Contact: Dana Haynes
Spokane Regional CVB
509.742.9373 (d); 509.993.9824 (c)
dhaynes@VisitSpokane.com
www.VisitSpokane.com

Quirky Things to Do in Spokane

Hand Feed a Lion or Tiger
Cat Tales Zoological Park is home to 42 exotic and endangered cats (Lions, LeopardsPumas, Lynx and more). Cat Tales even has a Liger - and to think nobody believed Napoleon Dynamite. This was the home of Terri Irwin's late cat Zoey,who she entrusted to the park when she left the country to marry the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. Guests walk within 8 feet of these rare and endangered species.The park offers guided tours, petting zoo, education programs, one of the nation's finest zookeeper training centers and outreach programs.
www.cattales.org

Suspend Yourself Over the Spokane River
The most spectacular view of the Spokane Falls is dangling above in the floor to ceiling glass gondola at Riverfront Park. The Spokane Falls Skyride drops down 200 feet as it travels across the river, underneath the Monroe Street Bridge and returns to the park. In the spring, the water sprays from the raging river below causing impromptu rainbows. In summer, little marmots pop up around every nook and cranny peeking back at eager onlookers. In the fall, it's the beautiful rust reds and golden yellows of changing leaves. In winter, the white snow covers the ground and an occasional frost will crystallize the barren brush. While you are at Riverfront Park, be sure to also slide down the handle of the giant sized Radio Flyer Wagon. The wheels are nearly six-feet tall
www.SpokaneRiverfrontPark.com

Discover an Indoor Tropical Paradise
From cactus to tropical hibiscus, stepping into the Gaiser Conservatory in Manito Park is like stepping into a tropical paradise in the heart of a 90 acres park. During the winter holidays, the plants are decorated with 20,000 twinkling lights that literally transform the entire greenhouse. The conservatory is just steps away from the European Renaissance style garden that rivals many of the finest European estate gardens. Manito also has aJapanese garden, a duck pond, a rose garden and a lilac garden
www.thefriendsofmanito.org

Canoe to Dinner
Jump in a canoe on the Spokane River, in the heart of downtown Spokane, and make your way upstream to Northern Lights Brewery, one of the best local breweries in the region offering unique flavors such as Huckleberry and Chocolate Beer, to name a few. Then, jump in your canoe and head back to reality. By the way, the restaurant and brewery are also accessible by land

Strap on Snowshoes in the Moonlight
The Vista House on Mt. Spokane, built originally as a fire lookout, offers sweeping views that stretch into Montana, North Idaho and Canada. The entirely rock structure is favorite spot for picnic lunches in the summer and hot chocolate in the winter. Six scopes made from old steel pipes point the way to a few of the region's 76 lakes when they aren't buried in snow. Now, the Spokane Parks & Recreation Department is offering Snowshoeing and Dinner in the Moonlight near the top of Mt. Spokane. The trek takes the adventurous on a guided moonlit tour through the woods followed by award meal served in the rustic Selkirk Lodge 
www.spokaneparks.org

Beer Growlers in a Boiler
The entire downtown of Spokane was heated by a steam plant up until the mid-80s.Now, the building is a 3-D reminder of the not so distant history with boilers, pipes, catwalks and two smokestacks rising 300 feet into the sky. It's also a restaurant and brewery, Steam Plant Grill, specializing in Growlers (1/2 gallon jugs) to go. The brewery offers tasting platter with 10 shot glasses starting with light to dark beers. Be sure to check out the smokestack and look up to the sky. It's actually quite clean!

Pumpkin' Chunkin' and Corn Cannons
No. These are not inventive names for vegetable dishes. This is blatantly playing with food. The crew out at Knapp's discovered a few years back that hurling pumpkins into the field over a quarter of a mile away, well, was fun. Now a hydraulic cannon shoots them literally out of site. www.knappsongreenbluff.com The same can be said for theirs of corn at Walter's Fruit Ranch. Again, hurled into the big blue sky further than the eyes can see. www.appleranch.com Oh. And the food can be picked and eaten at both farms, just two of nearly 30 on Green Bluff. www.greenbluffgrowers.com

Bing, Elvis, Jackie and JFK
Kitschy museums are the name of the game here. One local collector ended up with so many items he opened a museum to display his one-of-a-kind Jackie Gleason's powder blue Lincoln and a classic that President John F Kennedy reportedly, um ... how shall we say ... shared the back seat with actress Marilyn Monroe. He also has one of Elvis' cars. It's all at Carr's One-of-a-Kind Museum. Just a few short miles away, on the Gonzaga University campus, is the Crosbyana Room. The room holds about 200 pieces of the world's largest public collection of Bing Crosby memorabilia, including an Oscar. Widely considered the most recorded voice in history, Bing Crosby was raised in Spokane and attended law school at Gonzaga University before taking his show on the road to Los Angeles. One of his favorite stages was the Clemmer Theater, recently renamed The Bing Crosby Theater, in downtown Spokane.