Samantha Brown's Places to Love

Charleston, South Carolina

The Holy City certainly has quite the history, as Samantha takes a walking tour through its hidden alleyways and the French Quarter. From blacksmithing to woodworking, Samantha learns about the mission and importance of the American College of the Building Arts (ACBA) along with its founding inspiration, blacksmith Philip Simmons. It is rice harvesting time, and Samantha learns about this old tradition on one of the few local farms that has kept the tradition alive and well. Leaving the rice fields, Samantha joins Executive Chef Forest Parker to have a traditional gourmet dinner at Revival, where the focus is on rice and other low country traditional recipes. What a better way to finish off dinner, Samantha checks out some local bluegrass music at the rooftop bar of The Vendue. With so much history in Charleston, Samantha cannot resist taking a tour of the haunted Old City Jail with the possibility of meeting some of its ghostly inhabitants. Continuing on, Samantha visits the City Market where she learns about the Gullah tradition of sweetgrass basket weaving and gets a lesson from a 5th generation basket weaver. The Gullah culture certainly has deep roots in these parts, as Samantha discovers at Boone Hall Plantation, where she joins Gloria learning more about the Gullah tradition during the time of slavery. Finishing off her visit, Samantha joins James Beard award-winning Pitmaster Rodney Scott at his restaurant to sample some of his legendary BBQ.