usa: idaho: coeur d'alene

When I was younger (as in my age was still in the single digits,) my grandparents had a cabin on Lake Coeur D'Alene in Idaho. I have memories of one family trip to the cabin and the lake, I'm not sure if we visited more often. When I was thinking about where I might go during this road trip, I realized Coeur D'Alene was within reasonable driving distance, so I chose to visit again.

I arrived in late afternoon, after driving from Helena, Montana. I checked into my accomodation, then went to dinner at a chain restaurant not too far off the highway. 

As usual, I should've started to explore the town straightaway, but I didn't.

Coeur D'Alene is considered the capital of North Idaho, at least it seemed that way to me. According to Wikipedia, CDA is part of the Spokane Statistical area, but I didn't see that as I explored the city. I saw plenty of mentions of North Idaho, or CDA. The current population of Coeur D'Alene is around 50,000, and is spread out over the north shore of the lake with the same name.

The next morning I was up early so I could go to breakfast at a diner down the block. I'm a sucker for diners. 

After eating I discovered this diner had been on an episode of Diners, Dives, and Driveins, (which I've never watched,) which explained why it was a slightly upper class diner. The menu was pretty big, but I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. It was good but not great.

From there I walked. I walked all day. I checked what to see on travel apps, but CDA isn't know as a city with heaps of sights. From what I could tell, locals love to spend time on and around the water. I saw parasailing and kayaking, laying out and beach games. The marina was pretty big, I imagine it is pretty easy for locals to have access to a boat.

Back in the mid 19^th century a guy called Sherman (he was an army officer,) built a fort which he called Ft Coeur D'Alene. It was later renamed to Ft Sherman. There isn't much left of the fort, just a few buildings. One of them is a cute little chapel (which wasn't open,) and the former officers quarters.

The land of Ft Sherman is now part of the local university property. When I say university, I mean University of Idaho Coeur D'Alene, but I think several other nearby schools also offer classes on the property. 

North Idaho College and Lewis Clark State College are some of these schools, I think. Their web sites all say they are located on the north shores of Lake Coeur D'Alene, which doesn't really give me specific locations.

For a little while I walked on a trail next to a river that fed into the lake, it was quite pretty. The only problem was that the trail had no shade, and I started to suffer from the heat and direct sun. I'm such a wuss when it comes to weather now, at least hot weather.

At some point I turned around and walked back to the 'city center' which would probably be called the business district. Cute little downtown streets with cafes and shops. One of the coffee shops was called the vault and had a good chai latte and scone. There is never anything wrong with having baked goods for dinner.

After my dinner/snack I walked back to my hotel and called it a night. It was early, but oh well. In terms of seeing the city, I felt like I'd done that. If I ever go back I want to find hiking in the area, and find a way to get out on the water.

The reason I'd come back to CDA was to see the city so many years after I first saw it. In the end, it was like coming to a completely new city; I realized I had no memories of the city from before, I only remembered the cabin and the lake. Funny how memories fade over time.