucky.
- Experiencing The Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. 6th St., that celebrates the life of the “greatest of all time” boxer who was born in Louisville.
- Having a drink at Bourbons Bistro, 2255 Frankfort Ave., nestled in historic Clifton in a building dating back to the 1870s. With a selection of more than 130 bourbons, including a barrel selection program, Bourbons Bistro is Louisville’s foremost bourbon bar.
