Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/118157
weekender HEDLEY, B.C. the getaway MOTOR VEHICLE SALES 1/3V 10 W E S T W O R L D p10-11_Wkdr.indd 10 >> SUMMER 2012 five best wine regions in the world you've never heard of." the hideaway Near ghost town recolonized by roustabouts and bohemians. Sun-bleached main street with happening restaurant. Amazing restored gold mine, clinging to a cliff face almost a kilometre above town. Beautiful old mansion operating as a B&B. Burgeoning nearby wine country with attractions of its own. Couldn't be in B.C., right? Or if it is, maybe somewhere deep in the Kootenays, not just a 4.5-hour drive from Vancouver? Well, guess again. This is Hedley, the hamlet everyone on Hwy. 3 has been neglecting to slow down for since forever. And it's rising again, thanks in large part to the local Upper Similkameen Indian Band, which in 1998 took over operation of the Mascot Mine attraction and hired archaeologist and force of nature Brenda Gould to run it. Gould helped the band develop its Snaza'ist Discovery Centre in the town's old schoolhouse while refining the mine's summer tour. Then in 2004, she and her chef partner took over the saloon-like Hitching Post Restaurant, even as new owners raised the game at the Colonial Inn, the mine's former guest house for visiting VIPs. Meanwhile, a few kilometres down the Similkameen River, fruit and vegetable growers apprehensively planted a few grape vines – in the process launching what EnRoute magazine has called "one of the Once the guesthouse for the Mascot and other Hedley-area mines, the beautifully maintained Colonial Inn Bed & Breakfast has hosted hosted Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie. (Discover what the heck these luminaries were doing at a remote gold mine during your visit.) The Inn, with five bedrooms and an adjacent RV park, is open May to September as demand dictates, so book ahead. 250-292-8131; colonialinnbb.ca the inside track Best way to take a lode off: To take the Mascot Mine Tour is to understand what humans will do for gold; just navigating its perilous switchbacks takes an hour, then there's the site in all its Old West glory (shuttle leaves from the Snaza'ist Discovery Centre — reservations recommended; macotmine.com). Classiest archaeology: Thanks to a nearby ochre deposit, Hedley has long been a First Nations crossroads, with B.C.'s highest concentration of pictograms (details plus archaeology workshops, mas cotmine.com). Best places to raise a glass: The Similkameen's eight wineries — and counting — are centred around Keremeos, a 25-minute drive east (similkameenwine. com). Best place to raise a fork and glass: Hedley's Hitching Post Restaurant fits its 1903-vintage building like a miner's glove (hitchingpostres taurant.ca). —Jim Sutherland Liz Bryan, (inset) Jim Sutherland 4/19/12 6:59:50 AM