Warsh-ingtonian Accent
by akilgore42
One thing you might pick up on is that Eastern Washingtonians have an accent. It's basically a standard American accent with a drawl and lots of mis-pronounced words thrown in. The most distinctive and amusing part of the accent is the pronunciation of "wash" as "warsh". For example, someone from Spokane might say "I need to warsh the car" or "I'm from Warshington". We do this without intending it or realizing that it's incorrect. My grandfather, who was a good old cowboy from northern Idaho, took it even a step further. He often pronounced "knife" as "ka-nife", "knee" as "ka-nee", etc. He would typically refer to my cute little dog as "that there dern cay-yoot". I always thought he was just kidding around until my friend told me her grandfather said things like that too!
I'm not sure where this accent came from, but my theory is that it's only been 100 years since Spokane was a typical Old West town populated by uneducated farmers, miners, railroad workers and cowboys, who in turn raised my grandparents. I then picked it up from my parents, who were born and raised in the Spokane area too. When I lived in Seattle, people constantly asked me if I was from the South because I speak with a bit of a drawl. However, you'd probably have to talk to an elderly person to get the full effect. I've heard that Julia Sweeney did impressions of her mother's Spokane accent in "God Said Ha", which might be available on video. If anyone else has some observations on this subject, I'd be interested in hearing them!
A Choice of Ski Hills
by JessieLang
There are 5 ski resorts close enough to be a day trip from Spokane:
Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park - 45 minutes NE of Spokane
(509) 238-2220
www.mtspokane.com
49 Degrees North, in Chewelah, WA - 1 hour north of Spokane
(866) 376-4949
www.ski49n.com
Schweitzer Mountain, in Sandpoint, ID - 1 1/2 hours from Spokane
(800) 831-8810
www.schweitzer.com
Silver Mountain Resort, in Kellogg, ID - 75 miles east of Spokane
(800) 204-6428
www.silvermt.com
Lookout Pass Ski Area, at the Idaho/Montana border - 90 miles east of Spokane
(208) 744-1301
www.skilookout.com
Viet Chinese Food
by cochinjew about Vien Dong Restaurant
Vietnamese cuisine
basic decor as one expects and very friendly owner and her husband
she was about to close when we arrived but kept the place open to prepare dinner Bun Ga Xao
Bun Bo Hue
Cafe Sua Nong
Browne's Addition
by remio
If you like architecture, there's a lot to look at in Browne's Addition. Large, old mansions, in and around parks and small restaurants makes this a must visit. The MAC, a large museum, is also located here.
Street Art
by JessieLang
Street Art
As you wander around downtown Spokane, watch for artwork on underpasses and on the sides of buildings. Most of the walls where the freeway or the train passes overhead are covered in murals. Some are one large painting; others are composed of many individual blocks like a quilt. The small blocks are community projects, painted by people who respond to an announcement, but a few of the large ones are by professionals. I especially like the marmots at Division and Sprague.
There are also 8-10 large paintings of local scenes on the second-story walls of some downtown buildings. An ad agency did them, planning to attract attention and then put ads underneath. The ads never really happened, but the paintings remain.
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Pillars under the freeway, 4th & Stevens
Naptime for the Barbary Lion
bun ga xao
Upper Spokane Falls Under Bridge
