Speaking on Spokane

Egads...where has time gone? Two states later I'm getting around to posting on Spokane.

It was a gorgeous time of year to be there with the leaves changing colors. Fall is my FAVORITE time of year. The cool breeze, the vibrant colors, the smell of burning leaves...ahh!!

The hotel I stayed at was right on the riverfront with a trail that led to Riverfront Park. Spokane is a great weekend destination (a week would be way too much time unless you plan to spend some time in the great outdoors nearby). The majority of my time was spent downtown however, I did venture out for a drive to Idaho (a 30-45 minute drive). Coeur d'Alene is the closest big city after you cross the Idaho line. The lake there attracts alot of tourism from what it sounds like yet, I heard some interesting comments from locals about how toxic the lake has become unbeknownst to the general public. I have a pic of the lake in my slide show below. It is beautiful...amazing how something so toxic can look so beautiful.

Food highlights:

• Frank's Diner-I had lunch here (see pics in slideshow) one day. Very cool place...the oldest railroad car converted to a diner in the state of Washington (there are many of them around). It was a diner in Seattle for about 60 years and then moved to Spokane about 12-13 years ago. The little booths were all full so, I sat at the bar and watched them cook the food. I heard at breakfast time the line is out the door as it is a big local spot. I had the Monte Cristo sandwich (which happens to be my favorite sandwich). Normally, the Monte Cristo is a deep fried sandwich served with raspberry or strawberry jam/jelly. This diner had a slight variation with the sandwich being served on French Toast and a side of syrup. Still was very good. Also had a huckleberry shake which was yummy. Huckleberry is a big thing out west. I saw lots of food items with huckleberry in Montana as well.
• Soulful Soups-This cafe was SUPERB!! It was a tiny little cafe in downtown Spokane with a variety of homemade soups made fresh daily and yummy beer bread. Normally, I have to slather butter all over bread...the beer bread there was so yummy I could have had a loaf without butter! I've tasted other beer bread that wasn't quite as delicious so, apparently there was more than just beer that made the difference in their bread...hmm....vodka? lol Who knows? I had their Taco Soup with sour cream and shredded cheese on top. Sooooo good! They are only open for lunch but, if you are ever in the area you MUST go there!
• Ripples on the River restaurant-I ate dinner here the night I arrived in town due to the late hour. Not so great...there are plenty of better options around.
• The Onion-this is a local restaurant that has been around for years. I think there is one other one...both locations are in Spokane. I had a delicious burger and fries here. The service was great as well.
• Sawtooth Grill-I ate at this restaurant inside the River Park Square Mall (not a very exciting mall). The burger and fries I had there were decent but, not worth writing much about it. The atmosphere was cool with a lodge feel to it and the service was good.
• Dutch Brothers Coffee-this is a chain that is prominent in the western part of the U.S. however, I was not familiar with it so, I decided to try one of their lattes which was pretty good.

Attraction highlights:

• Spokane's Finch Arboretum-I must say that I often find the best spots purely by mistake. I was trying to get my bearings of the area when I first arrived and stumbled upon this place. A couple of my favorite fall pictures in my Spokane slideshow are from this arboretum. It is 65 acres of beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, didn't spend much time there...just enough time to snag few great pics.
• Riverfront Park-a definite must is to take the trail through Spokane and see this park which includes the Clock Tower, Pavilion, Looff Carousel (a historic carousel), Bloomsday Sculptures, a garbage eating metal goat (you push a button to vacuum up the garbage from your hand), a huge Radio Flyer wagon for kids (or adults for that matter since it was so big) to climb on and then slide down the handle, and the gondolas that take you over Spokane Falls (which unfortunately were only open on the weekends so, I wasn't able to go). There is an IMAX theatre but, it didn't really interest me compared to other IMAX theatres. The trail also takes you through several scenic spots including an Inspiration Point, an old bridge, the Willie Wiley Rock (say that ten times fast), a couple of old totem poles, and the Upper and Lower Spokane Falls.

A couple of interesting items:

• I spotted an old firehouse that had been converted into a dentist office. They were taking full advantage of this for their marketing. There was an old fire truck out front with a banner saying "The Old Firehouse Dentist Office" (see slideshow). I wonder if kids beg their parents to go to THAT dentist?
• Another cool item...while I was driving the interstate into Idaho I noticed the interstate signs had George Washington's head as the image for the interstate graphic (where it would normally be an outline of the state you were in...see slideshow). I guess that's the advantage of living in a state with the same name as a historic president.
• I was also impressed that there weren't a zillion casinos around like I failed to mention about Montana. Bozeman, MT had casinos like they were fast food joints. They were everywhere...stand alones, inside gas stations, inside restaurants, and on and on.

All in all...Spokane is one of those cities you should visit at least once but, you don't need to spend more than a weekend. I actually think it would be a great location for a General Conference due to the close proximity of restaurants, attractions, and hotels to the convention center.