By Roberta Lasky
Seattle, Vancouver and now our final destination, Whistler! We were fortunate enough to stay at The Four Seasons. The strong American dollar afforded us the pleasure of reserving a top-notch suite for the price of a one-bedroom.
We had dinner at the hotel’s in-house restaurant Sidecut for some excellent surf ‘n turf. Breakfast was included in our stay so every morning we ate like a king & queen at the ‘Peak To Creek’ buffet. The chef made the most delicious granola bars.
The next morning, we got our bearings and toured the local area. We got our culture fix at the Audain Art Museum. We saw marvelous works by local artist Emily Carr, an exhibit by Edward Burtynsky, and beautiful First Nations masks.
We spent a good two hours walking through the Whistler Farmers Market. The market is open on Wednesdays and Sundays.
We spent an afternoon on an amazing guided canoe trip on the Alta River through Canadian Wilderness Adventures.
The next morning, on the way up to Pemberton, we stopped 20 miles away from our hotel at Nairn Falls. Here we went for a mile long hike through the lush forest area, keeping our eyes on the prize so we could achieve the almost 200 feet high viewpoint and witness the gorgeous waterfall.
The next morning we set out on a horseback ride that our hotel concierge recommended at The Pemberton Ranch through Copper Cayuse Outfitters in Pemby (as the locals call the town). We had a wonderful two-hour ride through some forestry, a river, and grassy wildflower-filled fields by Mount Currie. My horse, Cinnamon, enjoyed grazing on every inch of the local vegetation so frequently, giving me a real challenge besides staying on the saddle.
After our fun ride, we saddled up to a table at The Pony for some burgers, fries and iced teas. (We were told to have lunch at the most popular place in all of Pemberton, Mile One Eating House. But, just our luck, they are closed on Mondays. (So the next time you are in Pemberton make sure you’re there on any day but Monday to check out Mile One!)
In Whistler Village, we had two amazing dinners at 21 Steps Kitchen & Bar (named after the 21 steps people have to literally walk up from street level to enter the restaurant) and Araxi. 21 Steps has great modern comfort food while Araxi serves delicious seafood and locally sourced ingredients. We also ate locally at the Beacon Pub, Longhorn Saloon & Grill, and The Mexican Corner Restaurant. We had delicious ice cream at Cow’s Ice Cream.
The highlight of our stay in Whistler was undeniably the 10 minute Sea to Sky Gondola Ride, which brings people to 885 meters above sea level. We even spotted a very cute young black bear 100 feet below us. The ride up to the summit provides sweeping views of Howe Sound and green mountains.
We were very happy that we chose these three unique destinations discussed in this three part series. Stay tuned to find out what our “bucket list” trip will be for summer ’18!
Other blogs by Roberta
Blowing Off Steam In Vancouver
New Yorkers Find Nirvana In Seattle
Brand New Experiences in Newport, Rhode Island