Love watching car or motorbike racing? Get in on the live action at Spokane County Raceway. Jet cars, local drags, funny cars, and bikes roar all summer and fall, including a NASCAR weekend in September.
This weekend, you can watch or participate in the Super Chevy Show, with races (Chevy-bodied or Chevy-powered only), a car show, and a swap meet to find and trade parts, racing paraphernalia, cars, or whatever. This is a great show to take Dad to or for a date with a Chevy fan. The show runs July 29–31 (but the evening of July 29 is scheduled for $4 Friday night stock car racing). See the schedule for details. Spectator tickets are $25 per day or $40 for a weekend pass. Kids 12 and under are free with a paid adult.
August 20 is the Napa Night of Fire, where you can see jet car racing at night. Click here for a video. September 2 and 3, NASCAR comes to Spokane for the K&N Pro Series West, and the WMDRA Fall Nationals will be held on September 24–25. In between, there are Wednesday and Friday night drags plus a full schedule of other racing events. Visit the website for schedules for drag, road course, and oval track racing. Generally, tickets are available at the gate, but for special events, like NASCAR, tickets may be purchased in advance.
Spokane County Raceway is located in Airway Heights (750 N. Hayford Road), just minutes from the Spokane Airport. If you are travelling to see the races, Stratford Suites, the Spokane area’s best lodging value, is located very close by and features silent air conditioning and 50” hi-def. televisions for a comfortable stay.
It finally feels like summer here in the Inland Northwest. Kids are out of school and looking for some summer fun activities, and grown-ups love summer outdoor fun, too, so it’s time for splashing, playing, and sliding through the water in the sun. Here is a list of some of the best water park and pool options in the Spokane, WA area, whether you just want to spend an hour or two at a city facility or would like to make a full day’s trip to one of the bigger parks. Most are open daily, but check the websites for specific hours. Note: Wild Waters in Coeur d’Alene, ID is closed for the season.
A brand new slide just opened today at Boulder Beach! Ricochet Rapids is a family raft ride that includes side-to-side sliding through a 20-foot diameter tube and sharp turns and drops aboard a raft with five other people. The park also offers two large wave pools, a 650-foot raft slide, tube sliding, high speed water slide towers, a slow-moving tube creek ride, and two play areas just for smaller children. Ticket price includes admission to the many attractions at Silverwood: $41.99 general admission and $21.99 youth 3–7 and seniors over 65. Keep in mind that Silverwood does not allow outside food and drink in the park. Restaurants and concessions are on site. Silverwood and Boulder Beach are located in the same large complex just north of Coeur d’Alene on Highway 95 in North Idaho.
Money-saving tips: Buy your admission tickets before you go at Costco. As of this writing, they were $34.99 for general admission. If you want to make a weekend of your trip, stay in the area (Stay in Coeur d’Alene or, if you want to stay in Spokane, Stratford Suites, near the Spokane airport with easy freeway access, offers beautiful one- or two-bedroom suites with full kitchens for families) and go to the Silverwood side of the park one day and the Boulder Beach park one day. Silverwood offers a 20% discount for two-day passes, but they must be used on consecutive days.
A long-time local favorite, Splash Down (11127 E. Mission) has been a fun place for families for 26 years. New this year is “Splashketball” basketball competition in which the loser gets soaked, new barbeques (you can bring your own picnic food and drink!), and Frisbee golf. You can also soak your friends in “Water Wars” with water balloon launchers. Several different water slides provide plenty of thrills, including the “Fast Ball,” which clocks your speed as you freefall down six stories. Splash Down also features an area just for small children with kiddie pools and small slides. Bonus: Thursday evenings, there is live music! Local reports indicate that the lines at Splash Down move quickly, so you won’t be standing around in a wet bathing suit waiting for each slide.
Admission is $13.99 for juniors 48” and under, $16.99 for those over 48”, and free for seniors 65+ and little ones 3 and under. Chaperones who just want to watch can turn in their dry admission wristbands at the end of the day for a $7 refund. Concessions are on site.
This water park has just one big slide, but it has plenty of interactive play structures (like playgrounds for pool areas and VERY fun), plus water cannons, spray tubes, a lazy “river” with geysers and rapids, and a heated swimming pool to keep kids of all ages happy all day. In addition to having a blast playing in the water, the surrounding 8-acre Prairie View Park gives you more things to do, with a playground, a BBQ and picnic area, and a basketball court.
Admission is only $2 for kids 3–5, $4 for 6 and over, and free for 2 and under. The water park center is located at 3724 E. 61st on Spokane’s South Hill. Note: If you are looking for a water park on the north side of Spokane, check out the Northside Aquatics Center (18120 N. Hatch Road in Colbert). This water park has a smaller slide and less activities than the Southside center, but it does have fun amenities that put it head and shoulders above a standard pool.
Liberty Aquatic Center
Extra Cool Spokane City Pools Made for Play [insert picture with caption “”]
In addition to large water parks, Spokane has several great aquatic centers throughout the city that feature fast water slides, play features, and separate pools for lap swimming and recreation swimming that are great for families and kids who need a place to hang out with friends for the afternoon. Here are the locations with great play facilities:
A.M. Cannon at 1900 W. Mission
Shadle at 2005 W. Wellesley
Hillyard at 2600 E. Columbia
Comstock at 600 W. 29th
Liberty at 1300 E. 5th
Admission is $2 for youth (4–17) and seniors (65+) and $4 for adults.
Looking for an affordable, quick getaway this summer that is close to Spokane? Check out the line-up at the 29th annual Festival at Sandpoint, which runs the evenings of August 4–14: Rickie Lee Jones, Brandi Carlile, Chris Isaak, Josh Ritter, Michael Franti, Rodney Crowell, and David Nail, plus a family concert by the Spokane Youth Orchestra and a Spokane Symphony grand finale with fireworks. Click here for a full schedule.
The non-profit Festival at Sandpoint brings big acts to the area for casual outdoor concerts at War Memorial Field (855 Ontario St., Sandpoint, ID) right on the shore of beautiful Lake Pend Oreille, the state’s largest and deepest lake. You can lounge in lawn chairs (bring your own or rent theirs), sit on a blanket, or sit in the grandstands. There are two areas where you can sit in lawn chairs. If you want to sit closer to the front, bring chairs with back legs that are four inches or less and backs that are shoulder height. Larger lawn chairs are allowed behind the blanket/short lawn chair section. There is also room to dance. Unlike most other outdoor music festivals, you are welcome to bring your own cooler and have a picnic, saving you a bundle, or you can try the food and drink for sale on “Festival Street.” Ticket prices are substantially less than typical concerts ($29.95–$49.95) at city venues, and the family concert (August 7), which features an instrument and animal petting zoo, face painting, and other activities for kids, is only $6. You can buy tickets online.
Sandpoint (population 6,800) is a 90-minute drive from Spokane, WA. There are plenty of things to do if you would like to make a mini vacation out of your trip, including golfing, Silverwood Theme Park/Boulder Beach Water Park, Lake Pend Oreille Cruises, and, of course, hiking and swimming (the lake warms up to temperatures in the 70s as summer progresses). Check out the Sandpoint Visitor Guide for more information.
The new venue is like nothing else in the Spokane area and will increase the number of national acts looking for mid-size venues stopping here. It can accommodate over 5,000 people. “We saw a great opportunity for a unique outdoor venue like this and hope it brings local and regional visitors alike together for fantastic events and concerts. In many cases, people will be able to see performers in Spokane they otherwise would have had to travel to Seattle or Portland to see,” said Phil Haugen, General Manager of Northern Quest.
Tickets start at $55; all seating is reserved. All concert tickets can be purchased by calling the Northern Quest box office at 1-877-777-5252 or by contacting TicketsWest at 1-800-325-7328 or www.ticketswest.com. Concert and hotel packages will also be available for each show by calling 1-877-871-6772 or online at www.northernquest.com. All concerts require guests 14 years or younger to be accompanied by an adult.
Save some money and stay in a luxurious suite at Stratford Suites Extended Stay Hotel (close to the airport and Northern Quest) when you see a show at Northern Quest this summer! Rates for concert nights start at just $124 for one- or two-bedroom suites with full kitchens, 50” HD-TV with DVD player, high-speed Internet, and a free shuttle. To reserve your room, call 509-321-1600 or 1-888-705-8877, or go to www.stratfordsuites.com.
Parking and driving around downtown can be a little challenging when Spokane is hosting 200,000 basketball players and fans, so you may want to consider taking the bus. On both days of Hoopfest, STA (Spokane’ bus system) is offering day passes for just $1.50, and there are two free park-and-ride lots. Check the website for more information on Hoopfest schedules—please note that the Plaza downtown will not be open to buses (to make room for Hoopfest!), so bus stops will be in alternate nearby locations.
In addition to loads of free live music and other entertainment at Hoopfest in downtown Spokane, including Hoopfest Saturday Night (DJ nightclub party) at the Lincoln Center (1316 N. Lincoln Street), here are some suggestions for making the most of your visit.
Catch a Live Show
Spokane has a thriving live music scene, with venues large and small, offering country, blues, rock, pop, and more. To pick out some good local live music, check out the Inlander’s live music calendar. There are also a couple of national acts in town on Hoopfest weekend. The infamous rock band KISS is performing at the Spokane Arena Friday night. Click here for tickets. The Judds play at Northern Quest Resort and Casino on Saturday night (see below).
Shopping with Local Flair
Riverpark Sqare in downtown Spokane is a great mall (and has a great movie theater with cushy couch-style seats), but think outside of the mall if you want a more uniquely Spokane shopping experience. If you are staying downtown or are downtown for the day during Hoopfest, walk east on Main Street to find a variety of locally owned businesses.
You’ll go by Auntie’s Bookstore, a large, wonderful, independent gem with a local gourmet café, Santé, in the same building. Closer to Division Street is Finders Keepers, a designer dress boutique, and Kizuri, a fair trade clothing and gift store, and more. Along the way, you’ll be tempted by local purveyors of food and drink.
Be sure to check out the wonderful, interactive da Vinci exhibit at the MAC Museum of Arts and Culture, which just opened this month. A big bonus is seeing the huge old houses of historic Browne’s Addition neighborhood, just west of downtown Spokane, where the MAC is located. For more information, check out our blog post on it.
Garland District
The Garland District is a quick drive or bus ride from downtown Spokane, and it is a great place to hang out and escape the crowds downtown during Hoopfest for awhile. Right away you’ll see the historic Garland Theatre at Maple and Garland, Spokane’s only independent “encore” theater, which runs second-run movies for just $3.50 all the time, so you can catch a flick in a beautiful old theatre for very little money. Stroll up and down Garland for great little locally owned shops and cafes, including the 1950s-style Ferguson’s Café and the Milk Bottle, a former ice cream parlor turned café that features a two-story milk bottle for a store-front. Other quirky local gems include the Blue Door Theatre, a family friendly improv. comedy group that performs every Friday and Saturday night, and Drop Your Drawers, a unique clothing consignment shop with everything from old sweaters to outrageous costume platform shoes. For nightlife, you can enjoy an old-fashioned drink at Bon Bon, the hippest bar on Garland, located inside the Garland Theatre building with an old-fashioned soda fountain/candy store feel and fixtures made from old movie reels.
This large resort near the airport has a lot more than just 46,000 square feet of gaming space. It also boasts the Inland Northwest’s only cigar room, several restaurants with casual to fine dining (if you’re vegetarian, try Fatburger’s veggie burger), a night club with entertainment seven nights a week, a sports bar with a 30’ x 10’ HD screen, and a full-service spa. The Judds are playing at Northern Quest’s new outdoor concert venue on June 25 at 7:30 p.m. Click here for ticket information.
Japanese Gardens at Manito Park. Copyright City of Spokane Parks and Recreation.
Find out Why We Say Spokane Is “Near Nature, Near Perfect”
Leonardo da Vinci was unquestionably a genius. Nearly everyone knows his name and the images of his most famous paintings, including the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. Less people are familiar with his other works of genius, including his many inventions, which were so far ahead of his time that few could be produced with existing materials and manufacturing methods. His inventions are still up-to-date 500 years after his death and are currently used in the aviation, war, maritime, and automobile industries. He was proficient in all areas of art, science, engineering, and music. The major traveling exhibit that opens at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) in the gorgeous Browne’s Addition neighborhood in Spokane on June 3 aims to show how da Vinci mastered diverse subjects and fused them together through observation, insight, and inspiration. This unique exhibit includes sixty of da Vinci’s invention models with the same craftsmanship and beauty of the materials that the artist used in the 15th century.
Visitors can view twenty-three made-to-scale replicas of da Vinci’s artistic masterpieces, watch videos about his life, hear music composed by the artist, and check out interactive inventions and machines from the four codices: flight, civil machines, hydraulics and engineering, and military machines. This is a rare opportunity to consider all of his artistic masterpieces together along with many of his other creations.
The exhibition has been hosted by major museums including the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois; The Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington; Exhibition Hall of the Eaton Centre, Montreal, Quebec, and the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History in Texas. It will run June 3 through September 5 at the MAC in Spokane, WA. The museum expects visitors from all over the region; if you are travelling here for the exhibit, Stratford Suites Spokane area extended stay hotel is close by and offers beautiful suites at affordable prices.
Tickets are available now through TicketsWest for Leonardo da Vinci: Man–Inventor–Genius, reserved by date and time. MAC members can buy tickets at a discount at the museum admissions counter (not restricted by date and time). If you are not a MAC member, this might be a good time to support the arts in Spokane and become one! Non-member exhibit prices are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, and $8 for students.
On select Sundays, you can further explore the world of da Vinci at Renaissance Mix events at the MAC. These afternoon events include a cash bar with Italian wines, renaissance music performances, and lectures about the Age of Discovery. Suggested donation for Renaissance Mix afternoons is $8. I’ll see you there!
While you are in the Browne’s Addition neighborhood, it is worth your time to take a walking tour and see some of the incredible historic houses that Spokane’s oldest neighborhood is known for. The MAC has just released a Browne’s Addition walking tour e-book that works on Apple and Android smartphones, portable media players, and tablet computers. The route takes about an hour to walk. The tour e-book includes photos, architectural descriptions, and brief stories of fifty-four properties. This great new guide is free! Just download it and you will be on your way.
There is no event like Spokane Hoopfest. At this hugely popular annual 3-on-3 street basketball tournament, players of all experience levels and all ages (minimum age requirement for kids is to be entering the third grade in fall of 2011) can compete for the chance to win prizes while experiencing the exhilaration of playing with new people and being a part of a famously fun weekend that includes 14,000 basketball games and over 20,000 players from all over the country. Anyone who wants to play basketball is welcome, from beginners to those who qualify for the 3BA Elite Division, which often features former CBA and European professionals. Prizes are given to winners in each bracket. Games are played on courts set up across forty downtown city blocks.
If you want to play but missed the official deadline, it’s not too late! Registration will remain open as space allows, so go to the Spokane Hoopfest website to sign up before all the spots are taken. If you are not playing, odds are good that you know someone who is. In addition to cheering on your friends and family, you can see concerts and other entertainment, shop, browse booths from local organizations and businesses, watch the Marine Air Slam Dunk Contest, play games for prizes at the kid-friendly Safeco Zone, and enjoy delicious food and drink at the Washington Dental Service Foodfest in the west meadow of Riverfront Park.
Hoopfest is able to run so smoothly because hundreds of volunteer court monitors and other volunteers make it happen. If you are interested in volunteering, submit an application to earn the right to say “I helped run Spokane Hoopfest 2011.”
Spokane Hoopfest is an enormous festival and one of the city’s largest events, so parking downtown will not be easy. A better option is to take the Spokane Transit Hoop Loop. Every ten minutes during the festival, a bus will arrive at each park-and-ride lot to transport people to and from downtown Spokane. At only $1.50 per day to use the system and free parking at the park-and-ride lots, it’s a bargain. Go to the STA website for more information about times and locations.
Coming to Hoopfest from out of town? Watch this blog in the next few weeks for tips on making the most of your stay and saving some time and money!
If you only see one parade this year, make it the Spokane Lilac Festival’s Armed Forces Torchlight Parade on Saturday, May 21, the largest armed forces torchlight parade in the nation. You will see glittering, creative floats, the Lilac Queen and Princesses, cheerleaders, dance teams, and bands performing through the streets, as well as active and reserve military units. This year’s theme is “Ignite the Spirit of America.” Groups come from all over the Northwest and even Canada to participate. The parade begins at 7:45 p.m. and runs until 11:00 p.m.
Starting at 10:00 a.m., you can see some beautiful classic cars plus free music and entertainment all day at the Cruzin’ the Falls Car Show on Spokane Falls Boulevard. If you are one of the lucky owners of a classic or otherwise remarkable car that you want to show off, arrive at 9:00 a.m. for check-in, and you will also gain entry to the drive through of the parade route at 6:00 p.m. There will also be vendors in the park all day with a variety of merchandise as well as plenty of food. Kids of all ages who want to see the floats close up can view them on Fourth Ave. at Jefferson (under the freeway) all day while participants set up.
This is a very popular event, so if you want good seats, it is best to arrive as early as possible and stake your claim. Alternatively, you can purchase tickets for bleacher seats for $15. The bleachers will give you a fine view from the east side of Washington between Spokane Falls Boulevard and Main. Bleacher seat tickets can be purchased through the website.
Travel Spokane is a website built to inform Spokane visitors about the latest news, events, and opportunities in Spokane. This information is provided free courtesy of Stratford Suites. If you are looking for Spokane hotels be sure to check out our website at www.stratfordsuites.com
Love watching car or motorbike racing? Get in on the live action at Spokane County Raceway. Jet cars, local drags, funny cars, and bikes roar all summer and fall, including a NASCAR weekend in September.![[del.icio.us]](http://www.travel-spokane.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
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