My Lunch with Samantha Brown

Travel Channel host Samantha Brown

And to think I almost didn’t go.
travelgirl editor Stephanie Oswald emailed me last fall about having lunch with Travel Channel darling Samantha Brown while she was in town filming a weekend in Atlanta.

Overwhelmed by deadlines and having only a marginal knowledge of who she was – I know, I know! – I almost declined but thought better of it.

It may be a sorry admission to make, as a travel writer, but the only travel show I’ve ever watched is Anthony Bourdain, whom I adore from a distance. I’d be terrified to actually meet him as I know I’d totally wind wind up eating fried marinated monkey guts and doing arsenic shots and wake up in a yert with no knowledge of where my shoes went.

So before our lunch I watched a few of her shows and was impressed by her easy style, coverage of a destination and her cute clothes.

Stephanie and I showed up at Buckhead Diner and waited to meet with Samantha and her publicist Marjorie Hall, who soon showed up in a stretch limo. Uh oh, I thought – we’re in for a pretentious diva-style event with the fancy NYC girls.

The reality was much different, and way more fun. We giggled and shared stories like four old friends and Sam, as we were calling her now, told us a charming story about one of her favorite memories when she wandered away from her crew and befriended some small Chinese girls.

Stephanie has her own TV show as well, All-Girl Getaways on the Fine Living TV Network so they had fun comparing notes on TV crews and travel mishaps.

Just as we were contemplating the decadent dessert menu, the manager came over with a large plate of all their specialties, including the white chocolate banana creme pie, big enough to feed an entire production team. “I’m a big fan of the Travel Channel,” she said. Sam looked at her calmly and said, “What are the other ladies having?”

As we waited for their limo to be brought around, I asked her about her clothes and how she handled all the traveling and wardrobe changes. “Oh, I have a stylist,” she said. “It’s great!”

I checked out her website and saw the section “What’s Sam Wearing” and was delighted to see that like our fashionable First Lady, her styles come from some of my affordable favorites – H&M, Zara, Macy’s and J. Crew.

So maybe not all of us can go jetting around the world performing with the Pussycat Dolls, participate in a rodeo or play drums with a marching band, but we can dress like we do. Even without our own stylist.