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This weekend, salons, spas, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and other businesses that aim to make you look and/or feel good (including two chocolate producers!) will gather at the 7th annual Health Beauty Spa Show to introduce you to their services. You can enjoy sample treatments for $5 each: chair massage, facial wax, paraffin hand dip, temporary tattoo, airbrush tan, vibration therapy, mini makeover, reflexology, and more. Grab a friend, your mom, or anyone who is in need of some pampering or girl time (guys are also welcome, of course) and plan to spend a few hours at this event, as it is very popular and you may have to wait a while for your treatments.
Copyright Northwest Artistic Photography
The “ultimate spa party” is a great opportunity to talk to local experts about all the latest spa treatments and to explore the plethora of high-quality local options for beauty and spa services in the Spokane area. Vendors will also be on hand with products focused on prevention, beauty, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle options. If you feel like transforming your look at the show, have before and after pictures taken for free on location by Northwest Artistic Photography. The best makeover and most glamorous transformations will win hundreds of dollars in full service treatments from Dimensions Salon.
The Health Beauty Spa Show runs January 14 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and January 15 from noon to 5 p.m. at Spokane Community College in the Lair building (off Mission street just each of Greene). Click here for directions. Admission is $7, or $5 if you bring a non-perishable food or hygiene item to donate to the YWCA shelter. Sample treatment tickets are available at the door for $5. Health and beauty professionals get in free with their license and photo ID from 4–6 p.m. Saturday night. Everyone can take advantage of the website deal for a free treatment—just print the coupon from the home page (valid after 3 p.m. Saturday or all day Sunday.) The food, by Ruth’s Catering, sounds tastier than your typical trade show fare, with homemade candy, breakfast burritos, three kinds of soup, and pulled pork sandwiches among the offerings. Hope to see you there!
Not sure what you are doing for New Year’s? Celebrate the end of 2011 at First Night Spokane. At various locations throughout downtown, all within walking distance of each other, you will find an amazing variety of shows and activities to please all ages and tastes. The cost for an admission button that covers all events is just $12, or $15 the day of the show. You can purchase them online or at many businesses throughout Spokane. First Night runs from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Several great performers will entertain you with juggling, comedy, boogie-woogie piano, jump-rope acrobatics (from Rene Bibaud, who has performed with Cirque du Soleil) and old vaudeville style clowning. Shows are at 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 p.m.
From 7 to 10 p.m., pick up a passport from one of four locations. At each location, you will receive a clue to solve before moving on to the next location. Once a clue is solved, you will receive a stamp on your passport. When you have all four stamps, drop your passport into a Yoke’s Dinosaur Egg Safari enter-to-win box to be entered into drawings for prizes.
Start your healthy resolutions a few hours early with a 5k run through downtown Spokane. Runners line up at 6:30 p.m., and the run begins at 6:45 p.m. An optional bag drop makes it easy to get your coat and purse afterward. Fill out and bring the waiver form before you go. Click here for a map of the course.
Don’t let fear of downtown parking keep you from First Night! Just park at the Riverpoint Campus just east of downtown Spokane (412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd.) in the yellow lot and catch a bus to one of several First Night venues. Buses run every ten minutes from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Free Carousel Rides and Ice Skating
From 7 to 11 p.m., you can skate free at the Ice Palace in the heart of Riverfront Park (you still have to pay for skate rental) and take free rides on the beautiful Looff Carousel, also located in Riverfront Park.
The Comedy Show at the Spokane Masonic Center
Four comedians will perform in the ballroom. Show times are 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 p.m.
You can also check out plenty of live music, theatre from Stage West Community Theatre and the Spokane Community College Players, Spokane Theatre Ballet, improv comedy from Blue Door Theatre, and much more! Check out the full schedule on the website.
The holiday season is upon us, and there are plenty of fun things to do around Spokane with the kids that will create great memories, help keep everyone from succumbing to cabin fever, and maybe even start new holiday traditions in your family. Here are just a few great family outings that will entertain everyone without blowing your budget.
The MAC Museum of Art and Culture is putting on living history performances in its largest exhibit, the Campbell House, during the two weeks around Christmas when most kids are out of school. The Campbell House is a turn-of-the-20th-century English Tudor Revival mansion designed by renowned Spokane architect Kirtland Cutter. You can see the house decorated for the holidays and learn about the times in which it was built and the daily life of the Campbell family from December 21 through January 1 on the days the MAC is open (the MAC is right next door to the Campbell House) from 12–4 p.m.
New for this year: Check out the just-opened Interpretive Center to create your own Campbell House experience and connect the past and present with interactive computers and hands-on exploration, and you can also take a horse-drawn carriage ride. Admission is free for MAC members or $7 adults/$5 students and seniors, which includes both museum entry and a tour of the Campbell House. For more information, call the admissions desk at 509-363-5355. The MAC is located in Spokane’s gorgeous historic Browne’s Addition neighborhood at 2316 W. First Ave.
A friend with three children in elementary school shared this story:
My kids had been out of school on break for three days and they were driving me crazy—fighting, not listening, whining, throwing tantrums. Suddenly I realized that for the past two months it had been go-go-go, with football practice, dance lessons, after-school activities, and homework every day, and now they suddenly had nothing to use up their energy. So I loaded them into the Suburban and took them to Mt. Spokane to go tubing. Those kids played HARD and wore themselves out and had a great time. They couldn’t stay awake on the ride home, and after that, I recognized my children again and things were back to normal.
Enough said? The hill has been moved and newly constructed this year at Lodge 2, just north and downhill of the parking lot and Ski Patrol building. With several lanes, a new tow-rope to haul tubers back up the mountain, a limit of 50 participants per session, and plenty of snow, the Children’s Choice Tubing Hill is great for families and safer than uncontrolled sledding in parks. The hill is open weekends and holidays (except Christmas and Christmas Eve), for the remainder of the season, with sessions beginning at 10 a.m. and the last session starting at 2:30 p.m. One-and-a-half hour sessions are $10 for everyone 42” and over. Kids under 42” are free but must ride with a paid adult. Check conditions before you come up. Mt. Spokane is 28 miles from downtown Spokane; click here for directions.
Horse and Carriage Rides through Downtown Spokane
Through Christmas Eve, the Downtown Spokane Business Improvement District and Spokane Teachers Credit Union presents free old-fashioned horse and carriage rides through the streets of downtown. Just show up on Wall Street at Main Avenue on Fridays 3–8 p.m., weekends 12–5 p.m., or Christmas Eve 12–3 p.m. This is a great outing for family from out of town! Rides are given on a first-come, first-serve basis. After your ride, you will receive free candy canes and coupons for hot chocolate and coffee at participating downtown businesses. Click here to see a video preview of the ride.
The Ice Palace, one of the nation’s best outdoor ice skating rinks, is open all winter long under the Pavilion in the heart of Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. Lessons and drop-in hockey are available. Click here for hours. Admission is $4.50 for adults and $3.50 for youth/seniors/military, and skate rental is $3.50. Thursday nights are Inlander appreciation nights—get your ticket from the Inlander, a free weekly publication, to skate for $1. The Spokane Falls SkyRide, IMAX Theatre, and Looff Carousel are also open all winter if you want to spend more fun family time in the park.
By far the biggest New Year’s Eve party around, First Night Spokane is a huge, alcohol-free festival of the arts in downtown Spokane for the entire family. This year’s theme is “Dawn of Time” Year of the Dinosaur. At venues within a walkable area of downtown, you can enjoy live music, theatre, dance performances, film, dance parties, art, comedy, and a fireworks show. There are plenty of activities for kids, including face painting, bookmark making, magic shows, free ice skating and carousel rides, and rolling video games. Click here for the schedule of the night’s event’s, which get started at 7 p.m.
If your family is making a resolution to exercise more, start early with the 5k Resolution Run! Runners line up at 6:30 p.m., and the run begins at 6:45 p.m. An optional bag drop makes it easy to get your coat and purse afterward. Fill out and bring the waiver form before you go. Click here for a map of the course. Admission buttons are just $12 in advance or $15 on New Year’s Eve. Kids 10 and under are free with a paid adult. Purchase tickets here or at various participating Spokane businesses.
On New Year’s Day, celebrate First Day Spokane and get free admission to the MAC Museum of Art and Culture with your First Night button plus discounted passes to play in Riverfront Park.
This Saturday, November 12, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., local shops in seven different Spokane business districts will offer games, prizes, and great discounts in honor of Girl’s Day Out, a shopping event aimed at introducing women to their neighborhood business centers. Businesses in the Garland, Hillyard, International District, Monroe, Perry, N. Division/Ruby, and SoDo areas are rolling out the “pink carpet” to entice ladies to come in. Each district has a headquarters, where the first 100 shoppers will receive a “swag bag” of goodies, and you can pick up your Girl’s Day Out map. Check out the facebook page for an inside look at what some of the business owners are doing to make this year’s event the best ever.
Many shops will be offering treats and beverages, and every business will have something special to offer. You can start your holiday shopping or shop for yourself—you can find antiques, jewelry, clothing, makeup, skin care, art, new and used furniture, books, and much more. Some of the city’s best coffee houses and restaurants will also be offering great specials for the day. Door prizes and drawings for gift certificates will be part of the fun. You can see all the participating businesses and scope out all the deals before you go in this week’s Exchange, available at free newsstands all over the city.
District headquarters, where you will want to stop first to get your map and swag bag:
Monroe: Cruz ‘n Back in Time, 3107 N. Monroe
South Perry: Skin Care by Yisel, 1016 S. Perry
Hillyard: Corner Cottage, 5210 N. Market
Garland: Glamarita, 901 W. Garland
SoDo: Ronan’s Door, 301 W. 2nd Ave.
North Division/Ruby St.: Retired Treasures, 2824 N. Ruby
East Sprague/International: Northwest Seed and Pet, 2422 E. Sprague
Posted on the Girl’s Day Out facebook wall by Cruz ‘n Back in Time Collectibles
Although it is an event for women, men are welcome to come enjoy the fun as well. Shopping local is good for the economy, good for the community, and good for the environment, just in case you needed an excuse to spend a day shopping!
The NOAA National Weather Service says La Niña is back, with above-average precipitation predicted for the Pacific Northwest this late fall/winter. La Niña often brings colder winters to our area. In other words, snow is on the way, and over 6,000 skiers and snowboarders are expected to attend the Pacific Northwest’s largest equipment swap, the Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol Ski Swap, to sell their old gear and/or find some great deals on new and used gear for the coming season at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center. Items for sale include skis, bindings, boots, poles, snowboards, gloves, clothing, and accessories. This year’s SWAP, a season kick-off tradition, will be larger and better: “We have expanded into Bay 1 this year, giving us more room for more equipment and more people!” said Dan Edwards, Director of the 2011 MSSP SWAP. “The new space has allowed us to reconfigure the floorplan, which will improve traffic flow through the various departments and create a more efficient check-out system.”
There are several advantages to shopping the SWAP instead of the stores. First, you will get the best selection (over 22,000 items) and deals. Second, you can sell your old equipment for the very reasonable rate of 50 cents per item for registration plus 20% of the selling price to a huge, eager pool of buyers. Third, over 130 experienced members of the Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol will be on hand to help you find the best equipment for your skill level and price range, in addition to the participating retail shop representatives, so beginners need not fear they will be doomed to wander alone and confused amongst endless rows of seemingly similar items. Fourth, all proceeds go to offset costs for operation of the non-profit Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol, including facilities overhead, first aid and medical supplies, training costs, and administrative functions. (These are the nice people who check on you when you wipe out and lay sprawled on the hill, skis and poles scattered, which always seems to happen right under the chair lift–oh wait, maybe that’s just me.) Fifth, it’s fun to shop and mingle with other ski/snowboard enthusiasts!
There is a $5 admission fee for the show (12 years and under free). Hours are Saturday, October 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, October 30, 9 a.m. to noon. If you have gear to sell, drop it off Friday, October 28, from 3–8 p.m., and pick up your check/unsold gear on Sunday from 2–4 p.m. Plenty of free parking is available onsite. Cash, checks, and debit/credit cards are all accepted. There is just one central check-out area, although the gear comes from over 20 retail shops plus individuals. This year, wait times should be shorter due to improvements to the scanning and point-of-sale technology. Sunday, select items will be 25% off, but if you are looking for kids’ gear and clothing, don’t wait and get in line early on Saturday because it goes fast.
Hockey season has arrived here in Spokane, WA! It’s time to come out and make some noise for our great local team. In the home opener this weekend, the Spokane Chiefs will have another chance to best the Tri-Cities Americans after losing to them at last weekend’s season opener. There are still some tickets available through TicketsWest for Saturday’s game (start time 7:05 p.m.). In conjunction with the season home opener, the newest option for food and drink at the Spokane Arena will open at 6 p.m.—Limerick Pub, named in honor of Spokane’s sister city in Ireland. The pub is open to all ages and will offer popular Irish beers including Guinness, Smithwick’s, Harp, and Jameson plus the usual assortment of pub food.
Speaking of beer, on October 22, the Chiefs will hold the first annual Hocktoberfest and will give away a trip for two to Leavenworth, WA, courtesy of Leinenkugel’s. Click here to sign up for your chance to win through October 12. Five finalists will be selected and notified on October 17. These lucky people will each receive four complimentary tickets to the October 22 game. One more finalist will be selected from entries at the night’s game, and the winner will be determined through a series of promotions, including an on-ice competition during intermission. You have to play in the night’s promotions to win.
For the full Chiefs season schedule, click here. There is no substitute for live, local hockey, but there will be live TV broadcasts of ten Tri-Cities vs. Chiefs games on SWX via Comcast on channel 115 and over-the-air at digital channel 6.2. Click here for the TV schedule.
You can get a little taste of Oktoberfest without going very far this weekend in downtown Spokane and next weekend in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The weather looks like it will be gorgeous, so come hang out in beautiful Riverfront Park and charming downtown Coeur d’Alene while sampling quality micro-brews from near and far. I guarantee there will be some authentic German/Bavarian costumes to see, so if you have some lederhosen, don’t be afraid to show them!
Beer, food, and entertainment: Taste beer from 22 Washington state breweries, including three Spokane breweries and one from Kettle Falls. The “Happy Hans” Band will provide some Bavarian music for a fitting background to the beer tasting. German and American fare will be available for purchase, but last year the selections were very limited, so think pretzels, sausages, and sauerkraut, or else eat at one of the excellent nearby downtown Spokane restaurants first.
Tickets: $20 at the door includes a commemorative tasting cup and 5.5 oz. samples; additional sample tokens are $1.50 or 4/$5.00. Ages 21and over. This event is outside and uncovered. Designated drivers get in free!
When: Friday, September 30, 5–9 p.m. and Saturday, October 1, 1–9 p.m.
Where: Downtown Coeur d’Alene, ID, at numerous tasting sites in the area of the Plaza Shops, with a tented food/entertainment area at the Wilma Lot on 2nd and Sherman
Beer, food, and entertainment: Twelve stations with 20 different beers, some from Washington state breweries and others from Germany and Belgium. Traditional German style food will be for sale. There will be some great live music as well: the Fat Tones (smokin’ blues) will play on Friday night 5:30–8:30; Saturday from 2–5 p.m., Nu Jack Trio featuring Max Daniels (motown, soul, and pop) will play; and the Healthy Scratches will rock out Saturday from 6–9 p.m. Bonus: A beautiful stroll on Lake Coeur d’Alene is just a short walk away.
Tickets: $15 includes a glass Oktoberfest mug and six sampling tickets (more sampling tickets available at the event). Pre-sale vouchers are on sale at Angel Gallery, Christmas at the Lake, Frosted, Summer’s Glass, and Tiffany Blue (all located on the 200–500 blocks of Sherman Ave. in downtown Coeur d’Alene). Supplies are limited, so don’t wait!
This year’s annual Valleyfest kicks off Friday night, September 23, at 7:30 p.m. with the Hearts of Gold parade. Creative floats from local businesses and schools as well as outlying communities, dancers, classic cars, hot rods, animals, and more will travel from the New Life Church (10920 E. Sprague) east to Chase Bank (12005 E Sprague). Come early to claim a good spot for viewing!
Valleyfest 2011 is based at Mirabeau Point Park in Spokane Valley off I-90 exit 289. There is plenty to do for all ages, including hot air balloon viewing, a run for diabetes, a family trail ride, music and other live entertainment, and a car show. Click here for a map of the park. Here are a few of the main attractions.
The Spokane Astronomical Society will let you look through telescopes at solar flares and sunspots (don’t worry, they have special safe filters) on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., plus they will host a night sky gazing session Saturday night from 7 to 10 p.m. You can also check out the planetarium in the Great Room at CenterPlace from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Taste of the Valley, 6–8 p.m. Saturday night at CenterPlace, is an evening of wine tasting with hors d’oeuvres from Red Rock Catering and live music and entertainment. Afterward, you can stroll outside to watch the hot air balloon “Night Glow” show. Click here to buy tickets ($40 each).
Although registration is now closed for the Valleyfest 5K/10K Run for Diabetes, which starts Saturday morning at 9 a.m., everyone is welcome to take part in the Family Trail Ride on Sunday, with four routes to choose from. Click here for a video and click here to register. Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children.
Saturday and Sunday, a variety of performers will provide free entertainment, including local bands, hula dancing, skits, comedy, and more. Click here for a full schedule of all the fun!
Grab your kids or borrow someone else’s for Fishing at the Falls. Kids 14 and under can learn how to fish in the stocked pond at the park starting Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
Balloons Over Valleyfest is an excellent reason to get out of bed early this weekend. Right after sunrise Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, 80-foot hot air balloons will launch and fly over the Spokane Valley. You can also see the balloons lit up at night on the back grass of CenterPlace just after sunset Saturday night.
Travel Spokane is a website built to inform Spokane visitors about the latest news, events, and opportunities in Spokane. This information is provided free courtesy of Stratford Suites. Check out their website atstratfordsuites.com
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