Beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

After leaving the Spokane airport we motored down Interstate 90 to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. We had decided to spend the night there after the long flight and to split up the 5 hour drive to Kootnay Lake. After checking in at the Hampton Inn we drove around town. The town is surrounded by forests and mountains and sits in a spectacular setting on the north shore of one of America's most beautiful lakes, Lake Coeur d'Alene. It is no wonder that Coeur d'Alene has been called the "Playground of the Northwest". It seemed like everyone was sailing, boating, skiing or swimming, trying to take advantage of the beautiful summer day. And there are two major ski resorts in the nearby mountains for winter fun.

We had an early dinner at Beverly's on the 7th floor of the huge Coeur d'Alene Resort. As you can see the view was fantastic. We sat at one of the tables by the window and enjoyed watching the boaters come in to the dock and the kids jumping off the 20' rock cliffs into the lake. There were also several double decker boats offering dinner cruises for the tourists.

Although Beverly's is a five star restaurant their food was well above our expectations. The desk clerk at the Hampton had given us a couple of free Beverly drink tickets and while we were enjoying our before dinner drinks the chef sent out a couple of lobster corndogs. They were a small piece of lobster on a stick, dipped in corndog batter and fried just like corndogs at the carnival. Never seen anything like them but the were delicious!

Beverly's has a several thousand bottle floor-to-ceiling wine display with a two million dollar wine inventory, so needless to say we ordered a bottle of our favorite Ken Wright Abbott Claim Vineyard pinot noir for dinner. They had three different vintages on the wine list!

I started out with their Sweet Onion Soup which was the best, richest French Onion Soup I have ever tasted and Susan had the Caesar Salad with shaved Parmesan-Reggiano cheese. For the main course Susan had the rack of lamb and I ordered the Muscovy Duck prepared three ways- Chinese five-spice roasted breast, caramelized leg and seared foie gras on jasmine rice.

We thought we were through but then out came a complimentary dessert. It was absolutely unique. Continuing with the carnival theme they made a hollow tower of cotton candy and inside the tower was a scoop of homemade blueberry ice cream with a birthday candle on it. By then it was dark and the candle flickered through the cotton candy in a charming way. We had to eat our way through the cotton candy to get to the ice cream. Tough job but we did it!

Coeur d'Alene is a fascinating place to visit and Beverly's a delightful dining experience. Highly recommended.

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