Spokane, WA
 

What is there to see & do? Is it warmer than Seattle? Thinking about going in August. What is Spokane known for? Thanks.

Well, Seattle can be quite warm in August, but yes, Spokane is warmer. Can be quite dry and hot in August. I'm not sure Spokane is "known" for anything, except possibly as the home of Gonzaga, thanks to all the March Madness publicity of late.<BR><BR>Anyway, Riverfront Park is quite nice. Has an IMAX theatre, pretty water falls, old carousel ride, nice place to walk around. <BR><BR>I know there is a military museum out at Fairchild Airforce Base.<BR><BR>If you are interested in the outdoors, you can go cycling on the Centennial Trail, it's about 40 miles long, located maybe 20 miles out of town. Paved, but it will also be hot in the summer.<BR><BR>Also, you could head east to Coeur d'Alene and the lake there.

Spokane is a wonderful small-town city--all the amenities you could want, inexpensive prices, friendly people, and lots of outdoor activities. There are a number of excellent restaurants (try Lindeman's for lunch), great parks, and easy access to boating, fishing, hiking, etc. When I lived there 12 years ago, teens would cruise one of the downtown streets on Friday and Saturday nights; and you'd see multi-generational families at all the outdoor functions--it was like the '50's. Golf is still cheap (beautiful courses), and the nearby lakes are popular and relatively uncrowded (compared to many places). The Spokane Symphony Orchestra plays a free Labor Day concert in the park, and I believe there are outdoor concerts every week in the summer in nearby Sandpoint, Idaho.

Spokane is "known" for having 4 strong seasons, having more than 70 lakes within 60 miles, for having around 260 days of sunshine, a compact historical downtown, a former Worlds Fair site that is now a huge downtown urban park, for little in the way of traffic jams, and for being close to wilderness in about 20-30 minutes in any direction. As posted above, accomadations are extremely reasonable here, and there are alot of relly good reasonable resturants also. Enjoy!

Can I just ask, why would you be thinking of going to Spokane of all places? Having lived there I don't ever find a reason to go back. Why not head over to beautiful Seattle instead?

Why go to Seattle, and get stuck in traffic all the time? Seattle consistently ranks in the top 5 cities in the country for traffic woes. Don't have that problem in Spokane. :-) Besides you get more bang for your buck in Spokane. True not the same number of attractions, but its much more reasonable.Sorry to didn't enjoy Spokane, your one of the few that haven't.

Tom - you've got to be kidding me. I lived in Spokane for 20 years and there are very few attractions there, except to leave town and go to Coeur d'Alene. That being said, travelgal could probably fill up one day doing the following: Go downtown and view the wonderful architecture. Eat a fantastic meal at the new Hotel Lusso (in my opinion, the only consistently good restaurant in town). Drive around the south hill and look at the wonderful old estates. You're Done. Seattle has a thousand more options in terms of arts, music, culture, people, and general vitality of the city. Spokane's downtown is slightly better now than it was ten years ago, but it is FAR from being anyone's tourist destination. (By the way, why are so many people afraid of driving? In Seattle you just get to where you are going, park the car, and then walk or take the bus. It's not that difficult).

Singlisa:<BR>No I am not kidding. First of all you can't compare Spokane to Seattle. Two entirely different cities. Seattle has 3.5 million people metro, to Spokanes' 500,000. What you can compare Spokane too and I believe favorable to is cities like Tacoma and Boise which are our size. Each city is what you make of it. Spokane offers 4 distinct and different seasons, one can mountain bike, ski, hike, fish swim, etc. etc. You can too in Seattle, but you will be stuck in traffic all day! Take your pick. I chose Spokane. Almost never a traffic jam over here. Can Seattle say that? I don't think so. Respect your opinion, but agree to disagree. :-)