Spokane


 * Travel Tips for Spokane, WA:**
 * Spokane Wikitravel Website:** []
 * Kelowna, BC Wikitravel Website**: []
 * Kelowna, BC Wikitravel Website**: []

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 * Mike Summers - October 2012:**

My wife, son, and I decided to give Spokane a try for a weekend trip. We were pleasantly surprised. Spokane is the third largest city in the Pacific Northwest after Seattle and Portland. Here's a website for Spokane Attractions (Website: [] ). We rented a car through Thrifty at the airport. Spokane International Airport is about 5 miles west of downtown Spokane along Interstate 90 (Airport Website: [] and [] ). The Frontier Gate (C32) is at the opposite end of the Terminal from the Rental Car Counters. You can also use public transportation by taking the #60 Route for $1.50 to downtown where you can make connections (Route 60 Map and Schedule: [] ) and an overview of the Spokane Transit Authority (STA Website: [] ). I asked the Thrifty agent for a good place to eat breakfast in Spokane. He directed us to Frank's Diner (Website: []), which is conveniently located off I-90 at Exit 280. We had a 15 minute wait, but it was worth it. Another excellent diner for breakfast, lunch, or dinner is Chaps Restaurant (Website: [] ), where everything is beyond good. We then stopped by Gonzaga Unversity's Bookstore to get my son a t-shirt (Gonzaga Website: [] and University Website: []). It seems that everyplace is "Wine Country". This area has its version. Here's a map/brochure of twenty wineries in the area: [] which contains days of the week and times that they are open. We checked out the Latah Creek Winery (Website: []) and really enjoyed the Pinot Gris. You could spend a whole day or two visiting these establishments. From Spokane and Latah Creek Winery we headed east on Interstate 90 to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which is about 35 miles from Spokane. Coeur d'Alene is a lake-side resort community (Websites for things to do: [] and []) with a lot of water, hiking, and biking opportunities. You can park for free for the first two hours in the city lot down by the water. If you're going to eat in Coeur d'Alene, you must stop at Hudson's Hamburgers at 207 E. Sherman Ave in downtown. They only serve hamburgers and the pie of the day. There are only 16 seats, but it's one of those local places you have to visit (Web information: [] ). From Coeur d'Alene we headed south to Moscow, Idaho and the University of Idaho. It's a one and one-half hour drive on US 95 south. Moscow, Idaho has a population of only 24,000, but it is home to the University of Idaho Vandals (Moscow Tourism Website: [] ). As you head south on US 95 (Jackson Street), you'll cross 6th Avenue where the Coeur d'Alene Brewing Company is located (yes, in Moscow); the Huckleberry Beer is pretty unique. The university is east off of 8th Avenue (Website: [] ). There's not a lot of sleeping choices, but the Idaho Inn in Moscow (Website: [] ) was solid at the south end of downtown on US 95. In the morning, we then drove ten miles west to Pullman, Washington, which is the home of Washington State University. For breakfast, head to the Old European (Website: [] ). Pullman has a population of about 30,000 people (Websites: [] and [] ). We enjoyed visiting the Paradise Creek Brew Pub located in Pullman's old Post Office Building (Website: [] ). We liked the Dunkelweizen, the Oktopuss, and the Hoe Belgian Wit. From Pullman head north on US 195 back to Spokane. It's one and one-half hours drive time. In Spokane we stayed at the Wingate Spokane Airport Hotel (Website: [] ). This made it easy to catch the 6:30 AM flight back to Denver. In Spokane, we had dinner at the No Li Brewery near Gonzaga University (Website: [] ). We were very happy with this choice. My wife liked the Blueberry Pale Ale. After dinner we headed to the Gibliano Brohers Dueling Piano Bar (Website: [] ) for some fun and laughs. We also found Bluz at the Bend and Uncle D's Comedy Underground where they live comedy at 8:00 PM upstairs and live music starting at 9:00 PM downstairs (Websites: [] and [] ). For a nightcap, we visited the Post Street Ale House located in the Hotel Lusso (Website: [] ). Here's a website for up-to-date entertainment information for Spokane (Website: [] ). We were very happy with our visit to this part of our country and plan to return and probably visit more wineries. There are also some Casinos in the area such as the Northern Quest Casino (Website: [] ) that we didn't visit. Try the Spokane area and enjoy! Mike Summers

Five and one-half hours north of Spokane by car (and Seattle) is the city of Kelowna, British Columbia (don't forget your passport). The town is located on the shore of Okanagan Lake and is surrounded by vineyards that have put this city on the map. The city (Websites: [] and []) has a population of around 110,000. If you want to fly, United has one flight daily from LAX. Alaska Air has three dailies from Seattle. It's well worth the trip for the wine. Many Okanagan wineries don't produce enough to distribute to the U.S. Plus, winter's freezing temperatures means the regions famous ice wines are in full production. If you visit in the summer, head over to downtown Kelowna's Stuart Park (Web info: [] ) where there are many sailboats seen out on the lake (Website: [] ). If you like wine, there are a number of winery tours (Website: [] ) that you can try. In the winter, the locals love snow biking (Website: [] ). Check out Monashee Adventure Tours where you can experience the thrill of speeding downhill on one of their hybrid bikes. Or you can use the bikes to do a wine tour! A former fruit packing district, Kelowna's six block cultural center includes emerging Ellis Street, with plenty of new condos and boutiques. The Hotel Eldorado (Website: [] ) is thequintessential lakeside retreat. The landmark building has it's own marina and liquor store. Prices start at $109.00 per night. Raudz (Website: [] ) is the place to eat. Try to get a table facing the open kitchen and watch the chefs in action. Another favorite place is Tonics Pub and Grill (Website: [] ). Try the peppercorn NY Steak and jumbo shrimp. Here's a website for other restaurants in Kelowna: []. A fun experience is taking a tour at Urban Distilleries (Website: [] ). Our tour included a visit with owner Mike Urban. Then we went to the tasting room for a flight of spirits. We especially liked his single-malt whiskey. Other excellent adult establishments that you can visit include East Kelowna Cider Company (Website: [] ), Tree Brewing Company (Website: [] ), and Okanagan Spirits (Website: [] ). All are worth a visit! Winter in Kelowna brings ice wine, the intense, sweet dessert wine for which Canada is famous. Three great wineries would include Mission Hill, which feels more like a monastery than a winery (Websites: [] and [] ); Summerhill Pyramid Winery is about ten minutes south of the city and has an excellent Riesling (Website: [] ); and Inniskillin (Website: [] ), which is a 90 minute drive from town, but the wines and vistas are worth the car time. Take a drive or a flight to this aprt of Canada. You'll love it!