Spokane, Washington

It was so good to be back to Spokane! It was my fourth time in this beautiful town.
The first time Nick & I came here we performed at the Spokane Community College over 10 years ago when I was doing my University performances through NACA. I remember that the student who picked us up at the airport took us on a quick tour of Spokane and brought us to (as she described it) the most beautiful place in town - the historic Davenport Hotel. We were in awe (how can one not be?). Little did we know, we'd be staying here a decade later while performing next door at the wonderful & historic Bing Crosby Theatre. A dream come true ❤

OVERVIEW & LINKS: 

We were in Spokane for 40 hours while on tour with our dear friend/talented artist Beth Hart
We stayed at the historic Davenport Hotel - a spectacular 4 star destination hotel (built in 1914) in the center of town
We performed a SOLD OUT show at the Bing Crosby Theatre Feb 5, 2018 (756 seat theatre, also built in 1914) 
We had lunch at Anthony's overlooking the Spokane River & Spokane Falls

THE DRIVE

On a beautiful February Superbowl Sunday Nick & I drove 360 miles from Portland to Spokane. We had never taken the Columbia River Valley route before: it was as cold and windy as it was spectacular. We took a few quick stops to stretch and to take photos.


We stopped for a few mins at Memaloose Overlook
While I love traveling, being in the car all day is the thing I dread the most. My back, my legs, my mind all go out of whack. I know all of the tricks in the book to make long car trips bearable, but it's just hard on my body. This day was no exception. But the views were amazing.
We pulled up to Columbia Gorge Hotel & Spa to take this photo. The views, the historic hotel and the grounds were beyond pretty. I immediately marked this historic hotel as "want to visit" on my GoogleMaps app (do you ever do this? I am obsessed with this feature on the app!).
THE HOTEL

Utterly exhausted after a long day in the car we arrived to our hotel.

Thankfully, the valet parking area was covered, really beautiful (like everything else at Davenport!) and super easy. We didn't have to be in the cold windy outdoors a moment longer! I was also happy to learn that we could charge our car overnight: the valet guys were able to plug in our Prius Prime (it's the hybrid/electric vehicle, the first 30 miles are fully electric).

The Historic Davenport is traveling in time. It is a special place. Just look at this breathtaking lobby:

It was late, but Nick and I managed to have a super quick workout at the gym and a brief swim before the facilities closed. 


Right before we took the pool photo below Nick & I were approached by a woman who asked if we were with Beth Hart (which we technically were). She said she came a long way to see the show and has known Beth for years. I thought it was a bit strange that she asked us this question right off the bat. I don't know, I felt a bit awkward. But then she left and we had the pool to ourselves. Yay! :)
We had a nice corner suite (grateful for the upgrade!). Our room service dinner consisted of meatloaf and popcorn! :)


THE CONCERT

In the morning we realized we could see the theatre and Beth's tour bus from our window :)
It was so convenient to have the hotel literally a few steps away from the venue. However, we did have to drive and unload as we couldn't have carried all of the gear (my piano, piano stand, guitar, guitar & piano gadgets, all of the merch and other stuff). It was funny to drive but we didn't have much of a choice. 
Green room:Gangsta soundcheck:
What a beautiful theatre the Bing Crosby theatre is! It is a true honor to perform in historic beauty such as this one. I never take this for granted and feel grateful every moment.
The show was really fun. The crowd was amazing, Nick & I got a standing ovation (not a typical thing for openers, as you can imagine).
Nick took this photo during "Bring It On" where I sing/chant "Only I can kill my demons, only I can give me freedom".I don't have any more pics from the show as the photographers who came haven't yet sent us anything.

After the show, around midnight, Nick & I walked around our hotel, admired the ornate designs and detail in the art. And made a mini-photoshoot out of it :)


As it was so late, it was just us and the guard (who told us photoshoots were forbidden, so I had to explain to him I was taking these pictures for the hotel's marketing dept, so he eased off but still watched us) :)
In my long dress I felt like a princess wandering these fairytale halls.

SPOKANE FALLS

We had to get a lot of work done in the morning (I was already hundreds of emails behind since the beginning of the tour, and Nick had lots of work, as usual). Originally, Nick & I were hoping to go for a walk to see the Spokane Falls again (last time it was in summer of 2014), but that morning we had neither the time nor the energy (we were tired, plus it was very cold and windy outside). So I asked a couple of people at the hotel for the best place to view the falls (without having to walk there). They both said to drive to Anthony's Restaurant, which we did on the way out of town.

This is the view from the restaurant: the Upper Falls (dam built in 1920).

While I didn't love the food here I still highly recommend this place because the view is amazing (and the service was great). Watching the water while lunching (yes, I said lunching, haha) was very relaxing, and was just what we needed before the long drive to Seattle.


Thank you, Spokane, and thanks to all who came to the show!!
Thank you for reading. Next blog: Seattle!

 

P.S. Join our 2 SONGS A MONTH CLUB at www.patreon.com/MarinaV to watch the full tour documentary.  
Here is the trailer: