Spokane

Thursday dawned crystal clear, if a trifle chilly.  One thing that northwesterners know for sure; if it's not raining get up and get out of the house.  We drove in to downtown Spokane.  It's a pleasant downtown core.  In 1974 the World's Fair was held on a small island next to the city.  See the clock tower mid photo?   That's all that remains of the Great Northern depot and railyard.  This article has photos of what things looked like before the fair, and the controversy surrounding it.
Wonderfully, Spokane has preserved the open space, put in bike and walking trails, and made it a very appealing place to be.

 

The old world's fair site.  The mesh thingy in the back was covered in vinyl and covered the US pavilion.

 

We pressed on to the Gonzaga campus.  The university was founded in 1887 by Father Francis Caltaldo. This is St. Aloysius, a Catholic church on campus.

 

 

 

The interior is beautiful

 

There is much more stained glass.

 

This is the first building on campus.

 

After leaving the campus, we headed back to the retail section for lunch.  Then on to the downtown.  This is the Davenport Hotel.  She's old, she's restored.  It is such a cool old building.

 

Continuing on up the street, we were amused by the sign for ella's Supper Club on the third floor.

 

The Spokane Civic building.  I love a building with arches.

 

Next door, with all of those columns is the Masonic Temple.  It's for sale, all of this could be yours.

 

Downtown Spokane was fun.  It's a clean space and not creepy.  They have done a good job of not tearing down all of their cool old buildings.
The outskirts of  Spokane are not as groovy.  The park we are in is about 10 miles north of downtown.  We've been on three of the major north/south arterials, and they consist of sprawl; big box stores, fast foot, gas stations, gridlocked traffic and the like.  Clearly growth management has not been a priority.  It is an unlovely area.