Good Cheer for Father’s Day

Need ideas for Father’s Day? We’ve got Good Cheer suggestions to guide your planning (or spontaneity). Celebrate your dad, travel the province and try drinks from coast to coast – that has to be the best Father’s Day gift ever!

The 2016 Good Cheer Trail has 49 amazing destinations to take your dad on an experience he won’t soon forget. Get him a Good Cheer Trail Passport, a seat in the car (you being his DD for the day may be gift enough!) and experience Nova Scotia’s best wineries, breweries, distilleries and ciders.

DADS LOVE BEER

It’s been proven by science, well maybe not science, but if our research serves us well, dads generally like the fun bubbly stuff.

THE GIFT: Take the Beer Bus

Take your dad on a tasting tour of Halifax’s craft beers: Garrison Brewing, Good Robot, Propeller, Nine Locks or Spindrift offer up some great brew. There’s actually a Beer Bus to make your planning even easier!

Other stops to consider on your Halifax beer tour (to try craft brew from across the province) include: Battery Park Beer Bar, Rock Bottom Brewery and Stillwell Beer Bar.

THE GIFT: Cook with Beer

We all know that drinking beer is fun, but Kitchen Door Catering can show you how to cook with your favourite beverage as well! For a unique Father’s Day gift, on Saturday June 18 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., sign your dad up for a night of cooking with beer – cold brews and delicious eats with chef Brad Wammes.

Menu: Spicy Beer Mustard, Big Spruce Oatmeal Stout & Oulton’s Bacon Dip with Spiced Pita Chips, Boxing Rock Steamed Nova Scotia Mussels, BBQ Chicken with Propeller Honey Chicken Glaze and Chocolate Stout Tiramisu with Mascarpone Cream

Not available the 18th? Don’t worry, there are plenty of other cool cooking classes available for your dad.

BUY LOCAL

THE GIFT: Shop Local, Buy Local, Drink Local

Your dad lives here, so make sure his gift is from here. Nova Scotia has the best locally made products any dad could ever ask for. This year, get him something from his own back yard.

Meander River Farm & Brewery, a family-run farm, offers farm fresh edibles, honey and let’s not forget the beer! They’re expanding their hop yard, brewing beer, growing lavender, perennials and fresh cut flowers, managing a woodlot, and producing high quality pastured livestock. What’s not to love about this place? Dad just may want to stay.

A NEW EXPERIENCE

THE GIFT: Not the Same Old Same Old

Your dad has enough ties, socks, deodorant, polos and camping and fishing equipment.

Make Father’s Day an experience and try something you’ve never done together before. Take him on a wine tour – Grape Escapes, Uncork Nova Scotia and the Wolfville Magic Winery Bus offer fantastic tours across the province. Stop for tastings and to enjoy the scenery at wineries like L’Acadie Vineyards, Avondale Sky Winery, Benjamin Bridge, Luckett Vineyards or any of the 14 amazing wineries on the Good Cheer Trail.

Distill the Fun

THE GIFT: On the Rocks

If he’s not a beer guy, might we suggest Nova Scotia whisky? Stop into Glenora Inn & Distillery, in the heart of Cape Breton or Caldera Distilling in River John. They both serve up a glass of smooth whisky, made to warm your dad’s heart and put a grin on his face. Well done, now he’s in his happy place!

For rum, vodka, moonshine or gin lovers, try products from Steinhart Distillery, Ironworks Distillery, Authentic Seacoast Distilling or Still Fired Distillery. A visit to the distilleries, or sharing a bottle together at home makes for the perfect Father’s Day present.

CHEERS TO GOOD FOOD

THE IDEA: Eat on the Trail

He’s having a beer, he’s trying his first cider, he’s sipping a whisky or maybe he’s uncorking a bottle of wine. Your dad is having a great Father’s Day – but now he’s hungry!

Take him to Stubborn Goat‘s new beer garden on the Halifax waterfront, Port Pub, Rudder’s Brewpub or Townhouse Brewpub for tasty local eats. While there, make sure to get him another one of the local drinks on tap.

DON’T FORGET TO COLLECT YOUR STAMPS

To celebrate your best Father’s Day yet – be sure to collect your stamps from Good Cheer Trail destinations (great prizes!) and raise a glass in honour of your amazing dad.

NOTE: While you are exploring the Good Cheer Trail, please drink responsibly, be your dad’s designated driver or consider using one of the Good Cheer Trail guided tours that will get you safely from destination to destination. Grape Escapes, Uncork Nova Scotia and The Wolfville Magic Winery Bus are all great ways to enjoy the tour and leave the driving to someone else.