Our first afternoon in Coeur d'Alene sent Mr. Dally to the baseball fields to umpire while I visited Forest Cemetery to plant two letterboxes titled "Guides From Forest Cemetery." I was a little concerned as there were some maintenance folks working in a corner of this very well maintained cemetery but as luck would have it by the time I was ready to plant they had left the grounds and I had the entire cemetery to myself (except for the permanent residents).
The cemetery has some beautiful stone work, a self guided walking tour and is very well maintained. I do have a bit of a pet peeve (let me rant for a moment) with what is allowed in cemeteries and although I know peoples hearts are in the right place it absolutely ruins the beauty of a cemetery to see amazing headstones littered with fake flowers, weathered stuffed animals and other miscellaneous junk like broken wind chimes, dime store statues glued in place and fake Christmas trees in the summer. This cemetery did have quite a bit of stuff on a large percentage of the newer headstones. I know it is in remembrance that loved ones have visited their family members who have left this earth but dang please leave the junk at home and show your respect by leaving the grounds natural and beautiful.
Forest Cemetery History, Information and Walking Tour Guide:
http://www.cdaidparks.com/index.php/cemetery
Our arrangement during our visit north worked out great. I had enough time each day (before picking up Anthony from the baseball fields) to return to the hotel and post my clues right after planting so I was not returning home with a bunch of clues in need of posting attention. Also I found I had the hotel business center all to myself. We left our laptop at home but the business center worked out perfectly.
I had lunch on my own in the afternoon and visited a local Chinese restaurant in Rathdrum, Idaho off of Highway 41. The portions of food were huge and very inexpensive and the food was really fresh and tasty. It's so disappointing when you stop for Chinese food and it is not fresh. I am not sure if they have a web-site or Facebook page but it was a relaxing break from the trail after planting the boxes and the service was very good.
In the evening Anthony and I visited Tito's Italian Grill and Wine Shop for dinner. We ate outside and although the food is very good the service left something to be desired. We had the same service issues last year too. Not only was our server absent most of the time but a busboy spilled a drink on the woman sitting behind me (down her back) and it also splashed all over my legs as it fell in my direction. He hardly offered an apology and did not offer either of us an extra napkin to dry off. He just scurried away as if nothing had happened.
Not long after the spilled water incident there was also this totally bizarre situation one table away from ours behind me. A woman walked by our table to be seated with two Pomeranians in a human baby stroller (no lie). Her husband (or male companion) followed along behind her by about 5 minutes. There was a lot of foot traffic walking by on the sidewalk just a foot or two from the tables as you would expect on a Friday night. Many people like to walk downtown with their dogs as was evident almost any time of day or evening. The two Pomeranians would go ballistic barking and yapping anytime a dog or a noisy group of people would stroll by. It was insane. Not only were we shocked but others around us were also amazed that the restaurant would allow these dogs to sit there and be so noisy and disruptive. I glanced behind me once or twice and noted that both the man and woman would be hold one dog each to restrain them while they were acting like devil dogs and all of this was happening with food on the tables. Being the dog lover that I am it has never bothered me to have dogs around when I eat or that are well behaved in restaurant's in the patio seating areas...but seriously. These dogs were miniature terrors and it was not as if we were at a McDonald's either. Most entrees run between $15.00 and $34.00+ each. With appetizers and drinks we paid quite a bit for an evening out and spent most of it wondering if anyone was doing to do anything about the dogs and curious as to what happened to our server. Our waiter did not even bother to offer us an opportunity to order dessert. It's unfortunate that the dining experience was such a fizzle because the food is very good at Tito's.
Tito's: http://titomacaroni.com
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