The next stop on this eastward bus #workabout was Coeur d’Alene, an exotic-sounding place, and one that I’m still incapable of spelling correctly when typing it. It’s an easy 45 minute bus ride from Spokane, but a totally different world.
Welcome to resort town! Well, not my motel — the atmosphere & guests were reminders of Spokane’s grim-land, but the price was right, and it seemed like a place that someone who bussed into town should stay.
Bonus: It had a free continental breakfast (“for day rate guests only”, ie. so the latino laborers who were staying there couldn’t use it) whose main feature was the “Pop-Tart Flavor of the Day” (cherry, both days I was there 👍)
I had two, competing, pre-conceived thoughts about CDA (the initialism locals use for it, thankfully) coming into it:
- It’s a magical-sounding place that’s lived in my head forever and I’d always hoped I’d get to some day
- Its reputation as a bastion of racism, and a vacation spot for the white trash separatist fucks that lurk in the mountains nearby
I didn’t really notice anything untoward while there (though was slightly taken aback when I was buying hummus in the supermarket and the checkout guy said “they fight wars in the Middle East over that stuff!”) but I definitely felt like an outsider, and that I was being watched, while walking through some of the not-so-nice neighborhoods on my way from the bus stop to the motel.
That walk was the low point of my time there, though, and CDA turned out to be quite lovely. It’s very clearly a tourism town, with many of the streets & houses given over to vacation homes.
Everything is built around & focused on the beautiful lake. The mansions are lined up on the waterfront, each having their own gated yards & beaches.
But there are also lots of public beaches, and the water is cool, clear, and perfect.
The downtown is built around the nice commercial street that has all the shops, restaurants, and bars that you’d want
and the big resort in town
There’s also very large park that seems to be the epicenter for all city summer activities
My favorite part of the city was Tubbs Hill –it’s that forested hill you see in the left background of both pics above– which had some great hiking trails & water views.
The trails winded their way within & around the Tubbs Hills peninsula, and had lots of small coves with little beaches that were perfect for swimming, cooling off, & getting out of the f’in sun.
Coeur d’Alene (← took me three tries to type that) reminded me a lot of Lake Tahoe in California/Nevada, and Lake George in New York, and much like those two places, is worth a visit if you happen to be in the region, especially if you’re a family with kids (everything shuts down by 9-10pm)
It was a fine way to spend a few days, especially in this stupid, blazing heat we’re in the middle of (though the dew point in CDA is usually quite low, so the shade & evenings are extra heavenly).
Next up: Missoula
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