Spokane Visitors Guide Filled With Information, Maps, Points Of Interest

Having guests this summer and wondering how to entertain them? Or, do you want to entice someone to visit/move here and you’re looking for ammunition?

The answers to both questions can be found in “The Spokane Area Visitors & Convention Bureau’s 2000 Visitors Guide.” (Whew, that’s a long title.) Covered within the 64 pages of this slick-looking magazine are lodging, restaurants, attractions, retail and service details for visitors and prospective new residents.

The booklet certainly does our neighborhood proud with sunny-day pictures with our four distinct seasons.

If you didn’t already live here, you’d want to pack up and move immediately.

There’s a map with 75 “points of interest” from this side of the Cascades to the western reaches of Montana.

Copies of the guide can be picked up at the Visitors Information Center, 201 W. Main.

Other vacations ideas

“The Montana Travel Planner - 2000-2001 Accommodations, Campgrounds, Guided Recreation” has lots of great suggestions about why you’d want to visit our backyard neighbor.

The 143-pages guide covers statewide information and divides the state into six “countries”: Glacier, Gold West, Russell (as in the artist), Yellowstone, Missouri River and Custer.

For a copy, call (800) 847-4868.

Participants in Cycle Oregon 2000, from Sept. 9-16, will get a close-up look at Oregon’s scenic wonders from Paisley in the south to Hood River along the Columbia Gorge in the north. Bicyclists will cover 402 miles, with another 163 optional miles; the daily trek varies from 51 to 99 miles.

Registration, limited to 2,000 bicyclists, is open through Aug. 11. For a registration brochure, call (800) CYCLEOR (292-5367).

We’re wanted! And it’s a bargain to boot.

Travel Alberta is spending $3 million in a multimedia campaign to attract American travelers.

“We need to remind American travelers about Alberta if we want them to visit our province,” said Patrick Gedge, managing director of Travel Alberta.

Of course the Canadian Rockies are featured, but also “examples of the geographic variety and other urban and cultural activities,” Gedge said.

For a copy of the most-attractive and informational “Travel Alberta,” call (800) 661-8888. Also, you might take a look at the Web site: www.travelalberta.com.

Calling classic car collectors

The Dogwood Festival’s Show & Shine 2000 will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 29 at the Lewis-Clark State College campus in Lewiston, Idaho, and Northwest car buffs are invited to show off their vehicles.

Thousands of people are expected for the “Show & Shine and Art Under the Elms,” an event featuring 100 artisan vendors, food booths and continuous live entertainment.

Because the show grows each year, pre-registration is encouraged.

Call (208) 799-2243 for more info.

Erin’s calling

Spokane’s Maureen Hurl Peterson is taking applications for “An Intimate Look at Ireland” in September.

As last year, she and Batt Burns will show clients a side of Ireland few tourists see.

The trip, Sept. 3-17, costs $3,125 per person, double occupancy, including air fare, hotels, breakfast and all dinners except two. One dinner will be a medieval dinner in Bunratty Castle (which is a lot of fun, I might add).

For more info, call Edwards LaLone Travel at 747-3000 or (800) 288-3788.

Checkmate

Hotel Vintage Plaza in Portland is offering a chance to receive a free night’s stay if guests can beat general manager Mark Mathews at chess.

“Checkmate Your Rate” is effective from 5 to 6 p.m. each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the lobby.

To participate in a match, visitors are encouraged to register at the reception desk by 2 p.m.

Hotel Vintage Plaza, rated a four-diamond hotel last year by the Mobil Travel Guide, is in Portland’s popular shopping district, with plenty of theaters and restaurants nearby.

For more info call (800) 243-0555.