Blackwell Island
We’re camping on an island right in downtown Coeur D’Alene (locals refer to it shorthand as CDA) on the lake, which is 26 miles long and has 135 miles of shoreline. Soon after we landed, we hopped on the e-bikes and began exploring. The Campground features a beach on the Spokane River/CDA Lake with a nice dock lined with many adirondack chairs, inviting folks to stop and soak in the sights. We found the beach via biking along their ‘Enchanted Forest’ Trail (my kind of place!).
Also on the island is a busy top-notch Marina, featuring indoor dry storage 5 floors high! Too bad it was closing time as we just got to peek inwards before the large bay doors were rolled down, otherwise we would’ve ventured inside to marvel up close.
Cedar’s Floating Restaurant is also found here – perfect for a Friday night date night. Last minute reservations afforded an 8:45 PM slot, which was fine by us. We find that we’re eating later and later into the evening due to traveling west and have now entered Pacific time zone. It was a nice change of pace, getting all fancied up and indulging in a romantic and delicious steak dinner. The restaurant actually does float as evidenced by the swaying chandeliers, but you don’t really feel the movement; it had a wonderful ambience with large windows to view the lake and was a circular shape; I half-expected the building to rotate like a carousel, lol.
Lake Coeur D’Alene
On Saturday, I had hoped to visit the Seven Stars Alpaca Ranch, but disappointingly the ranch was closed since it was shearing day. Check out http://sevenstaralpacaranch.com. On a return trip, we won’t miss it. So, we took advantage of having the morning off and slept in.
Again, due to last-minute reservation planning, we only had one full day to explore the area. I had hoped to stay 4 nights here to have 2 full days and 2 half-days, but we managed to make the most of our time. What to do with only one day? Scenic Cruise on the Lake! http://www.cdacruises.com They offer 90 minute day cruises, 2 hour sunset dinner cruises, and 2 hour Sunday buffet cruises. We struck gold with openings for a late afternoon day cruise on Saturday, a bit surprising in the midst of all the people here for the Ironman event happening tomorrow. The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed chatting with several other cruisers who happened to be participants in the Ironman event. Hours earlier, a few of them were in the water just yards away from the dock practicing their swimming.
On a side note, Jim and I have found it interesting to bring up the Zillow app wherever we are to peruse the local real estate market. Not surprisingly, the lakeside homes here run in the millions, but oh, what a view and lifestyle that would be. I’d opt for one right down on the waters edge, which would provide for your very own personal marina to house your boat and jet skis.
Downtown CDA and Tubbs Hill
Did I mention the sun doesn’t set here till close to 9 PM? Well, after our lake cruise, we still had a few hours of daylight left. It wasn’t intentional, but it turned out to be a pleasant situation to have parked about a mile away from our intended Independence Point parking lot for the cruise (everything was blocked off in preparation for Sunday’s Ironman). So, meandering back to the car, we had time to see McEuen Park, take an abbreviated hike on the Tubbs Hill Trail (where young’uns were happily bathing in the sun and jumping off rock cliffs into the lake) and leisurely stroll down the pretty flower-lined Sherman Avenue with unique shops and alfresco dining.
Alas, on Sunday our check-out from the campground was necessary. We were warned that it may take 60 minutes to leave the island due to the Ironman event going on with roads partially closed. But it turned out we only waited 10 minutes to get out onto the road due to awesome coordination by the intersection crossing guards. During that time, we had the pleasure of watching the bicyclists zoom on by, getting cheered on by roadside spectators. This event by the way was just a 70.3 half-distance race ( entailing a 1.2 mile swim, followed by a 56 mile bike ride and then a 13.1 mile run). Next year in 2023 is a full 140.6 one. Either way, I think I’ll just be a enthusiastic spectator, LOL