Huckleberries: Coeur d’Alene lives up to reputation as Fourth of July destination

On the way home Wednesday, I listened to the discussion about summer and our national pastime on the ESPN700 radio show, featuring Dennis Patchin, Rick Lukens, Keith Osso and Vince Grippi. One host insisted that baseball remains the national pastime, although football is America’s sport. Baseball, he said, is associated with those carefree days of summers gone by when we were free from school for three months.

At one point, one of the ESPN700 team raised the question: Do you know the best place in the world for a young man to be on the Fourth of July? I almost raised my hand in my rig because I knew the answer.

He continued: “Coeur d’Alene.”

Of course. It’s hard to beat the parade, beach, lake and fireworks on a Coeur d’Alene Fourth of July. The ESPN crew also mentioned the beach eye candy attracted by a Coeur d’Alene Fourth of July. I’ve never been a single, young man in Coeur d’Alene. I was married and 34 when I arrived in 1984.

As one who walks along the waterfront at least five days a week year-round, however, I’d say viewtiful Coeur d’Alene is the place to be for men of all ages. On any day. Women, too.

Best sandwich

You know the best hamburger in Idaho is made at historic Hudson’s Hamburgers in downtown Coeur d’Alene. But did you know the best sandwich comes from a food court on Coeur d’Alene’s Best Avenue – the Chicken Bacon Cheddar Philly served by Best Sandwich Shack? So says online Zagat of New York City, which named the best sandwiches in all 50 states. Zagat explains its Idaho pick: “Move over, Philadelphia. Best Sandwich Shack, a tiny truck located on Best Avenue, serves a heap of Philly cheesesteak options, our favorite being the chicken bacon cheddar variety. This sandwich is piled high with shredded white meat chicken, crispy bacon and cheddar cheese and smothered with ranch dressing.” … Got It Covered: In recent weeks, nine Coeur d’Alene police officers were placed on administrative leave after being involved in two shootouts, one fatal. But Coeur d’Alene Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Wood saw no problem in staffing this busy Fourth of July weekend. She told Huckleberries: “There are 94 sworn positions in the police department. All of us have uniforms, have worked patrol many times, and are accessible to fill in where needed.”

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “If you’re on the roads/and you’re tooling about/please use extra care/cause the tourists are out” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“That Season Again”) … Huckleberries Online poll: 81 percent of the respondents said Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger made the right call by denying a permit to 2014 Diamond Cup hydroplane race organizers … Quotable Quote: “If Idaho’s Republican Party was a dog, you’d put it down. If it was a horse, it’d be heading for the glue factory. If it was a plane, you wouldn’t get on board, not with the engine leaking oil and the pilot doing vodka shots in the cockpit” – Idaho Press Tribune editorial … Who rules the Coeur d’Alene waterfront? Informal count of 14 vehicles parked in a row along Dike Road at noon Thursday – seven from Kootenai County, six from Washington and one from New Mexico … How close are we in Coeur d’Alene to nature? Close enough that two deer were waiting their turn to cross Highway 95 at Dalton Avenue Thursday afternoon.

Parting shot

Believe it or not, some punk(s) swiped the salvaged floating golf balls from the Coeur d’Alene Resort course that Stickman (Norm Oss) and his wife use to create their annual “(heart) Ironman 2014” lawn sign. But not to worry. A social media SOS brought in 400 of the balls that once went off course and floated away on Lake Coeur d’Alene waves. IronPeople got the warm message as they trudged past Stickman’s house last Sunday.