Living in the Inland Northwest

I stopped at Tango Cafe on the way to my weekly meeting for Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby's International Realty at the Panhandle State Bank. Tango Cafe is a great place to have breakfast or lunch. You can eat in the beautiful lobby or even relax with your cup of Joe upstairs overlooking the water ...

I have this great part-time job as Wine Steward at Yoke's in Sandpoint. This is the #1 wine store in Yoke's chain and I am very proud of the selections there. In my book Passion for Wine published in 1997, I claimed that Washington state wines were the best in the world. I am not ashamed of that ...

For a couple of years two Sandpoint landmarks have sat in Purgatory. Both the K2 Inn and the Coit House B&B had been owned by Gary Peitz, who sold them to an operator who went under. The new owner had done some nice upgrades to the Coit House, but has gone unsold in spite of a generously low pric...

Today I will be presenting three great wines at Yoke's plus Banana Cake and finally a Strawberrry Sabayon. The wines are two of the great Columbia Crest Grand Estates new releases: Amitage and Moscato. The third we are making the Sabayon with: Barefoot Bubbly Moscato Spumante. I do this every Fri...

After being chosen by Sunset magazine as the West's Best Small Town, then by Outside as America's Best Small Town, the pictures of First Avenue, Schweitzer Mountain, and Lake Pend Oreille in the national media has been impressive. However, there are lots of beautiful buildings and landmarks aroun...

Today on my North Idaho Arts & Adventure show I had the good luck to talk for a few minutes with Bill Collier. Bill is a Vietnam-era helicopter hero who, with some other army buddies, brought a H-34 Helicopter to Sandpoint to be used as a memorial. It arrived today about an hour after my show. I ...

Anyone who has listened to my North Idaho Arts & Adventure radio show knows I have a special place in my heart for Lake Pend Oreille. We all do. Time after time I have heard the story about how when first approaching Sandpoint crossing the Long Bridge, a love affair with this place has kindled f...

Karen and Rich e-mailed this to me: Rich and I are hosting Yappy Hour for the Panhandle Animal Shelter (PAS). This is an event that was started in order to have a social hour for owners and their dogs. Last year, PAS began bringing shelter dogs to these events. They found that not only did the do...

Sandpoint Activities and Attractions for our warm season Hiking and biking are on the minds of many in North Idaho as the winter blues give way to spring fun. As we have blogged about, two of our favs are Scotchman Peaks and the Roman Nose, but there are many, many more. Learn all about Hiking an...

I recently spoke with Sharon Lewis about the NeighborWoods Tree Program and their admirable efforts to plant our aborial friends around Sandpoint. Here is what she related to me: Since 2008 the NeighborWoods program has helped Sandpoint residents plant 325 trees in the city's public right-of-ways...