Big Bear is hopping this time of year! Not only are all the skiers and snowboarders ready to hit the slopes after being cooped up for most of the year, but it is vacation time for many people during the holidays. Families and friends are coming in from all over for a weekend together up the mountains. Maybe it’s not hitting the slopes, but rather, hitting the shops that’s your cup of tea. And with Christmas right around the corner, you get a chance to find some unique gifts from the local vendors for the people in your life. How can anyone say no to buying local? 
 Let’s start at home…
Places for Home and Hearth
Home is where the heart is, and the quickest way to a persons’ heart is through their stomach. Is it right to combine the two? The foodie in your life would love a gift or two from the Copper Q. You can start with some of the tools of the trade, and work your way through the interesting cookbooks and specialty ingredients they offer. Or contact them to find out when of their cooking classes are. You get to make a gourmet meal AND take the recipe home with you. The house is going to need some love for 2014 as well. Out with old, in with the new, right? Room To Room is filled with great decorating ideas for every room in the house, as well as any style you can think of.
Places for the Fashion Maven
We all have a friend or family member that is on the very far edges of the fashion scene. They are the ones who are wearing the next generation of top designer’s clothing now. You can find some great new clothes around Big Bear Village if you know where to look. Del Lago’s Boutique has impressive fashion choices at reasonable prices. They have outfits for adults and children, and all of the accessories to go with them. Head over to Hunter Hall’s Haberdashery for a magnificent medley for any women’s wardrobe. You can also find pleasant perfumes, compelling creams, and other beauty items there for little stocking stuffers or everyday gifts. The Brown Bear Gift Shop will help you bring some of the views and memories of Big Bear home with you. They have a wide selection of unique gifts and souvenirs from Big Bear, anything from toys for the kids to clothes for everyone else. It may not be as fashion forward as you like, but great memories are always stylish.
Places for the Sports Enthusiast
Some people are not satisfied until they are dripping with sweat, covered with dirt or snow, or brought in that last big trout. For some people, their room with us is just a very nice place to store the equipment and sleep. The old “Birdie Hotel” now is home to one of the best places in the village prepare for next seasons fishing needs, Big Bear Lake Sporting Goods. Even if you don’t know what the angler in your life is looking for, they will. And they will know where to go around the lake to find it. They cannot, however, make the lake thaw any faster. That would upset the skiers and snowboarders who are enjoying the icy burst of winter and layers of snow. These sports are so popular that there are three great places to shop for them. Leroy’s Board Shops combines sports and fashion for any season. They have you covered on the slopes with jackets and boots as well as off it with some of the biggest brands in extreme sports. Our friends at GetBoards.com have a wide choice of sports equipment, from skis to mountain boards. They also have all of the accessories that go with it, no matter what season. Blauer’s is another local place to find great equipment and accessories for the athlete in your life, including electronic accessories in their wide selection of sports gear.
Santa Claus comes to Big Bear every year not only for the glorious views and great skiing, but for the local shopping. Come visit Big Bear Lake and stay with us (located only a couple blocks from the Village)! We’d love to see what you are buying and doing for the Christmas holidays. It is getting close to the day, and we could use some more ideas for gifts…
Big Bear Frontier Vacation Blog 