Spokane is Spectacular!

Chow down with a breakfast hearty enough for Paul Bunyan at Frank’s Diner, Washington’s oldest (1906) dining car restaurant. Watching the action in the kitchen is as much fun as eating. (509) 747-8798.

Whether you stay at the Kempis Hotel or dine at its Winged Lion Restaurant, you’ll bask in architectural ambiance. Gourmet cuisine, the finest of wines, and quality service make dining here a memorable experience. www.thekemis.com

Whether you have kids or not, absolutely don’t miss Riverfront Park, the 100-acre downtown park, with an IMAX theater, several amusement rides, an antique carousel (in season), and whimsical sculpture, including a giant red wagon. (www.spokanecity.org.parks/riverfront). Bring a picnic!

At Children’s Museum of Spokane, kids are encouraged to enjoy hands-on experiences as they maneuver water, pretend they live in a Greek village, and drive a steam shovel.

Quick Tips:

While shopping for souvenirs, be certain to look for products made in the region—from local wines to huckleberry jam or soup mixes. (Buy some for yourself as well.)

Enjoy shopping in Spokane’s vibrant downtown, but you’ll get much more out of it (and feel glad that some cities are not destroying their past) as you enjoy its striking (turn of the 19th century architecture).

Best Way To Get Around:

The hotel delivers the charm of Spokane’s past because it is housed in two buildings that were constructed in 1890, after a fire destroyed 32 blocks of downtown Spokane in 1889.

Lusso, appropriately enough, is the Italian word for luxury. Walk into the expansive lobby and you’ll enjoy the ambiance of its 14-foot ceiling, an exquisite Mediterranean-style fountain, and a rich hand-painted mural.

Stay in this luxurious European-style hotel, and you’ll be able to bask in the same elegance in your room. The rooms are richly appointed to pamper, yet offer travelers the efficiency they demand, including computer access and courtesy airport and downtown limousine transportation.

Since the hotel only has 48 rooms, you’ll enjoy an ambiance of warm friendliness. In addition to a complimentary breakfast, they also offer complimentary afternoon beverages and the pampering of turn-down service.

At their award-wining Fugazzi Dining Room, you’ll be able to savor the finest Northern Italian cuisine, as well as innovative specialties of the chef, and a vast selections of wines and other beverages.

We haven’t been to Italy yet, but if it’s anything at all like the Lusso and the Fugazzi Dining Room, we know that we’ll love it. Lusso, a member of the Leading Small Hotels of the World, makes us want to look for more properties like this. It's a welcome treat to stay at a boutique hotel where the valet rememembers your name.

In 1915, the Steam Plant was constructed to produce steam heat and electrical power for downtown Spokane. After being a home to workers and equipment producing steam heat almost non-stop for over 70 years, the Steam Plant now houses the unique Steam Plant Grill. Here you can enjoy a variety of casual meals, that feature everything from Steamer Clams, Tender Manila clams simmered with white wine, garlic, parsley, shallots, and butter to innovative wraps, soups and salads, sandwiches and burgers, and entrees that make it difficult to decide on just one.

Desserts include their Polar Bear Stout Float, Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream in Coeur d’Alene Brewing Company’s fine Polar Bear Stout, a Steam Plant Sundae, two scoops of Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream topped with your choice of chocolate or caramel syrup, whipped cream, cherry, and nuts, as well as other temptations. The beverage selection is just as extensive.

It’s a fun place that has individual character. It’s nice to know that it’s just some pretend setting, but a real steam plant that now can relax and enjoy itself.

Warning, portions are hearty. The Hobo Scramble, for example, includes three eggs, with sausage, Cheddar cheese, tomato, peppers, and onion. Oh yes, it comes with hash brown potatoes and toast. Of course, then there’s the King of the Road Omelet with six eggs, green peppers, onions, ham, Cheddar and Swiss cheeses. It is served with hash brown potatoes and toast as well. As the menu says, it’s "enough for 2, but too good to share!"

If you want to show the kids what an old-time railroad car and/or diner looks like, you’ll be able to order things like the Lil’ Conductor, a one-egg cheese omelet, with a side of French toast and small hash brown potatoes. The Tiny Tramp has four dollar-size hot cakes, and two links of sausage or two strips of bacon and one egg.

Lunch entrees are just as hearty and delicious and Diner Car Specials "made from scratch at Frank’s," include old-fashioned Chicken Pot Pie, Beef Stroganoff and a Meat Loaf dinner that "reminds you of home."

If you just can’t eat that much, there are a variety of salads, including a special Oriental Chicken Salad with Oriental-style chicken, sesame seeds, almonds and their own special dressing. It is tossed with romaine lettuce.

Service is accommodating. After all, Frank "sez" "We’re just plain glad to make substitutions, and we won’t charge you extra unless we have to."

Don’t eat so much that you have to pass by dessert. With Greenbluffs Apple Pie, Turtle Brownie, and their signature Chocolate Cake, that would be a shame.

Do you get the message that when you come to Frank’s, you had better come hungry?

It’s a fun dining experience—especially if you have a crowd so you can marvel at what the others ordered—and how much they eat.

It’s busy here because locals keep this place going, but it’s worth any wait just to see the action in the kitchen. You’ll wonder how the waitresses do it all!

With its hand-painted murals of Italian garden scenes, ornate woodwork and leaded-glass window, the décor of the Kempis hotel and Winged Lion Restaurant take you back through time to the early 1900’s. Stand in the three-story sunlit atrium, listen to the bubbling fountain, and you’ll know that whatever you eat here will be exquisite.

As with any fine restaurant, menus change based on what is in season, but, for a typical First Plate, how does Warm Northwest Seafood Ceasar sound. It’s "a medley of the freshest seafood nested on hearts of romaine with a light lemon-garlic sauce." Or perhaps you would like to savor the Potato Galette & Smoked Salmon, "crispy thin potato cakes layered with smoked salmon, crème fraiche, fresh dill and salmon caviar. And these are just to offerings to get you started.

Second Plates could be such classics as Tournedos de Boeuf au Poivre, peppercorn crusted, pan-seared beef tenderloin medallions with wild mushroom ragout, roasted garlic, gorgonzola and potato puree. Just listening to the description is enough to make us want to dine there tonight! And we live in Virginia.

First Plates ranged from $7.95 to $12.95, Canadian. Second Plates ranged from $14.95 to $26.95, Canadian—prices that are incredible when you consider how outstanding the food is.

Desserts are just as spectacular. We were fortunate to be treated to Spring Berry Napoleon, crisp sugared phyllo layered with Crème Chibouste, Raspberries, Blueberries, and Blackberries, Drizzled with Creme Anglaise and Fruit Coulis. (We didn’t leave any.)

Dining at the Winged Lion Restaurant at the Kempis Hotel Suites is a truly outstanding experience that makes us wonder how we could feel any more pampered. But then looking at the rooms, we realized that their sumptuous accommodations mirror their cuisine.

The park is popular all week long, but, on weekends, it seems as if all Spokane is here. Who could blame them. The park is a great way to take a break from it all, relax and enjoy nature.

Don't miss having your photo taken along side of the gigantic red wagon, a major landmark. We especially liked the carousel and, even though we're not kids any more, had a great time riding it. It's wonderful that this beauty has not only been preserved, but is in active use so the kids of today will have the memories that the rest of us have of our carousel rides in childhood. www.spokanecity.org.parks/riverfront

Once again, Spokane is using its architectural treasures to house today's business. In the historic Liberty Building, you can enjoy 19th century architecture, as well as have a fun day of shopping.

While there are numerous boutiques here--from McGowen's Cafe, Ungle's Games, Puzzles, etc., and the Paper Garden,our favorite is Auntie's Book Store. For an independent book store, it has an incredible selection of books and magazines or a wide range of esoteric subjects that match any chain.

In addition, upstairs, they have "pre-read" books in great condition. It's especially fun to browse in this architectural gem--and find just the book or periodical that you want. www.booksandgame.com