Trip to Sandpoint

Hi! For as many times as I have been in Sandpoint, I have never actually stayed there overnight! So, I could use a little help planning a trip for this spring.

My friends and I are planning to spend 3 or 4 days in Sandpoint, in May of this year.

I would welcome suggestions on what there is to keep 3 40-something ladies occupied in Sandpoint and area for a few days? Are there any specific events of interest in May that might influence at what point in the month we visit? What are the popular clubs?

Also, none of the hotels in Sandpoint have fared very well in the review department! What hotel do the locals recommend there? We%26#39;re not all that interested in staying at the ski resort, we%26#39;d prefer something right in town.

Where are the best places to shop? (If I am going to be there for a few days, I may actually have time to check out something besides Coldwater Creek!)

Thanks in advance for your help. The anticipation of this trip may well be the only thing that gets me through tax season this year!

Cheers!

- CG

Trip to Sandpoint

Living in Coeur d’ Alene I can’t be much help on the lodging choices but here are some ideas for things to do (May is a little early for the town to be in full summer tourist mode). A couple of overall web sites for Sandpoint info are www.sandpointonline.com www.sandpointinsider.com There is a nice local museum in Sandpoint worth a stop – Bonner County Historical Museum www.bonnercountyhistory.org Also the restored Panida Theater in downtown Sandpoint may be hosting events during your stay www.panida.org There may be some cruises out on the lake available from Lake Pend Oreille Cruises www.lakependoreillecruises.com In addition to Coldwater Creek another Sandpoint clothing store worth stopping at is Finan McDonalds (named after an associate of my favorite Canadian historical figure David Thompson) www.finanmcdonald.com Litehouse Foods based in Sandpoint also has a downtown gift store on 2nd avenue. Two alcohol related attractions would be the Pend Oreille Winery www.powine.com and Laughing Dog Brewery www.laughingdogbrewing.com For dining there are three old standby’s in Sandpoint – Ivano’s www.ivanos-sandpoint.com Eicharardt’s and The Hydra Hopefully this will give you some idea’s.

Trip to Sandpoint

Camping Girl, I can%26#39;t give you much help since I%26#39;ve not spent much time in the Great Idaho North. Just wanted to say hi -- I got to know you on the Anaheim forum and always got a kick out of your kitty picture!

Pug

Dave, thanks for the advice, lots of good info that I will spend some time looking into.

Hi Pug, yes I do remember chatting in the Anaheim forum. lol that cat picture has got me a lot of interesting comments since I put it up. Thanks for saying hi.

- CG

HI Camping Girl - you helped me out with advice on our drive from Sandpoint to Fernie, the road was exactly as you had described, we had a great trip, so Thanks for the help there.

To return the favour - we have twice stayed in Sandpoint, last year we were meant to stay at the K2 Inn, however they had overbooked and as they also own the Coit House B %26amp; B they put us in there, its right across the road. It was a lovely old style house, wooden floors etc.. the only thing I would say is that the rooms were a bit crowded with not alot of storage space, but it kind of depends what you are after, if its an interesting house to stay in then this is perfect. The trains might keep you awake though!

This time we took a cheaper option and stayed in the Quality Inn, it didn%26#39;t get great reviews but we found it functional and clean (which is always the key thing) it is positioned a bit out of town, we didn%26#39;t walk but you could. You basically get what you paid for, and for $70 a night it was fine, we had a huge room, only thing it was right next to the housekeeping closet, so we were awake pretty early in the morning - oh well!! But it was perfect for what we were looking for, somewhere to lay our heads!!

Both times we have been to Sandpoint we have eaten at Eichardts, its owned by a Kiwi and he has lots of interesting beers on tap, they quite often have live music and the food is excellent too.

Hope this helps, have a great trip......

Hi Burn1911,

Glad to hear that your trip to Fernie went well, and also glad to hear that the info you received here was a help. (That%26#39;s why I love TA!) Did you see any wildlife along the way?

Thanks for your lodging suggestions. I am not a really picky hotel guest, clean, quiet and comfortable are my biggest concerns. So, it sounds like either of the properties you have suggested will probably serve us well. I will be sure to post a hotel review after our stay, too.

Thanks again to everyone for their help thus far.

- CG