NORTH IDAHO MEMORIES: Girls just wanna have fun

Back in the '50s, the town of Coeur d'Alene had a lot of motels.

Not big monstrous hotels, but small, one-story motel units. Our main tourists then were Canadians.

My group of girlfriends decided in the summer months we would get a job cleaning motel rooms, be done by noon and then go to the city beach in the afternoon. So most of us got jobs at motels.

My motel was a small motel, Skyline on Appleway next to Marie's Cafe. One friend worked at The Cedars, another at Lakeview Courts, also one worked at the Garden Motel on Northwest Boulevard. We all worked everywhere, so we would meet at Woodcock's Drug Store, walk down Fourth Street, then spend the afternoon at the city beach.

After lying on the beach (applying baby oil and iodine!) we would head up Sherman a few blocks to the Brunswick Cafe. We would order a plate of french fries with catsup and sodas. We would sit there talking, laughing and trying to decipher the sign by Bill Webster.

Then we would walk home! What fun and carefree times in Coeur d'Alene in the '50s. A wonderful place to grow up.

I have lived here since 1954. Coming from Spokane Valley, moved here so my dad would be closer to his work at the Ohio Match Lumber Mill.

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Send your North Idaho memories and photos to Devin Weeks, dweeks@cdapress.com. Please provide information with any photos you send: who is in them, when and where were they taken and a brief description of what is happening in the photo. Pieces should be no more than 500 words. Please include names of those submitting the memories and how long North Idaho has been or was your home.

Longtime residents have a treasure trove of stories about the way things used to be. We hope you'll share those gems with us.

    Looking west at the Skyline Motel on Appleway Avenue in Coeur d'Alene, 1966.