Exploring Spokane

Wednesday, May 14, 2013--Spokane, Washington

It was nice to have a day in a city after two days of traveling.  But exploring a city can also be tiring!!

We drove to the downtown area and parked.  First, we explored Riverfront Park, the area where the Spokane World's Fair was held in 1974.  It  consists of a couple of islands in the center of the Spokane River and the grounds on either bank.  Like most former World Fair sites, this one is less than overwhelming.  There are remains of a couple of buildings that still house an entertainment complex with an ice rink, an IMAX theater, and some shops.  There is also the Looff Carousel which is an old one with hand-carved animals, but it does not play the calliope music that most carousels have which lessens the excitement.  Most of the grounds are a green park with little development.  What makes visiting there exciting are the views of the falls on the Spokane River.  Especially this time of the year with all the snow melt, there are wonderful rushes of churning water running down the falls areas.

After leaving the park, we explored the nearby downtown area.  We followed the pathway for an historical architecture tour which took us to some quite interesting buildings.  Probably the best was the restored Davenport Hotel with its elegant ballrooms including The Isabella Ballroom and The Hall of Doges.  One that was disappointing on the exterior was the Fox Theater, but images of its interior look very interesting..  But there are many interesting buildings.  Spokane is lucky to have grown quickly in the late 1800s after a fire that destroyed over twenty blocks of the downtown area.  The downtown has lots of old office and warehouse buildings, therefore, from that period.  And downtown is quite alive with popular restaurants, winery tasting rooms, offices, department stores, museums, etc.

After about 3 1/2 hours downtown, we headed to Manito Park where we hiked through the various botanical gardens and drove the loop trail.  The Lilac Gardens were in full bloom, and a long wall was lined by two rows of brightly-colored (white, purple, yellow, etc.) freesias.

Next, we drove to the Browne Addition, a section of town known for nice, old homes that have been well kept.  The houses are no match for the King William District in San Antonio, but there is a wonderful park right in the middle of the district, and there is a nice traffic circle nearby with small cafes around it.

We took a break to eat a late lunch, then we went to explore the campus of Gonzaga University near our hotel.  It's a Jesuit school with about 7800 students.  It is best known nationally for having basketball teams that are regularly ranked among the top teams and enter the playoffs for the championship.  It's a nice, clean campus with many new buildings and a beautiful lake.

It was 6:30 by the time we left there, and we were tired from being out all day.  We returned to the hotel to relax and watch the fifth playoff basketball game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trailblazers.