Samantha Brown's Places to Love

– Samantha: I'm in an area that marked the start of something big, where hope and hardship shaped the fundamental ideas of an American identity.

It's a place where history is on display and an invigorating work in progress, where artifacts are still being discovered, questions are still being answered, and the earliest Americans assembled with its newest citizens.

It's a unique intersection of how the people of history lived and how history lives on in us.

[ Bell tolling ] I'm exploring Williamsburg and beyond in Virginia.

[ Explosions echoing ] 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.

Major funding of "Places to Love" provided by Oceania Cruises.

– Announcer: A journey aboard Oceania Cruises is designed to cultivate curiosity.

[ Dramatic music plays ] Evenings offer craft spirits, international wines, and dishes prepared by our master chefs.

That's the Oceania Cruises small-ship experience.

– Announcer: Since 1975, we've inspired adults to learn and travel in the United States and in more than 100 countries.

From exploring our national parks to learning about art and culture in Italy, we've introduced adults to places, ideas, and friends.

We are Road Scholar.

We make the world our classroom.

-Announcer: Ever wonder where your sense of wonder went?

Maybe it's winding its way along the banks of the Colorado River or waiting in the shadows of giant canyons.

Or maybe it's revealed in all the moments in between.

Introducing Canyon Spirit, a rail experience between Denver, Moab, and Salt Lake City.

Canyon Spirit, proud sponsor of "Places to Love".

– Announcer: Railbookers helps you discover the world by train.

From bucket-list dreams to iconic scenic journeys, a Railbookers itinerary includes trains, hotels, sightseeing, transfers, and more.

Railbookers offers guests a seamless way to explore the globe on vacation.

-Samantha: So, Sean, my knowledge of Jamestown is about 42 years old -- middle-school-level education.

So I know that this is the first permanent English colony here on this land.

But what I did not realize was just what a beautiful place this is.

-It is a really nice place.

-Is this why they chose it?

– Sean: No, they didn't pick it because of its appearance.

When the colonists are sent over by the Virginia Company, they're told, "Find somewhere there is no major native settlement," because they know they don't want to upset the people that are already here.

Now, this was the Paspahegh tribe's hunting grounds.

So there was no settlement on the island.

I'm Sean Romo, and I'm the director of archeology for Jamestown Rediscovery.

Everything you're seeing in here is based on 30 years of archaeological excavation.

This is the 1608 church.

Probably actually started to be constructed in 1607.

-Wow.

They didn't waste any time, right?

-They didn't waste any time.

Yes.

So the palisade here is the wall -- Those are the walls of James Fort.

And this is exactly what they would have looked like.

It's what you would've seen in 1607.

This is the only 17th-century building still standing above ground out here in its original form.

It was built around 1680.

-One of the main things I feel like I've learned about Jamestown was that it was a failure, but that tower doesn't say to me that it was a failure.

– Sean: Jamestown was the capital of Virginia till 1699, so in many ways it was a success.

– Samantha: Since 1994, Jamestown Rediscovery has been an active archaeological site.

On the historic site, you can visit the archaearium.

Its over 2,000 artifacts bring historic Jamestown out of junior-high-school history class and into a more personal perspective.

And they're always digging for more.

-This is a really cool find.

This is a key, very likely from the 17th century, of course.

-Really?

From the 17th century?

-Yes.

-That's pretty amazing to think that people lost their keys way back then and we still lose our keys today.

[ Laughs ] -Yes.

-Now you are one of the first people to see that in 400 years.

Every time we put a shovel in the ground, we find out something new, something that reinforces what we already knew from the history or challenges it.

– Samantha: Jamestown was the capital of Virginia until 1699, when it moved to Williamsburg, which offered a more central location with well-ordered streets and less malaria.

Colonial Williamsburg is the open-air museum that tells the story of the rise of the powerful Virginia colony as it became the hub for education, politics, and society.

And when you are a part of society, you're gonna need a wig.

How many wigmakers were in colonial Williamsburg?

-In the capital city at the time period, you're looking at seven or eight wigmakers in town at any given time.

We're one of the highest represented trades.

-So in the 18th century, who would have worn wigs?

-Any man in town that could afford to pay the bill.

People like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, of course.

But then we find them on the local blacksmith and free men of color, the convicted, the enslaved, merchants and dockworkers.

As long as someone's paying the bill, we'll find something that they can afford.

The average cost in this shop was two pounds, three shillings.

That's about a month's wage in working person's terms.

-I see a lot of brunet wigs, and I feel like just in pictures, I've only ever seen white wigs.

-The common misconception that only the wealthy can afford to wear wigs and that most of them are white is what I'll call a Hollywoodism.

White's the color of formality, so it shows up best by candlelight.

And because of that, it becomes the color of formality by tradition.

Portraits are formal events, so white's the appropriate color.

But buying a white wig would be like buying a designer tuxedo or evening gown today.

-So brunets had more fun in the colonial times?

-I think they absolutely did.

It also hides dirt really well.

– Samantha: If you are really dealing with the well-to-do, then the wigmaker would have a real in, almost like a financial-insider view of, like, when things were starting to go down.

-It is absolutely possible.

-You would know that.

You're like, "Oh, boy.

He's not coming around for his wigs."

-Yeah, or they're not bringing them back for maintenance or whatever the case may be.

-Good morning.

-Mr.

Henry.

Good day.

-Ma'am.

-How are you?

-I'm well, dear lady.

How are you this day?

-Very good.

– Debbie: How's your wig holding up?

-"Patrick Henry": Well, ma'am, I'm afraid the south buckle here has become a bit loose.

-Oh, well.

Very good.

We can take care of that for you, sir.

-What did you call them?

Excuse me.

I don't mean to jump in.

-Oh, no.

These are buckles, ma'am.

-They're buckles.

-Yes indeed.

-They're not called curls?

-No.

They are curly, though, come to think of it.

But they are buckles.

-Buckles.

Mr.

Henry, how many wigs do you own?

-I presently own four wigs.

-And why did you choose this one today?

-Well, I have to speak today, and so I wanted to have a wig that, uh, puffed me up a bit, like a lion's mane.

And so that's why I chose this fine fellow right here.

-I love knowing that even Patrick Henry needed a good hair day before he went in front of people to speak.

-It is essential, madam.

-I agree.

-I'm Nat Lasley.

I'm a Nation Builder here at Colonial Williamsburg, and I play the part of Patrick Henry.

A Nation Builder is someone who, uses the arts of acting, improvisation, and historical research -- lots of historical research -- tries to re-create the founding members of our community.

And the difference between us and other Williamsburg actors is that we only play one character.

-You've got an important speech to make.

-["Patrick Henry"] I do.

I have to make a speech against the stamp acts, which have recently fallen upon our heads.

-I see.

What date is this?

-This, madam, is 1765.

-[Nat] Mr.

Henry, he's a very interesting character.

There are aspects of him that I greatly favor.

Then there are things about him, of course, that are very disappointing.

His rhetoric was so high and over the top, speaking about liberty or death, the breaking of chains, et cetera.

And despite all that, he enslaved 70 people.

-[Patrick Henry] The king is taxing us without our consent.

That's a fundamental right -- life, liberty, and property.

Those are the ancient British rights.

Now, this stamp act violates all of those maxims.

And so I'm going to have to stand up against it, even though as a freshman burgess, I'm supposed to just sit on my hands and do what I'm told.

-You want, like, liberty or you want death, right?

-Yes, m-- Well, that's very good.

Mind you if I borrow that?

-Janice: At the time that we're talking about, most people don't realize that the population of this quiet little town was 1,888 people.

And of that population, 52.4% were of African descent.

My name is Janice Canaday.

I am the African-American community engagement manager here at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

I've also been here with the foundation for 22 years.

– Samantha: I got to meet Janice at Colonial Williamsburg's latest building.

The history of it is well known, but after the building was relocated in 1930, it went missing for like 90 years, until it was rediscovered in 2021.

It's now back at its permanent home, and this building's history is extraordinary.

-It's representing the first documented school that we know of for free and enslaved Blacks in Virginia.

-When was it a school?

-In 1760.

From 1760 to 1774.

– Samantha: 14 years.

Do we know how many children were educated here?

-We're thinking about at least 300 children, but that doesn't tell us how many they impacted and shared that knowledge with.

-What did they learn while they were here?

-Well, supposedly reading, writing, your catechisms, some math.

– Samantha: But the Bray School's deeply flawed purpose was to convince enslaved students to accept their circumstances as divinely ordained.

-How to be more humble, more servile servants to their masters and mistresses.

So it wasn't so much to benefit them educationally, but to teach them how to be polished properly in front of their masters.

– Samantha: But this curriculum had unintended positive consequences.

– Janice: The children would go home and share with the other children who were not selected to come to the school and with some of the community members as well.

And that did create a legacy that continues and connects to today's education.

-You're part of that connection.

-Very much so.

My cousin, Colonel Lafayette Jones, was writing a book about his grandfather, and he entitled the book "My Grandfather's Journey to Freedom."

And in that book, he started talking and writing about our family history, and he connected me to Elijah Jones and Mary Jones and let me know that they were two or at least two of the students that were here at the school that we were connected to.

I think about how these children would have felt leaving home, wherever they were, coming here.

What kind of reception did they get when they got here?

Did they feel comfortable?

Were they secure?

Because as a child in public school, education never really talked about me.

It talked about other cultures.

The only thing that I can remember was about that Africans were slaves.

They were slaves here but nothing more than that.

So when you grow up with a gap in your identity and who you are and how you connect that my family has always been here, it leaves a big hole.

And so it's an emptiness.

And so when this building showed up, it just helped to fuel the fire in me to find out who I was, how I'm connected in this town, and what my real story is.

– Samantha: From the Bray School, I walked over to the nearby site of the First Baptist meeting house and burial ground.

– Connie: It is one of the most significant historical archaeological projects in the country because we've been successful at uncovering not just the foundation of the original buildings, but also grave sites.

And they are the congregants from this church.

– Johnette: We had heard from the elders that there were bodies buried there.

And as with history at the time, we were told there were no written documents so it can't possibly be true.

It was just oral history.

– Samantha: Okay.

Connie Matthews Harshaw and Johnette Gordon-Weaver are present-day congregants of the First Baptist Church, one of the oldest African- American places of worship in the country.

In 1956, it moved from its colonial site to within the city of Williamsburg.

And you can trace the First Baptist Church back to 1776.

– Connie: Yes.

-I'm a descendant of Williamsburg.

My family traces its roots back to the 1630s.

– Samantha: Johnette is also the first African-American member of the Daughters of the American Revolution chapter in Williamsburg.

And Connie is the president of the Let Freedom Ring Foundation, based on the church's 140-year-old bell, where you're invited to say a prayer and ring.

[ Bell tolling ] -The foundation came into being after an effort by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to restore that bell and to reopen it for the community to enjoy it.

No matter what was going on in this country, just that sound, that sheer sound, was hope.

The sound of American freedom for everybody.

– Samantha: The First Baptist Church, with its firm place in history, also shows us how the story goes on.

And while it's easy to think of Williamsburg as being stuck in the 18th century, the reality is a city more youthful and diverse.

And nowhere is that more evident than in its food scene.

-I'm Avinash Arora.

I'm chef at the Masala Craft.

-I'm Shaveta Arora.

I'm one of the managers and owners of Masala Craft.

The Masala Craft is small, family-owned.

My dad is executive chef.

I run the bar and the wine program.

My mom is the engine that keeps us all running.

We are from Punjab originally.

We moved here 15 years ago.

Punjab is known for its food, us being loud and having fun and our butter chicken.

-Where did you learn to cook?

-First dish, I learned from my grandmother.

Then my mom.

She is very good cook.

Even now, if I need some help, I call my mom.

-I'm gonna try this.

What is this?

– Shaveta: This is lamb shank.

It's slow cooked.

It has a lot of ginger, garlic, cumin.

-Oh, my goodness.

-What else?

-A lot of spices -- ginger, garlic, cumin.

-Oh, my gosh.

-Green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, black pepper.

-If you see some of our planters or if you come to the back, we have a whole thing of just chilies growing in the back -- all these different kinds of chilies.

And we have, like, thyme and mint.

– Avinash: Some of the chilies and mint.

– Shaveta: And we do all the roasting in house.

-I was once told by a chef that when you look at anyone's menu, those menu items are really an autobiography.

So how do your sort of separate stories as family members kind of play into, like, one dish?

-It's this.

Yeah.

This is the cauliflower.

It's a cauliflower portobello steak with mushrooms in it.

Yep.

– Samantha: What is the sauce?

– Shaveta: It's the classic tomato cream-based sauce.

I wanted fun, different versions of my idea.

"Hey, Dad, why don't we roast the whole, like, cauliflower in the form of a steak?"

-Yeah.

– Shaveta: He was like, "No.

We're not doing that.

No one's gonna like it."

I'm like, "I promise you.

Just try it out."

-What do you say about that, Dad?

Is she right?

-I'm right.

He knows that.

[ Laughter ] I'm right.

I mean... We do what we do so we can bring -- Even if we can't go to India.

We can bring India here.

So we wanted to show people what India today is here in the heart of Williamsburg, one dish at a time.

[ Up-tempo music playing, woman singing indistinctly ] -Samantha: Williamsburg is known for its museums, but how about a hidden one?

If you enter Parker Piano Outlet, which has sold pianos for close to 40 years, you'll find yourself in the Virginia Musical Museum.

Fifty years ago, Buddy Parker found this music box while purchasing a used piano, and his collection began to grow.

– Buddy: This is one of my favorite pieces right here because of the history.

It's a French writing desk which opens up to write, and it has a music box built into the top called a Plerodinique.

There's only 12 still in existence that they know of.

-Does it still play?

-Oh, yeah.

Let's see if we get... [ Chiming, playing mid-tempo music ] -Samantha: [ Laughs ] -Buddy: Very nice.

– Samantha: The collection partly tells the history of how we enjoy music, from live music to how it then moved into the home.

– Buddy: These are cylinder records made by Edison.

And this particular one was recorded by a Virginian by the name of Polk Miller, and then the Old South Quartette backed him up.

[ Group singing indistinctly ] -1915 would have been that record, you think?

-Yeah.

Not quite clear like we're used to today.

They had quite a collection of them, as you can see.

– Samantha: Oh, wow.

So this would be, basically, your cassette, your record cover.

-Yeah.

-Wow.

And you would open it up.

-Yeah.

And slide it on this cylinder here.

– Samantha: There's a second hidden gem within the instrumental collection -- The Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

– Buddy: I think Virginia probably had more influence on most genres of music than any other state.

And you'd be surprised at the pioneers in different genres of music.

We have Ella here.

Ella is probably one of our most famous Virginia artists, her and Patsy Cline.

– Samantha: Wow.

I had no idea Ella Fitzgerald was from Virginia.

And now I know.

-We hear that every week.

-Yeah.

That's probably why you have this museum, right?

-Yeah.

Exactly.

-Do you play an instrument?

-I play for my own enjoyment.

-Okay.

-Nobody else enjoys it.

[ Both laugh ] -Samantha: I've moved on to Yorktown, about 15 miles from Williamsburg.

It boasts beautiful beaches all along the York River.

But it's this town's place and history that attracts most visitors.

The Battle of Yorktown marked the end of the American Revolution.

The British negotiated their surrender here at the Moore House.

And there's so much to take in on a 3,500-acre battlefield that I'm taking a tour.

And helping me do that is this replica of a vintage Stanley Steamer wagon, because we've got a lot of history and ground to cover.

– Gabriel: This is redoubt nine.

This is the fortification that the French and Americans have to take from the British... -Samantha: Okay.

– Gabriel: ...before we can finish constructing the second siege line to move our cannons closer.

-It's like one of the last holdouts.

-Yes.

So if this was a movie, this would really be the climax.

I'm Gabriel Gucanac.

I started being interested in history when my grandmother was working at Colonial Williamsburg.

I'd go to see her, and she'd just start telling me things, and so it kind of stuck.

-How many men would be in this redoubt?

-There were 140 -- about 140 in this fortification, just defending it.

-140.

And they are who?

They are?

– Gabriel: They're Scottish Highlanders.

– Samantha: Scottish Highlanders.

– Gabriel: And Hessians.

– Samantha: The Hessians.

-Which are mercenaries from Germany fighting for the King of England.

-And then the French, fighting on behalf of the Americans, are coming.

-Yes.

Attacking.

-It's interesting to think of all the different nations coming together, right?

-It was almost like a First World War, the Revolution.

-[ Laughs ] -Because you have so many different countries being represented and fighting for or in a country which is not their own.

The Battle of Yorktown specifically, we wouldn't have won without the French beating the English Navy.

And there was not a single American involved in that confrontation in the Battle of the Capes.

So we really would not be America today without the help of the French.

[ Fife plays ] -Samantha: So, as a Fife player, what were your responsibilities and what was your role within the battalion?

-Well, fifes and drums are used for communication.

-Communication?

-Yeah.

You're not just jollying the troops because you're a musician.

-Yeah.

That's what I thought.

Like entertainment, keep the morale high, right?

-You would have absolutely done that.

But you also were the main method of communication on and off the battlefield.

So, you don't have radios.

You can't use flags, because there's too much smoke.

You can't send a person, because if they get shot, your message gets shot.

So you have fifes and drums.

Every officer has assigned to him at least one fifer and one drummer.

Then they play the corresponding tune to whatever command the officer is trying to give, and then that's repeated down the line by the other officers' fifes and drums.

-Alright.

Who knew that the fife and drum were used for messaging?

Raise your hands.

Anyone?

No?

I did not know that.

Right.

What did you think they were for?

-Well, I thought it was just morale, like, you know, razz them up, get them going.

-Yeah, exactly.

See?

American history -- we can always learn more.

And that's what I intend to do.

The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown tells the story of America's struggle for independence and consists of three parts -- the inside museum, the Continental Army encampment, and the Revolution-era farm outside.

– Gretchen: This is a re-creation of an encampment, a portion of one.

So it would be a lot bigger than this.

And then these tents here would be for the enlisted men, so for the privates.

And it might be six men to a tent.

-Six men to a tent?!

-Six men to a tent.

Very chummy.

-Oh!

[ Laughs ] It's here in the encampment that you get to meet the locals, so to speak.

-Welcome.

This is arguably the most important spot within any military encampment -- your regimental quartermaster.

This guy is responsible for all the supplies.

You need to be comfortable with numbers and handling those, making sure you're keeping track of where it's going, what.

You also need to make sure that you have the supplies necessary for these soldiers.

– Samantha: This tent gets the most groans.

-So, the tools that we have on the tray here, this would be for one of the more common surgeries you would see going on.

– Samantha: Yeah.

– Alicia: It's musket-ball extraction.

– Samantha: Okay.

Alicia: So, the musket balls are pretty hefty, even by modern standards.

– Samantha: Yeah.

Alicia: That's a large caliber.

-This would be lodged somewhere in my body.

-Yes.

It might embed or impact into a bone.

So instead of, say, needing, like, a full-on amputation, they'll go in and try and remove the musket ball.

-I had my eye on this little guy.

-You're finding all the fun ones.

-Yeah.

Like, this is a bad one.

– Alicia: So, the surgeon's not just a surgeon.

They're also your dentist.

– Samantha: Oh!

Alicia: That is one of the dental tools.

-Oh, no!

– Alicia: And I'll tell you what.

It's usually the dental tools that get people the most.

-I was gonna say, get me back to where I was shot with lead balls.

But wait.

There's more.

-That is for severe head trauma.

-[ Laughing ] Oh!

Alicia: That is a trephine for trepanation, so it's gonna relieve pressure and fluid buildup on the brain.

– Samantha: What do you mean?

– Alicia: On the bottom of it right there, it's a saw.

It creates a burr hole in the skull.

-No.

No.

-Yep.

Samantha: And that was about all I could take.

[ Fife and drums play ] Once a year, the American Revolution Museum hosts something really special -- a naturalization ceremony.

This year, a total of 92 eligible candidates from 44 countries have arrived here in Yorktown at the final step of what has been a long and committed journey to becoming an American citizen.

-I'd like to welcome you to today's naturalization ceremony here at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.

We're glad to have you with us as we welcome 92 new citizens here to our country.

[ Cheers and applause ] -I think it's important that travelers come to Yorktown because of its importance to American history.

It kind of reflects the entire history of how our nation came to be and our continued impact on the world.

-When you're doing archeology, you get to find the bits and pieces of people's lives -- the tools they use, the things they held every day.

And if you come back and visit us at Jamestown, you can be a part of that discovery.

– Janice: Reading a lot about how people lived during this time period that the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation exists, and that we teach to the public empowers me for that gap, that hole that I had trying to read about my heritage, my culture, my history, what part my family played in the history and the development of America.

It wasn't there.

But now I know it's endless.

– Nat: Mr.

Henry, Mr.

Jefferson, all of them -- they were people who, believe me, had plenty of flaws, who had plenty of problems.

But what was great of them is not that they were free from the evils of this life, but that they were able to overcome them in some sense.

If you start worshiping them as heroes, they would be the first ones to tell you to stop it, that the world belongs to the living and it belongs to you.

[ Man shouts indistinctly ] [ Cheers and applause ] -Samantha: I first came to Williamsburg, Virginia at the age of 6, then again at 30 and now at 55.

In that long span of time, I've gone from accepting history to questioning it, understanding there will always be pieces missing.

But when through perseverance they do finally surface, the picture of who we are and what we all share as citizens of a country becomes fuller.

It's why I have a love of travel and why Williamsburg, Virginia, is a Place To Love.

– Samantha: For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com Major funding of "Places to Love" provided by Oceania Cruises.

– Announcer: A journey aboard Oceania Cruises is designed to cultivate curiosity.

[ Dramatic music plays ] Evenings offer craft spirits, international wines, and dishes prepared by our master chefs.

That's the Oceania Cruises small-ship experience.

– Announcer: Since 1975, we've inspired adults to learn and travel in the United States and in more than 100 countries.

From exploring our national parks to learning about art and culture in Italy, we've introduced adults to places, ideas, and friends.

We are Road Scholar.

We make the world our classroom.

– Announcer: Ever wonder where your sense of wonder went?

Maybe it's winding its way along the banks of the Colorado River or waiting in the shadows of giant canyons.

Or maybe it's revealed in all the moments in between.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] Introducing Canyon Spirit, a rail experience between Denver, Moab, and Salt Lake City.

Canyon Spirit, proud sponsor of "Places to Love".

– Announcer: Railbookers helps you discover the world by train.

From bucket-list dreams to iconic scenic journeys, a Railbookers itinerary includes trains, hotels, sightseeing, transfers, and more.

Railbookers offers guests a seamless way to explore the globe on vacation.

[ Fife and drums play ]