Samantha Brown's Places to Love

-I'm in a destination that may surprise you.

It's well-known for its wide beaches and busy boardwalks, but it also has working farmlands and quiet marshes.

It's a place that was pivotal in the founding of the United States, where battles were fought for independence and later heroes who fought for freedom.

It's a place where food, drink, and music brings everyone together.

I'm in New Jersey, exploring its shore and more.

I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world.

And I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" is made possible by... [ Bird chirping ] -The rhythm of the waves.

The calming sounds of nature.

On the Southwest Florida coast, there are wide-open beaches and hundreds of islands.

Sometimes doing nothing can mean everything.

Learn more at fortmyers-sanibel.com.

-We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal to ensure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

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-The world is full of breathtaking destinations and experiences.

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-I'm going to be exploring everything from beaches to farmlands here in New Jersey, but my first stop is one of the country's oldest vacation destinations -- Cape May.

When did Cape May become the tourist destination that it is?

-The first advertisements for Cape May as a resort came back all the way in the 1750s in Philadelphia.

-Cape May is amazing in that it is second only to San Francisco in terms of its concentration of Victorian architecture.

How did that come to be?

-There were two major fires here in town, one in the 1860s and one in the 1870s, so a lot of the old houses and hotels were burnt down.

So that created a bit -- large building boom, and that's how you have so many Victorian houses in a small, concentrated area.

There was a large movement in the Victorian era to show off your wealth and have things that weren't functional but more ornamental.

I mean something as simple as gingerbread trim, which is just wood made to look fancy and put up on the eaves, yeah, that had no function.

They just wanted to kind of show off, "Hey, look what I can afford."

-The Emlen Physick Estate is open for tours and represents another piece of important history.

-In the late 1960s, this house was actually slated to be knocked down.

We have the demolition permit.

And people who really wanted to save the history of Cape May got involved and, thankfully, just in the nick of time, were able to save this house.

-Cape May has a very rich history, and most of its focus is upon its Victorian era.

What is not known is the history of many African-Americans who played a role in the Underground Railroad in Cape May, and the very rich and vibrant community that was African-American and lived here many years ago has disappeared, and that knowledge is not known.

I am Lynda Anderson-Towns, and I am the president of the trustees of the Harriet Tubman Museum.

Also, I'm a lifelong resident here in Cape May.

-So Harriet Tubman was, of course, the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad.

She was a spy.

-Yes.

-She led the Union Army, right?

-Yes.

-She was a suffragist.

-Yes.

Yes, yes.

-And she -- -She actually was instrumental in winning a battle at Combahee River and, I mean, one of the very few women in a major military route.

-Harriet Tubman came to Cape May in the early 1850s to earn money that would help her fund her voyages on the Underground Railroad.

Was that always known just in bits and pieces, or was it essentially lost?

-I remember grandparents saying that there were Underground Railroad sites in various homes of African-Americans and others in Cape May, and that was just told through oral history.

-Mm-hmm.

There was a very vibrant African-American community here in Cape May.

-In the 1800s, there were about 100 free African-Americans that owned -- they were mostly fishermen and mariners -- and they owned quite a bit of land in Lower Township.

And many of their original family members are here as descendants today, and they were instrumental in hiding enslaved people on their properties and were a part of the Underground Railroad, as well.

-They were here in the 1820s.

-Yes.

I think the most remarkable information is how many residents in Cape May in the 1800s had a key role in ending slavery, and that just isn't shared.

-On loan to the museum is "The Journey to Freedom," a bronze sculpture by the artist Wesley Wofford.

You have been a part of the idea of this museum since day one.

-Yes.

-And we are talking now, a week before it opens to the public for the first time.

How do you feel about that?

-Amazed.

-Mm-hmm.

-I am very proud of my community.

This was a journey from many of the tradespeople in Cape May and artists and everyday citizens who wanted to be a part of seeing the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May become a success.

I am hopeful that we will have people that will come in and leave with a sense of, we are so much better together, that when a community comes together to really celebrate a woman who changed history, anything is possible.

And that is what we believe.

-A little bit lower on this side.

-A little low.

Oh, oh, yes, yes, yes!

[ Gasps ] Oh, my.

Oh, he's beautiful!

-Yeah.

-Oh, gosh.

-Yeah.

-So this area is known for being, what, an international migratory route?

-It's on the Atlantic Flyway, so it's a flyway that extends from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic Circle.

-The birds are making that kind of a journey?

-Not all of them, but a lot of them go all the way from one end to the other.

And all along that flyway, you'll get incredible birds that will be migrating up through here.

-I'm Devin Griffiths, and I've been coming here to the Wetlands Institute and Cape May County for -- well, since I was about 12 years old.

I'm a science journalist by training and by trade, and a couple of years ago, I started working here at the Wetlands Institute.

-The roughly 6,000 acres of this salt marsh was saved in 1967 by Herbert Mills, then director of the World Wildlife Fund.

Its mission remains the same.

-To protect, to preserve, to research the landscape and the marshes here, but also really to educate people about them.

It's really about protecting not just the creatures that live in here, but all of these communities that you see.

Storm surge -- It's a big issue with hurricanes and superstorms and things like that.

And marshes really help protect these communities because they absorb a lot of the storm surge, a lot of the wave energy that would be coming across this area here.

It gets absorbed by these marshes, slows the waves down, reduces flooding, and reduces impact from those big waves that would otherwise come crashing right into shore and into all of these houses that you see here.

-The institute lets you be above the marsh as well as in it with kayak and boat tours.

-Right here is one of the laughing gulls.

It's on the bank here.

-Uh-huh, uh-huh.

They have interesting heads.

-They have that all -- the beautiful black head.

-Yeah, exactly.

-This is a really important colony.

This is actually the largest nesting colony of laughing gulls in the world.

-Why are they important?

-It's very hard to get a sense of impact on the ecosystem through rare animals because you don't see them very often.

When common birds, like laughing gulls, when you've got thousands upon thousands, when those common birds start to show effects, that's when you know the ecosystem is in real danger.

So we want to keep an eye on the common birds to make sure that they're still doing well.

The pace of change is more rapid than the marshes can keep up with.

Sea-level rise, it's a really big issue, and, actually, sea level is rising faster in South Jersey than anywhere else in the country.

And what we're trying to do is see if we can take a thin layer placement of dredged sediments to lay it over the marsh so that the grasses can still grow up through it.

But we're helping the marsh actually stay ahead of sea-level rise.

The hope is that we can take that model and use it anywhere there are sea-level salt marshes.

So if it works here, theoretically, it should be able to work anywhere else.

-New Jersey is known as the Garden State, and in Cape May County, it's easy to see why.

Victorian homes give way to barns, chickens outnumber travelers, and there are fields of beautiful produce.

-We have rainbow chard, we have a Fordhook chard.

We have some nice romaine over here, dill, fennel.

-Oh, my gosh.

And are you rotating these crops out as a part of your sustainability?

-We do.

We rotate crops.

We rotate animals.

This could be chickens next year, could be pigs next year.

It could be sunflowers next year.

-My gosh, you have it all.

-We have a lot, yeah.

-This is a part of New Jersey that I feel like most people don't know exists, that it's agrarian, that it has a huge agricultural economy.

-It sure does.

We're happy to be part of that renaissance and bringing organic, sustainable farming back to Cape May.

And you can see throughout New Jersey how other small farms are popping up and getting into sustainable agriculture because we need it to feed ourselves.

-The farm is open to the public so people can see what's happening and understand where their food comes from.

Oh, my goodness, these are beautiful.

They're like a light blue.

-Yeah.

So we have a lot of different chickens that lay a lot of different colored eggs.

So the hens that lay these are called Easter Eggers.

[ Both laugh ] -Here on the farm, you couldn't find a more idyllic spot to enjoy a meal.

On the picnic tables, you can enjoy farm-to-table breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

There's no better way to understand the importance of a farmer's life's work than to join them while they're eating it.

Christina and I are with head landscaper Michael Collins and Andrew Halbruner, head of livestock.

His family has been in Cape May County since 1690.

-We wanted to kind of preserve the history of Cape May County so people can come see what Cape May would have been like if they would have went back in time 100 years ago.

-When Beach Plum Farms came onto the scene, was this a new concept, this idea of a smaller farm?

-There was nobody talking about farm-to-table and organic and stuff when we first started here.

Definitely over the past five or six years, it's a huge movement that's going on now.

I mean, there's a lot of small farms.

-That huge movement can thank Beach Plum Farms for championing the proud farming heritage of the Garden State.

And now, from farm-to-table, I go to farm to glass.

-It's amazing the ingredients that we have access to.

The water comes from well water.

We tap into this amazing aquifer that runs through this property.

And we use locally-sourced ingredients that we also put in the beer.

And, you know, in wine, there's this word called "terroir," right?

And you get an essence of the soil where that grape was grown.

And we try to, like, focus in highlighting our beers is the terroir of New Jersey.

I'm Phil Petracca.

I'm a first-generation American.

Our mission here at the Source is to provide farm-to-glass brews in an authentic farmhouse surrounded by this amazing agricultural backbone in Monmouth County.

You're drinking a traditional German lager.

-Ooh.

And what I'm drinking right here is what we call a sweet-tart ale.

This beer was conditioned on raspberries, pink guava, and Madagascar vanilla beans.

-Oh, my goodness!

-Very refreshing.

Cheers.

Ahh.

-Oh, my gosh, that just tastes so good and so refreshing.

-There's no boundaries when we make beer, you know?

We just think about, what can we source locally?

What flavor profiles go together?

And we mash them up.

-How many beers do you have going at any time?

-So typically we have about 14 beers on tap.

-Wow.

Okay.

-And we go the broad spectrum, from lagers to sweet-tart ales, to IPA's.

[ All cheer ] -Just looking around, people are having a wonderful time.

I see all ages here.

-We wanted to have something that was really warm and friendly, someplace where you can bring your family or your first date or your dog.

-So this county is so historic.

Is there a connection between this barn and the history of this area?

-This barn was built in the late 1800s.

It originally was owned by the Schanck family.

And Captain Schanck fought in the Revolutionary War.

Actually had a bounty on his head by the British.

[ Both laugh ] But they didn't get him, so we won the war, so... -Nice.

[ Cannons firing ] New Jersey is a small state with a big history.

It's played a pivotal role in the American Revolution and the founding of our country.

-I mean, New Jersey is one of the original colonies.

There were people here since the 1600s.

-Two hundred and forty years ago, this was the site of one of the bloodiest, longest battles of the American Revolution.

-Yes.

Yes.

-It's the longest single day's action of the war.

It lasted from 7: 00 in the morning till 7:00 at night.

It was the biggest field artillery battle of the war.

-I just see apple trees.

I see a beautiful old fence.

Where did the battle take place?

-Okay, well, right here on this fence line is called the hedgerow.

This fence line traded sides seven times during the battle.

Seven times there were attacks when one army chased the other away.

-This was a colonial volleyball net.

-So to speak.

There were around 15,000 troops on each side, which is big for American armies.

-Wow!

-The casualties ran about 250 on each side, and half the casualties were not from being shot but from heat exhaustion.

-The Battle of Monmouth marked the midpoint of the American Revolution.

Things were not looking good for the Americans at this point.

-We had not, and George Washington hadn't won a lot of battles, and there were people who wanted to get rid of George Washington.

Alexander Hamilton and his staff members wrote up the reports of the battle like we won, and the American people were so hungry for a victory, they accepted it as a victory even though, militarily and historically, it's technically a draw in every way so that George Washington's role as national commander and then president United States all gets secured just because of what happened right here.

-There's a lot to be said for understanding and appreciating history by being in the exact place it actually happened.

-There's no -- no substitute for that.

When I was in my Civil War reenacting days, I spent a weekend down at Newmarket, Virginia, camping in -- like the soldiers did, wearing their uniforms, eating their food.

And I learned more in that weekend than from all the books I ever read.

There's no substitute for walking a battlefield.

What's interesting is when I give tours to people from Asia or foreigners, they are often more interested in the history than Americans who grew up within mil-- just a few miles of here, because they respect General Washington and the soldiers in the ranks for fighting for their liberty and their rights back then.

And that's what we honor them for.

And I say people now are going through another intellectual revolution, really, on what was all that about?

What did that really mean to us?

-Right.

If you were to ask me what some of my favorite destinations are in the 22 years I've been traveling, well, this is one of them -- Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Fifteen years ago, I fell in love with its vintage boardwalk, beachy attitude, and its fierce culture of art, eccentricity, and rock and roll.

The Stone Pony is one of the most iconic clubs in America, and there I got a chance to meet the legendary rocker Southside Johnny, who told me about some of the assumptions people had about jersey bands back in the day.

-It just came from the idea that New Jersey was an inferior state full of dumb, violent people.

And you hear those stories, and then you get more aggressive.

You are gonna go out and knock their socks off every night.

-Asbury Park -- it's always been known for music.

Why is that?

-Because it was a summer resort place, people wanted entertainment, and clubs would open up.

What we would do, of course, is come in to Asbury Park, the den of iniquity, and listen to the bands play the dirty lyrics to what I say and, you know, play pinball machines and all that kind of stuff.

-And how old were you when you would sneak in to Asbury Park?

-12 years old.

We'd go in and put our quarters in the pinball machine.

And then at night, we'd go in to listen to the bands, you know, just to see live music.

-Well, starting young paid off.

Southside Johnny and his band, The Asbury Jukes, took off from the stage of The Stone Pony to a national recording contract, and they haven't stopped since.

You're known as Southside Johnny.

What does that mean, Southside?

-We had an apartment with four musicians, and everybody would play their music, and I played a lot of Chicago blues, which is known for being on the south side of Chicago.

That's where all the clubs were and all like that.

And so, Bruce got a chance to have a band, and he put everybody he knew in it, but everybody had to have a nickname.

He was Doctor Zoom.

Steven became Miami Steve, I think it was.

And I became Southside because of my love for blues.

And it stuck.

I mean, it wasn't my choice, you know, but I can't get rid of it now.

-[ Laughs ] You travel all over the United States as well as internationally with your band?

-Yes.

-What is it like to play here?

-It makes me nervous.

-Even in your home state, it's a tough crowd?

-Oh, yeah.

Well, they've heard all the songs.

-Uh-huh.

-They've heard all my jokes.

You know, you got to be creative on stage.

You got to come up with new material.

They come on a Friday or Saturday night, they're spending their money, they're choosing to come here, you better be on your game, or they won't tolerate it.

You never can dog it with a New Jersey audience.

You can't just go through the motions.

They will call you on it every time.

-Asbury Park understands that music just feels different when it's right in front of you.

- To drive along -And after a year of no live music, it sure feels good to head-bop and feet-tap with others.

-We're at the Transparent Gallery, which is part art gallery, part living room, part community hub, part live music venue.

-And if ever there was a place to come face-to-face with your favorite musicians, this is it.

-My name is Danny Clinch and I'm an artist.

I'm a music lover.

I'm a photographer and a filmmaker.

I was born and raised in New Jersey.

And I've been all around the world, but I just keep coming back here to Asbury Park and the Transparent Gallery.

-So just looking at this wall here, you've taken all these photos?

You've got Bob Dylan here, you've got -- Is that Tom Petty?

-Yeah.

We got hip-hop, we got Phish.

We have Pearl Jam.

-So you have no genre favorite.

-Post Malone.

-You just love musicians.

-I love people.

So I feel like, you know, even if it's music that maybe I don't appreciate myself, I'm still drawn to people and interesting people, creative people.

-So you not only have to have a photograph or skill and talent, but you also have to be a person who people want to be with.

How did you develop that?

-I just try to be, you know, be myself and, you know, not fan out on people, because they're already getting fanned out on all the time.

-That's so true.

-And, to me, like, I like to find, like, a common ground that I might have with them that is maybe not related to music.

Or maybe it is.

Like, for Bob Dylan, I play harmonica.

So, like, I asked him about his favorite harmonica players rather than, you know, about his best record or whatever it might be.

I think a little bit, you know, of the fact that I play music myself is sort of -- I understand the language, and I understand how important it is to focus on what you're doing to not be distracted.

-That level of trust has led Danny Clinch to become one of the top rock-and-roll photographers in the world, forming a particular bond with another favorite son of Asbury Park.

-This photograph happened -- I went by Convention Hall, which is across the street here, and Patti Scialfa was preparing for a tour.

And this guy happened to be in her band.

And I had happened to just get this car, a 1948 Pontiac.

-That's your car?

-That's my car.

And there was a break, and I said, "Hey, I just got this car, you know?

Like, I want to show it to you."

He's like, "Yeah, let's go come out."

So we go out.

And I said, "It'd be great to get a photograph of you with the car."

And you said, "Yeah, well, let's bring it up on the boardwalk."

And I was like, "Can we do that?"

And he was like... [ Both laugh ] I feel like I've been so blessed in my life to have my photography take me in such interesting places.

And I always find that there's a great experience to be had.

-South Jersey is a beautiful place.

There are a lot of hidden treasures here.

And if you go out in the areas of South Jersey, a lot of the farms, a lot of the nature areas, the restaurants, there's a pride in everything that they do here.

They want people to love it.

They want people to walk away knowing that it's a special place, and they want to protect it.

-When you come to Cape May, what I think you'll enjoy is the seashore resort combined with a huge dose of community.

Maybe you'll stop by the Harriet Tubman Museum to see the story of how many families gave and contributed to Victorian Cape May and did make a difference.

-You're close to the ocean, you're close to the city, you're close to this amazing agricultural backbone.

The thing that makes New Jersey so special is your close proximity to everything.

-As a traveler to the Jersey Shore, you'll notice that there's a lot of diversity here.

A lot of people have come from different cities to settle in here as artists, musicians, chefs, gallery owners.

It's really come such a long way, and we're so proud to call it our home.

-When a destination holds a history of surprises, when that history is meant to be savored, listened to, protected, and totally enjoyed, that is when we share a love of travel.

And that's why the Jersey Shore and more are places to love.

-For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" was made possible by... [ Bird chirping ] -The rhythm of the waves.

The calming sounds of nature.

On the Southwest Florida coast, there are wide-open beaches and hundreds of islands.

Sometimes doing nothing can mean everything.

Learn more at fortmyers-sanibel.com.

-We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal to ensure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-All the untamed beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the American Southwest, experienced on a journey by rail.

Rocky Mountaineer, proud sponsor of "Places to Love."

-The world is full of breathtaking destinations and experiences.

AAA wants to help turn vacation dreams into reality.

Wherever you want to go, AAA has services to help you before, during, and after your trip.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.