Another day of food! My heart is happy and my stomach is full as I write this. I left Sandpoint for the lakeside city of Coeur d’Alene, French for “Heart of an Awl”. The city shares its name with the Native American tribe that has a reservation to the south. I speared through CDA on US-95 and pulled over at Jimmys Down the Street (again, no apostrophe). The decor was 50s retro, with license plates wallpapering the place. I scanned the menu thoroughly and made my selection, but just as I was ordering, the pecan rolls caught my eye. Mon dieu. They were the size of my head, and only six dollars. I got one with a side of hash browns. It was tasty, if not transcendent, and so filling that I struggled to save face and finish two thirds.
I drove down to the river and joined plenty of locals in some mid-morning exercise. My stroll took me by a modern, geometric neighborhood—a creative condo development. I was surprised to see it in an area that was, to my eyes, content in its tradition. I suspected that these weren’t meant for the locals. A quick trip to Zillow backed up my thesis. A one-bedroom condo was renting for $3,600 a month. I assure you that these are vacation pads for Seattlers and Vancouverites, which is a shame. On a gorgeous September day, all the boats were still docked, their owners back home.
I drove downtown. I have found that every single town west of New York has a self-described Historic Downtown; I’m sure Europe is cackling. I don’t know how historic Coeur d’Alene is, but it is pretty and filled with a comforting energy. It reminds me of a less twisty, more spacious Portsmouth.
After driving and walking through the streets, I arrived at Hudson’s Hamburgers. The Food Bible lists this as one of the very best cheap restaurants in the country. The menu is simple: hamburger or cheeseburger, single or double, optional pickles and onions. No fries. Three homemade condiments on the counter (two ketchups and a mustard). I put the horseradish mustard and the Secret Ketchup on my cheeseburger and munched. Pretty good. I spent fifteen minutes and five dollars at Hudson’s counter, but I spent a lot longer just thinking about that burger. I couldn’t get it out of my head. Why? It wasn’t the best burger I’ve ever had. I think it’s because this was the archetypal Hamburger Counter, pre-McDonalds era. I partook in this ritual as did my forefathers a century ago. Maybe it was the best burger I ever had.
I’m parked in a terrible spot tonight. It’s smelly and riddled with trash, but I tried some other spots and the roads weren’t nearly as good. I’ll keep the windows closed and roll on to Washington tomorrow.
Between yesterday and today it seems you found what you were looking or on your culinary tour of the ID panhandle. You will probably never find a pecan roll again as good and as large as the one you found in Coeur d’Alene. Looks yummy. As for the burger, there must have been something about it to inspire such reflection. I wonder what you will find in Washington. We visited Marc and Chrissy there more than 20 years ago when they were living in a Seattle suburb. I remember giant slugs everywhere. Looking forward to your next post. Love, Grandma
Hawley, PA doesn’t have a “historic downtown” — just a lot of empty stores. I’m sure, if you kept looking, you’d find a lot of towns like this — and you don’t have to go too far west of the Delaware River to find them, either.