Thinking of moving to Spokane (South Hill, Liberty Lake: where to stay, waterparks, houses)

[fleeingdesert]

Hi,

We are thinking of making a move to Spokane. I posted on another thread my question of where to stay. this question is more about what someone would recommend to do on our trip to check out the city. We need to visit neighborhoods and downtown of course. The kids will want to know there are fun things to do there before we make a move. Any lake you'd recommend as a must see if only there 4-5 days? I heard Spokane has an indoor go cart track?
Besides that, restaurant recommendations for a family of 5 (on a budget). Some other threads had some comments on that too.
Thanks for any advice or suggestion ahead of time. So much to see and figure out in just a few days- I don't want to waste time on driving around to unimportant stuff to make this decision.

Any new relocates to Spokane? What advice would you give?
Thanks

[irish lady]

Hope you enjoy your visit! Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake are great options to check out and consider when pondering a move, as they are central to everything the area has to offer... 15-30 minutes to either downtown Spokane or to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (which has beautiful Lake Coeur d'Alene!) Both are wonderful family-friendly, safe communities with excellent public services. Liberty Lake offers many neighborhood events throughout the summer. (Check out libertylakewa.gov for calendar)
Fun things for the kids: Wonderland (Far North Spokane on Division) for bumper boats, climbing wall, laser tag, arcade, miniature golf, and go-karts (website is wonderlandusa.com) OR... Triple Play in Coeur d'Alene with all the same activities plus a water park, bowling, and young childrens' jungle gym type play area (Coeur d'Alene Hwy 95 exit, take 95 north until you see Triple Play on the right - maybe 10 minutes or so off 90 - the best choice in my opinion... website is 3play.com) There is also Silverwood Theme Park with Boulder Beach just north of Coeur d'Alene. Green Bluff orchards (N on Argonne in Spokane) are a fun place to go for fruit picking (check out greenbluffgrowers.com for schedules) Cat Tales is somewhat small, but houses some big cats and you can feed a lion if you so desire. The Centennial trail is a nice walk along the river - (moreso in the Valley...I've heard it's not a good idea to do that downtown but haven't really checked that out). Pavillion Park in Liberty Lake shows a free family movie every Friday night. Manito Park on the South Hill is a beautiful place to bring a picnic lunch to and relax awhile. There are great hiking trails in the area which you could check out when you have more time! (Great for X-country skiing in the winter as well )
Riverfront Park is a great place to check out - when down there, Cyrus O'Leary's is a great restaurant to check out that all ages enjoy. Also in that area is RiverPark Square, which has the Sawtooth Grill - great restaurant with great northwest atmosphere, but a little more on the spendy side. For economical Italian dining check out either The Old Spaghetti Factory or Mamma Mia's on their buffet night. For the best steak dinner ever if you want to splurge one night, definitely check out Wolf Lodge Steakhouse in Wolf Lodge about 10 minutes east of Coeur d'Alene... beautiful drive as well. For great all you can eat food, try Hu Hot Mongolian Grill on Sprague in the Valley - fresh everything with awesome sauces! (Price makes it a better lunch than dinner option).
Live theater is abundant here... you could possibly check out the CDA Summer Theater when you're here. Spokane and CDA both have many productions throughout the year with both childrens' and full casting performances. Musical venues are plentiful here as well - There's just too much to check out in such a short time! Hope this is helpful to you - Happy traveling and hope you enjoy our Lilac City!

[kmcxintee]

Thank you Irish Lady and in answer to fleeingdesert, I am a recent relocation from Lousiana. I lived here for 3 weeks last June and I visited with my 5 year old grandson in 2007. Sorry to say we were only here for 3 days and that was my first visit. There is so much more for children here to do than in Louisiana. I was born in New Orleans and I am 65 and I think Spokane is FABULOUS! I can't wait until my grandsons can come to stay for the entire summer. I learned there are great waterparks for the kids all over the place and thanks to Irish Lady I know more about the bumper places. My grandson and I visited Riverfront Park, there's an amusement park there, and we took the gondola ride. Couldn't have spent a better summer. I retired in 2006 and I guess I was feeling freedom also from a life of servitude to get my 3 children raised. YOU WILL LOVE SPOKANE (pronounced spo can).