WILLIAMSBURG — A few lucky Williamsburg residents had the opportunity to pre-screen the upcoming Williamsburg episode of Samantha Brown’s “Places to Love” series on PBS.
In the series, Brown explores destinations around the U.S. and across the world, not just for sights, but for the soul of the place — the people, culture, food, history and local experiences that give each location its heart. Rather than a typical sightseeing show, it focuses on human stories, hidden gems, and authentic experiences that help viewers understand why residents love their home and what makes each place unique.
Brown visited various sites and restaurants in the Williamsburg and Yorktown area in May of last year to film the episode for her series.
During the sneak preview event hosted by Visit Williamsburg on Jan. 29, attendees watched the episode, as well as a performance from season 23 “American Idol” contestant and New Kent native Grayson Torrence, participated in a talkback with some of the people featured in the documentary episode, and heard from Brown herself via Zoom.
“Our experience filming there was delightful. It’s rare that as a production crew we get to feature three very unique destinations in one 30-minute episode. Logistics-wise, we spend more time driving to get to these destinations than actually filming, meeting and showing our audience a great place. It’s always this balance of, we want to show different areas, but that’s going to take two hours to get to and it cuts into our filming time. In the Historic Triangle, it’s a really compact triangle. You are really able to take in a lot, in a short distance, in a short amount of time,” Brown said.
“I was really surprised by the passion for history. That history is this living, breathing thing in the Historic Triangle. There is such a care and love for it, and because of that experience that we get from the people that live there, it doesn’t feel like we’re visiting something that is in the past. You feel it there, and it’s really in the moment, and that’s a tough dance that only comes when you are people who really love your history, know your history and have a lot of passion for it,” Brown added.
The episode will be available to screen by the general public on Feb. 5.
To learn more about Brown’s show, visit samantha-brown.com.