Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/112497
weekender REVELSTOKE, B.C. the getaway 10 W E S T W O R L D p10-11_Wknder.indd 10 >> WINTER 2012 the hideaway Too often driven through, too rarely stopped in, the town of Revelstoke on the Columbia River offers a lot of charm and even a little chic. We thank Revelstoke Mountain Resort ��� only six kilometres from town ��� for some of that. Its vertical drop of 1,721 metres is already the continent���s greatest and its terrain will ultimately trump Whistler���s in total area. It even gets more snow, which is saying something. Yet Revelstoke���s good bones were already in evidence back when the resort was the much humbler Powder Springs. This may be the only B.C. population centre of 7,000 that could support an architectural tour, for example. One must-stop: the clubhouse of the Golf Club (itself a Golden Age classic), dating from the early 20th century when it served a horse-racing track. Another is the courthouse, a monumental neo-classical relic from 1897. A third is City Hall, which in 1939 stunned everyone with its hard-edged style and now stands proud as one of B.C.���s first truly modernist buildings. (The tower rising above it is not a decorative embellishment but a hose-drying rack for the fire department, which once shared the premises.) As for the couple of blocks surrounding this unlikely landmark, caf��s and bars have been popping up like chanterelles, whether in stalwart brick buildings that once headquartered dry-goods stores or in finely detailed Queen-Anne-style houses that once housed CPR station masters. Revelstoke offers lots of places to stay along the Trans-Canada and plenty of others in more outdoorsy locations, including the lovely Sutton Place at Revelstoke Mountain Resort. Only a handful, though, enable one to walk home following an evening on the town, among them the Courthouse Inn B&B, which is friendly and comfortable, with good breakfasts and lots of nice touches. And you absolutely will find your way there, given its location across from one of the grandest buildings in the entire B.C. Interior. From $140/night; courthouseinnrevelstoke.com the inside track More than a whistle stop: Revelstoke has always been a railway town, hence its big railway museum, which commemorates, among other things, the completion of the transcontinental railroad at nearby Craigellachie, site of the Last Spike (railwaymuseum.com). Best eats: (lunch) The Modern Bake Shop and Caf�� for homey-yet-stylish fare; (dinner) Woolsey Creek Bistro���s premium casual-menu items, conjured from mostly local ingredients (wool seycreekbistro.ca); and drinks: by excellent microbrewer Mt. Begbie Brewing, named after looming Mt. Begbie ��� which in turn was named after Matthew Begbie, notorious as B.C.���s original hanging judge, but, in fact, a reasonable and even progressive legal mind. De���nitely someone to drink to. ���Jim Sutherland Y Member savings and benefits for B.C. winter travel: bcaa.com/roadtrips stayinrevelstoke.com 12-10-26 7:09 AM