I believe one of the best ways to give an experience to a loved one this Christmas is to give them the gift of sport. John and I have bought our Whitecaps season tickets for each other for Christmas for the last five years, which turns into over 20 pre-set date nights for us throughout the year! Here are some gift packs and sets that our local sporting organizations are offering up this season:
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
The ‘Caps are offering a Holiday Pack in their online store that includes a Whitecaps FC scarf and tickets to the historic CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal vs New York Red Bulls on March 2, the Canadian Championship semifinal, and the MLS season opener for $100.
BC Lions
The BC Lions have some festive ornaments and stocking stuffers in their online store, but stay tuned for their holiday gift pack release which is usually during the second week of December.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have Holiday Packs starting at $249 that include tickets to 3 games (pick from a list), a FlyOver Canada pass, a Canucks scarf, and ticket to Canucks Superskills.
Vancouver Giants
The Giants have 5-game Christmas Packs starting at $89 along with a lineup of holiday events like the Ugly Christmas Sweater weekend (December 9 & 10), and the Hyundai Teddy Bear Toss (December 16).
HSBC Canada Sevens Rugby
The wildly popular 2017 HSBC Canada Sevens Series returns to Vancouver in March and General Admission Tournament passes are available now.
Men’s Series ticket options: GA tournament pass (both days) $99; GA Group Tickets (10 or more) $89 each; Single Day ticket $55. Women’s Series GA tournament pass (both days) $40; Reserved seating range from $65 – $85; Premium seating $99. Remember – group costumes are encouraged! *All 7s Access, 7s Reserved and Premium seating for the Men’s Tournament are sold out.
You can also pick up a Vancouver Parks Gift Card for that special someone on your shopping list. These gift cards are valid for recreation facilities, lessons, facility rentals, pitch & putt, and garden admissions.
*All prices are those that were posted at time of publishing. Prices may vary. See specific team/team store for actual prices.
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — This post is sponsored in partnership with Travel Alberta. Views are my own. Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
What do dinosaurs, craft beer, snowshoes, bison, and an ice castle have in common? You can find them all in Alberta this winter! From the unearthed fossils at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, to dinning at 7,218 feet at the top of the Banff Gondola, there’s something for everyone this season in Alberta.
10 Ways to Explore Alberta This Winter
ICE District
Canada’s largest mixed-use sports and entertainment district opened in Edmonton this fall, centered around Roger’s Place, home of the Edmonton Oilers — and within close proximity of some of the best Mexican food I’ve had in Canada at Rostizado. Spread over 25-acres, the ICE District transforms the downtown core with new retail shops, restaurants, a movie theatre complex and casino.
Rocky Mountain High Banff Gondola and the upper terminal building recently received a $26-million renovation recently, and I was able to check out part of it when I was a part of a workshop there in November. Seemingly sitting on top of the world — at 7,218 feet (2,200 m) above sea level — its Sky Bistro is one of the highest elevated restaurants in Canada. There’s also a multi-sensory experience scored by Canadian composer Darren Fung in the Above Banff Theatre. The Above Banff Interpretive Centre tells the story of Canada’s first and oldest national park, the history of the region’s First Nations, distinct ecosystem and hot springs.
Creative Culinary
Farm to fork isn’t a trend in Alberta, it’s a way of life, and I had an excellent sampling during my drive down the Cowboy Trail earlier this year. Deep fried avocado, bison burgers, hopped mead and parlour gin.
This winter, forage for wild edibles and healing plants in the rugged Kananaskis Country with Full Circle Adventures and break out the baking pans at Edmonton’s Duchess Bake Shop. The famed Parisian-style patisserie has recently expanded with a new teaching school, provisions shop and French-Scandinavian influenced brunch spot Cafe Linnea.
Calgary’s East Village
Contender for the trendiest neighbourhood in Calgary, the East Village has a history of music. It has Studio Bell, Canada’s newest cultural landmark and home of the National Music Centre, along with a revitalized St. Patrick’s Island, a 31-acre urban oasis with a picnic grove, natural playground and fishing cove.
The historic Simmons Building has been restored, and now houses Charbar (contender for enRoute magazine’s best new Canadian restaurant), a hyperlocal bakery, Sidewalk Citizen, plus I highly recommend local coffee roaster Phil & Sebastian.
From Grain to Glass
Alberta’s craft beer scene continues to evolve with new micro-breweries opening on a frequent basis. Frothy trails are found in rural areas, in addition to our major cities. Edmonton’s Polar Park Brewing Company, is a conservation-focused micro-brewery, will open in 2017 and you can find local craft breweries in Jasper, Banff, Calgary and Fort McMurray. Calgary Brewery Tours now offers four distinct tours.
Supernatural Star Gazing
Home to two of the world’s two largest dark sky preserves, Wood Buffalo and Jasper National Parks, Alberta offers prime viewing of the northern lights. Canada’s first ‘dark sky’ community is Bon Accord, Alberta. This small town 40km north of Edmonton is only the 11th town in the world to receive this distinction. Enjoy starlit snowshoe jaunts and full-moon fondue tours with Kananaskis Outfitters, and explore icy Johnston Canyon by moonlight.
Heat Up Winter
Edmonton’s Hawrelak Park transforms into a winter wonderland when a Narnia-like castle is created using only water and ice. One of only four of its kind in the world, visitors to the acre-sized Ice Castle can wind their way through an ice maze and spelunk through tunnels.
Visit during the Silver Skate Festival and you can also take in icy art, plus towering fire sculptures. You can also dash through the snow on a romantic sleigh ride at Heritage Ranch, sooth sore muscles at Banff Upper Hot Springs, and toast your winter adventures at the outdoor ice bar at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
Downhill Diversions
Of course will all that snow in those hills, you can enjoy Alberta’s ski resorts including Banff National Park’s Big 3 resorts: Mt. Norway, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise Ski Resort sport 8,000 acres of skiing accessible with one tri-area ticket.
Walk on the Wild Side
An abundance of wildlife (587 species of mammals, birds and fish) in Alberta’s extensive parks and natural areas makes the province a prime spot for wildlife viewing. Spot elk, deer, moose and bears in the Rocky Mountains or take a wildlife tour in Jasper National Park, where mountain goats are often spotted by photographers. Open year round, Yamnuska Wolf Dog Sanctuary is a not-for-profit rescue centre that allows visitors to feed and interact with the wolf dogs during guided tours.
A herd of 12-15 bison are being reintroduced to Banff National Park early in 2017. As a keystone species, their re-establishment will have an immediate positive impact on the park, but there are other places in Alberta to see bison right now. Roam with herds of bison along the Bison Paddock Loop Road in Waterton Lakes National Park and at Elk Island National Park.
Dig into the Prehistoric Past
More than 40 species of dinosaurs once roamed Alberta. Very few places on earth showcase the remains of so many species and complete dinosaur skeletons. A hub for palaeontology, Alberta boats two world-leading facilities: the Royal Tyrrell Museum and the recently opened Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, both strategically situated near some of the most important dinosaur fossil locations in the world.
Travellers can participate in Jurassic adventures in Dinosaur Provincial Park and the Canadian Badlands. Unique experiences include guided excavations (with real palaeontologists), fossil safaris, hiking over bone beds and assembling an exact replica of a dinosaur skeleton.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Kitsmas! The Kitsilano 4th Avenue Business Association presents Kitsmas from Thursdays to Saturdays this holiday season with perks like valet parking for holiday season shoppers and special events from retailers and businesses. On December 9th and 10th, Tourism Whistler is joining the fun as they pop up a #WhistlerHappyPlace outside the Arc’teryx store.
Find Your #WhistlerHappyPlace at Kitsmas
Where: Arc’teryx (2033 West 4th, Vancouver) When: December 9th 12pm to 7pm & December 10th 10am to 7pm
The #WhistlerHappyPlace will be full Whistler décor complete with a retro gondola from the early Whistler days with Whistlerites serving up free hot chocolate, a Whistler winter fairy wandering around West 4th as well as surprise giveaways to lucky visitors compliments of Scandinave Spa, Nita Lake Lodge, The Adventure Group, Extremely Canadian, Earls Restaurants, Whistler Sport Legacies, Ziptrek Ecotours and the Audain Art Museum!
Guests who stop by and have their photo taken in the Happy Place photo booth will be entered in for the chance at winning a 2016/2017 seasons pass to Whistler Blackcomb.
Enter to Win
In the spirit of Kitsmas, Tourism Whistler is offering up a pair of lift tickets to one lucky Miss604 reader. Here’s how you can enter to win:
Click below to post your entry on Twitter (1 entry)
[clickToTweet tweet=”Find your #WhistlerHappyPlace at #Kitsmas Dec 9/10. RT to enter to win lift tix from @GoWhistler http://owl.li/zwIz306S9ix” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
The winner will receive two lift tickets valid for a day of their choice on the slopes during the 2016/2017 season. I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, December 9, 2016.
Snow hit Vancouver on December 5th, giving the city its first official snow day since 2014 and bringing with it both traffic chaos and peaceful playtime in the fluffy white flakes. Since its such a rarity, many took to social media to share their photos of our pre-winter wonderland, here are some of my favourites:
As always, please click through on these images to view more work from the photographers and feel free to share your own photos with the Miss604 Flickr Pool or with the tag #Photos604 on Instagram. View all photo collections here and follow Miss604 on Instagram.
It’s so lovely to get outside and look at lights during the holidays in Vancouver but as we all know, sometimes the weather is not the most accommodating. Luckily, there’s a great indoor attraction in Downtown Vancouver: The FlyOver Canada Christmas Ride!
FlyOver Canada Christmas Ride
Combining the epic FlyOver Canada film ride with Christmas spirit, guests will be able to help Santa Claus search for his missing elves during an exhilarating flight across Canada and on to the North Pole.
Where: Canada Place When: To Dec 16th 10:00am to 9:00pm
Dec 17th – Jan 2nd 9:30am to 10:00pm
Dec 24th 9:30am to 6:00pm
Dec 25th – Closed Tickets:Available online now.
Entrance times are every 15 – 20 minutes. The complete experience will last between 20 – 25 minutes and include an extended holiday edition of FlyOver Canada that leads guests on to Santa’s workshop in the North Pole. Some may even be able to catch the scent of Mrs. Claus’ baking as they swoop over her gingerbread factory.
Combining the epic FlyOver Canada film ride with Christmas spirit, guests will be able to help Santa Claus search for his missing elves during an exhilarating flight across Canada and on to the North Pole.