Tag Archives: explore alberta

2017, Alberta, Canada, North America, Road trips

Lacombe Days festival shines spotlight on rural Alberta

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A small blacksmith shop features a wooden Lacombe Days sign in the foregroundby Karlie Marrazzo

Central Alberta is a glorious place to be in the summertime. The blue sky above seems never ending, as do the blooming yellow canola fields all along the side of the highway. Communities all over the province come together to celebrate the bounty of the land, enjoying the fruits of their labour and looking forward to harvest time. Each year in July, a major celebration takes place in the small city of Lacombe, simply called Lacombe Days. Nobody quite knows when the first Lacombe Days was held, but it has been running for over 20 years and is a highlight of the summer festival calendar in Alberta.

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2016, Alberta, Canada, North America

Giveaway! Experience the Rocky Mountains with the Epic Summer Pass! CLOSED

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glacier-skywalk-jasper

By Karlie Marrazzo

It’s giveaway time! You all know how much I adore my home province of Alberta, the land of soaring mountain peaks, golden prairies and wide open skies, so I’ve teamed up with the lovely folks at Brewster Travel Canada to give away a FAMILY PACK of their brand-new Epic Summer Pass! What is an Epic Summer Pass, you ask?

The pass gives unlimited access to five of the most spectacular attractions in the world-renowned Rocky Mountains: the Banff Gondola, Banff Lake Cruise, Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure, Glacier Skywalk and Maligne Lake Cruise. This limited edition pass, on sale until May 31, is $130 per adult and $70 per child, pays for itself after just three visits to any of the attractions. I’m giving away a family pack (two adults and two children) to one of my lucky readers! Continue reading Giveaway! Experience the Rocky Mountains with the Epic Summer Pass! CLOSED →

2015, Alberta, Canada, North America, Road trips

Cypress Hills: An oasis in the Canadian Prairies

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Cypress-Hills-Elkwater

By Karlie Marrazzo

My thirst for exploration and discovery is unquenchable, no matter my age or how many countries I have visited. Curiosity runs through my veins and every chance I get to leave my hometown gets my blood pumping, whether I’m flying halfway across the world or driving to a town an hour away. Long-term or long-distance travel isn’t always a reality for me, so over the past couple of years I have been making efforts to explore my own backyard and take advantage of long weekends to get out of town. My husband and I love to take road trips together and have made our own tradition of taking one each year for our wedding anniversary. This year, we were drawn to Southern Alberta again. Our first destination: Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, spread over southwestern Alberta and southeastern Saskatchewan, the only interprovincial park in the country, an oasis of forest, lakes and hills rising up 600m from the surrounding prairies.

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2015, Alberta, Canada, North America, Road trips

A weekend in Banff National Park

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alberta-unesco

By Karlie Marrazzo

Earlier this summer one of my longest running wishes came true; I won a trip at a Travel Alberta media event in my hometown of Edmonton. It was a small, intimate event with travel professionals and bloggers from around the province and the first event of its kind that I had ever attended. Great conversation and delicious snacks and drinks were plentiful. As the night wound down, business cards were drawn for several door prizes, each a trip to a different destinations in our spectacular, diverse province. When it came time to draw the prize of a trip to Banff for Performance in the Park, courtesy of Banff Lake Louise Tourism, my husband Dave’s card was drawn. Fortunately for me (or unfortunately for him, depending on how you want to look at it), he was to be away that weekend on his coast-to-coast Canada 5000 Rally. This left me with a free trip to one of the most beautiful places on the planet and my pick of who to have join me.

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