Going For A Walk: Coeur D’Alene, Idaho

Coeur d’Alene is a resort town in the panhandle of Idaho (between Montana and Washington State) nestled in the mountains and surrounded by dozens of lakes. Although Scott primarily grew up in North Dakota, he did go to middle school in Coeur d’Alene and has fond memories of town. Scott’s immediate family now lives in the area, so I’ve been coming back to visit over the past 20+ years. While the area has grown considerably over the years, it still manages to (mostly) retain its charm, despite the increase in population. Scott’s dad lives in downtown Coeur d’Alene so we’ve being going for walks whenever we can.

One of the first things you see when you head into the center of town is Paul Bunyan. I remember reading about him when I was a little girl. I remember how strong he was, how he could wield his heavy axe and all the flapjacks that he ate. Nowadays, he has come down a bit in the world and is selling hamburgers.

Here is what the main street that runs through downtown looks like. They do a nice job keeping it pretty with all of the hanging flower baskets. See that Clark’s sign? The first girl that Scott ever kissed was the daughter of the owner of the Clark’s jewelry store. 

Scott’s eyes lit up when he saw this mural with sailboats on it. Coeur d’Alene Lake is popular with boaters, jet skiers, kayakers and of course, the latest fad of stand up paddle boarding. Personally, I don’t get it, but a lot of people seem to be trying it out on the lake.

If you want to go sailing, you can rent Hobie catamarans near the North Idaho College.

When we go for walks, we like to poke down back alleys. They can be pretty interesting places. Coeur d’Alene is full of old brick buildings like these.

You can also find all sorts of old junk when you wander down alleys. Which I guess isn’t really a surprise. If you market it just right, this is the type of thing that people with too much money in their wallets will pay too much money for.

Scott is into taking pictures of old signs lately. Like this one.

There are a lot of new trendy restaurants and bars since the last time we were in Coeur d’Alene. I think this place used to be an old muffler shop or something. If trendy isn’t your thing (and the prices that go with it), there are still a few dive bars around where you can play pool and smoke indoors. I think Idaho may be one of only a few States where establishments can choose to allow smoking inside. 

Moose seem to be a pretty big thing in Coeur d’Alene, so I’ll leave you with a couple of shots just so that you are familiar with what they look like in case you decide to come for a visit. Not only can you find moose on top of buildings, they have also turned them into giant bookends at the local library.

Walks during August 2014