Lindork's Lists #52 - Sweet Treats & Lattes, Silver Skate Festival, Vietnamese sandwiches and more!
What To Do, Eat, and Things To Know This Week
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Things To Do This Week
Please note: Alberta has pandemic restrictions in place to address COVID-19. I do encourage you to try and support local businesses during this time, if you’re able, but do so in a safe way. Wear masks, sanitize regularly, avoid crowds, keep at a distance, shop alone, choose take-out and of course, stay home if you are sick and choose digital options if they're available.
#AdoptAShopYEG: Love Downtown Edition
I’ve launched a third #AdoptAShopYEG, this time focused on Downtown Edmonton businesses, in partnership with ATB Financial and the Edmonton Downtown Recovery Task Force. Nominate businesses til Feb. 17. Then from Feb 18-28, check the sign-up sheet on my blog to sign up / “adopt” businesses (commit to spending at least $50 across two businesses).
Final weekend of Silver Skate Festival
It’s the final weekend of the 2021 Silver Skate Festival, Edmonton’s longest-running winter festival. Until Feb 21, check out all sorts of art and snow installations at Hawrelak Park (it’s free, and there’s also free and ample parking!) Beyond Hawrelak, plan cross country ski, skate, toboggan, and other winter recreation and sport anywhere you are in Edmonton. They’re giving out prizes to people who share how they’re embracing winter (tag #SilverSkate + @SilverSkateFest).
Old Strathcona Sweet Treats & Latte Festival
Old Strathcona / Whyte Ave’s first-ever Sweet Treats & Latte Festival is on now until March 14. Enjoy treats and lattes at 13 coffee shops, bakeries and restaurants in the area. If you share on social media with #SweetTreatsYEG you could win gift cards! You can also win prizes if you visit all 13 spots.
Free Snowshoe / Moonshoe in Strathcona County
Strathcona County (Sherwood Park) is offering FREE recreation opportunities including Free Guided or Self-Guided Snowshoe / Moonshoe Sessions including Rentals. Limited spots coming up this February are already booked but look ahead to March and register for a free spot before it's too late!
Support a 124 Street Store and Get a Discount at Another Store!
The 124 Street Business Association is running a 124 Street Shopping Promotion this week til Feb. 28 encouraging you to spend at several 124 Street shops or restaurants for a chance to get discounts / incentives. 28 businesses are participating in the promotion. You just have to show your receipt from a participating business on the same day as your visit to another business. Think of it like a food/shop crawl (which is honestly how I visit 124 Street anyway—multiple stops!) But you could also ask if they’d take digital receipts if you’re shopping online!
Got an Edmonton area event, virtual event, or something coming up you think my readers would be interested in knowing about? Let me know!
Food To Try This Week
Some Alberta restaurants have reopened their dining rooms. Others are still take-out/pick-up only. Review current Alberta COVID-19 restrictions here.
Pick up food and local beer from Rural Routes (4901 50 St. Leduc)
Thanks to Karmel for recommending Rural Routes as a spot for food and craft beer just south of Edmonton in Leduc. From Karmel: “They are a restaurant and brewery with a huge emphasis on supporting local and making everything from scratch. My favourite dish is definitely the fried cauliflower sandwich. They also have a wicked beef brisket sandwich and one of the owners (a husband and wife team) is from Quebec so their poutine is also top notch. Their beers are available in a few stores in Edmonton but we have driven out there just for the beer too, they have a really unique and delicious selection they make on site. Overall it's just a hidden gem that is worth the drive! I would hate to see Leduc lose such a wonderful local restaurant that is so community focused.”
Grab breakfast from OEB and share about it for a chance to win! (2 locations)
OEB Breakfast Co. is running a take-out promotion encouraging you to post your breakfast/brunch on social media for a chance to win $100 to go towards more breakfast/brunch! You can pick up from their 124 Street or 100A Street location downtown. Check their website for more details (I shared a sponsored post about the promotion on my Instagram this week).
Fight youth hunger through Edmonton Mealshare (various restaurants)
Have you heard of Mealshare? It's a social enterprise where if you order a Mealshare meal from a participating restaurant, a meal gets donated to a youth in need. There's 20 participating restaurants in Edmonton (see the list). This February they’ve also launched a deal with A&W to help fight youth hunger. Learn more about the A&W Deal and place your order!
Order a Silver Skate Winter Box Combo (various restaurants)
As part of the Silver Skate Festival, six Edmonton area restaurants are offering ‘Winter Box’ food combos—breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. You an order a gift certificate from Silver Skate online to cover the cost of the combo. If you’re at Hawrelak Park for the festival you can also order on site at Culina! Check out participating restaurants and food combo details.
Devour a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich (Nhon Hoa or Van Loc)
I felt seriously joyful digging into my Vietnamese banh mi sandwich from Nhon Hoa Sandwich Bar on Whyte Ave. this week. In Edmonton, Nhon Hoa and Van Loc are your best spots for Vietnamese sandwiches. Get the Cold Cut Combo (with jalapeños!) Oh so good.
Ate something amazing recently? Want to show some love to a struggling restaurant? Have a take-out suggestion? Let me know to include in this newsletter.
Instagrammable Walls Of The Week
Have you been to the Instagrammable Wall under the 99th Ave / 110th Street bridge? It’s by En Masse, a collaborative arts community based in Montreal and it’s real nice, especially if you like a more grunge vibe.
This wall is included in my Guide to Instagrammable Walls of Edmonton.
Giveaway Coming Up!
I’ve got two newsletter subscriber-only giveaways coming up next week on Feb. 24, which will also mark one year since I’ve been sending weekly Lindork’s Lists newsletters! *What a Milestone!* Thank you for coming along for the ride.
In next week’s newsletter, you’ll be able to enter:
To win an Escape City Remote Adventure virtual escape room experience
To win a $25 gift card and beret gift from The Beauty Parlour
You can also mention LINDORK10 when booking with The Beauty Parlour over the phone for 10% off your cut, colour, style, etc.
Thanks to Escape City and The Beauty Parlour for gifting these prizes!
And thank YOU for being a subscriber to this newsletter. 🙏🏻
New On The Blog
As mentioned above, I’m partnering with ATB Financial and the Edmonton Downtown Recovery Task Force to put on the third iteration of my #AdoptAShopYEG initiative, this time focused on supporting downtown Edmonton!
Show some love to downtown Edmonton businesses by nominating one that could use support by Feb 17, then from Feb 18-28—sign up to “adopt” then shop!
Commit to spending at least $50 across two businesses ($25 per business) to show your love for downtown. Share how you’re participating on social media to be entered to win bonus $25 gift cards to spend even more! Get all the details, find the nomination form and the sign up form (starting Feb 18) over on my blog.
From The Blog Vault
Five years ago around this time, Mike and I spent the long weekend / Valentines weekend exploring Vancouver, B.C. where I later blogged Things to Do and Places We Ate. It feels so weird even now that a trip to an adjacent province isn’t possible during the pandemic. Yearning for travel again and these blast from the past blog posts aren’t helping! lol.
Interesting On The Internet
We’re out of the Polar Vortex now but I thought this thread on what to do if you’ve lost heat or power in your home was really interesting and useful (shared by a Texan @CherryGryffon, following a deep freeze down there).
Social Media Did You Know
How much do you know about Instagram? You might be interested in learning these 21 Instagram Facts for 2021 from Social Media Today.
Thank you!
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