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  Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

With Sandi Nikolaus, CTC, MCC

I just returned from a fantastic trip to Canada.  I left Columbus on a Friday morning and arrived in Vancouver in time for lunch.  Going through Customs was a breeze.  I took a cab to my hotel, Sheraton Wall Centre, right in the center of Vancouver.  I was on the 24^th floor.  This is the view from my room.  I had some time before I was to meet the group I was traveling with, so I got a Starbucks coffee and sat in the courtyard of the hotel and spent a little time people watching.  We met our tour director in the lobby and had a cocktail reception.  Then we boarded our motor coach for a 10-minute ride to the Stonegrill for dinner.

This restaurant is a steak and seafood restaurant extraordinaire, facing Granville Island, coupling a 270 degrees panoramic view, probably the best venue beautiful Vancouver has to offer. STONEGRILL cuisine is presented over hot lava granite, with NO OIL, NO MARINADE, AND NO OPEN FLAME.  A healthy and yet delicious alternate that one has to experience first hand and return for.  After a great dinner coupled with some British Columbia wine, we head back to the hotel.  Most of us were from the East, and by this time were pretty tired because of the 3-hour time difference.

The next morning, a short city tour by motor coach before we head over to the Rocky Mountaineer Railroad for our trip to Whistler Mountain.  The Gold Leaf rail cars feature a restaurant on the lower level and a dome car on the top level. The executive chef was a member of Culinary Team Canada in 1992, Canadian Apprentice of the Year in 1993, and a member of the Bocuse d’Or team in 1998.  What a meal!  After a beautiful train arrive, what scenery!  We arrived at Whistler. 

This is a quaint little village, much little an alpine village in Europe located at the base of 2 mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb.  The valley in the center is Whistler Village.  We check into our hotel, which is located right in the center of the village, Delta Whistler Suites.  During the winter months, the village is focused on skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and apres’ ski activities.  In the summer months the village becomes a beehive of outdoor activity.  After checking into the hotel, we take a walking tour of the village checking out all the different activities and shopping available to us.  Once the tour is through, we have free time to book any activities we want to participate in and shopping.  I choose a ziptrek tour and whitewater rafting.  I am so excited.  A quick trip back to the hotel to freshen up, and it’s off to dinner.  The restaurant is about a 3-minute walk from the hotel. Quattro Restaurant an Italian Restaurant where we have a 3-course meal served family style.  The roast veal was sooooo yummy.   The pastries amazing. Ask any Whistler native, and they will tell you at Whistler, it’s all about the food.  The rest of the evening is free to enjoy any of the local pubs, clubs, or bars.  There is a microbrewery, an Irish pub, or try an outdoor café to have a coffee and people watch.

The next morning we awake full of excitement.  This will be the first time zip trekking for all of us and we can barely contain ourselves.  We have a quick breakfast at the Irish pub, and head over to get outfitted for our trip.  Ziptrek Ecotours is a 2-½ hour adventure that includes 5 incredible zip lines gaining progressively in height and length, the longest spanning 1,100 feet between the Whistler & Blackcomb Mountains.  Here, I will conquer my fear of heights. Yes, that’s right, I am afraid of heights but I am determined that I will do this.

I have survived.  What a trip, I can hardly wait for this afternoon’s activities, but first lunch at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.  A member of the Leading Hotels of the World, this hotel is home to four-star dining, a slope side lunge, the Vida Spa, and Canada’s only David Leadbetter Golf Academy.  Oops, for the golf enthusiast there are 4 championship-designed courses.  Golf Digest rates Whistler Canada’s number one golf destination.  The courses provide an unparalleled mountain golf experience. Experience Jack Nicklaus’s signature design at Nicklaus North Golf Course, Arnold Palmer’s first-ever Canadian design at the Whistler Golf Club, Robert Trent Jones Jr.s pre-eminent mountain design at the Chateau Whistler Golf Course, or play at the base of majestic Mount Currie on Robert Cupp’s Big Sky Golf and Country Club.  Alas, not enough time to do everything I would like, so it’s off to my afternoon adventure, white water rafting on the Green River. 

This 2-½ hour excursion is great if you are a first time rafter.  Just enough white-water to get a little excitement, but not enough to scare you.  I have rafted before, so I think it’s a little tame, but the other 5 in my raft are first timers, and really enjoy the trip.  I just love being on the water and the scenery is beautiful, so I am content.  All too soon, the trip is over and it’s back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  Tonight we are on our own for dinner, so small group’s go off together depending on what they have chosen to eat.  My group decides to try a French restaurant Val d’Isere Restaurant.  We sit on the patio outside and enjoy a chicken and vegetable fettuccine entrée.  Again, the people watcher in me is totally enjoying myself.  Even though it is the end of June, the evening gets a little chilly.  The patio has overhead heaters, so it is still pleasant to sit outside with a glass of wine. 

All to soon, our time at Whistler is over.  This morning, we board the motor coach for the trip back to Vancouver.  On our way back, we stop at Grouse Mountain and take the Gondola ride to the top of the mountain.  Here there are 2 different movies, a lumberjack show, a bird show, and a wildlife refugee that is home to a black bear and grizzly bear that were orphaned, and 2 white wolves and a black wolf, also orphans.  I opt to see the bears, and get a really good look. Is that bear smiling, or baring his teeth???  Time for some shopping at the gift shop and then its off to the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  This famous suspension footbridge sways 2300 ft. above Capilano Canyon.  There is a new Treetops Adventure Canyon walk giving a squirrel’s eye view of the thriving coastal forest, as you venture from one magnificent Douglas fir tree to another via a series of elevated suspension bridges, some reaching as high as 80 feet above the forest floor.  After crossing the bridge you receive a certificate commemorating your crossing.  Next, it’s on to Vancouver Lookout!  Harbour Centre Tower offers a 360-degree view of Vancouver.  Resembling the Space Needle in Seattle the views of the Vancouver area are beautiful, and there is a restaurant.

After checking in to the hotel, there is a little free time to visit Chinatown (the second largest in North America), shopping on Robson Street, if designer brands are your thing, Gastown for souvenirs, art galleries, and antiques, or Yaletown for ultra-hip clothing stores and a thriving restaurant and bar scene. Back at the hotel, we board the motor coach for a farewell dinner. The Boathouse on Vancouver's famous beach enjoy great seafood & steaks with lively outdoor dining, the place to meet for cocktails, or watch the sunset with a bottle of BC VQA wine and fresh-shucked oysters. Distinctively "West coast", the extensive wine list, freshest quality seafood, premium steaks and great service make Boathouse a BC coast favorite. Voted Vancouver's Best Patio Dining!  What a sunset!! Back on board the motor coach for our return to the hotel. We have a very early checkout tomorrow, but on our last night we decide to visit the Edgewater Casino. This was fun for a few hours. They even have nickel slots. On a Monday night, there were open tables for blackjack and lots of slots available. The casino is open until 4am. After losing (does anybody ever win?) we head back to the hotel.  Our bus leaves in 4 hours.

5:30 am and we board the bus for the 20-minute ride to the airport.  Although the lines look long, they move very quickly and we are checked in and ready to return home.  A quick run through the duty-free shops, grab a bagel and a coffee, and our flight is boarding.  I am exhausted.  No sooner do I sit in my seat and I am fast asleep.  It has been a whirlwind of a trip, but something I can recommend to any client. 

No matter what your level of physical activity may be, Whistler has it all.  For more information on this trip, or others of its kind, call Sandi at 235-8813.   

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