Davenport, Washington

The Black Bear Motel is in Davenport, Washington, the Lincoln County seat and home to a historic courthouse.

Our room ("Farmers") had two bedrooms – each with a television – a full bath with tub, and a kitchenette with a western exposure.

I could picture my mother using this kitchen in 1950 and whipping up a pineapple upside-down cake with her Hamilton Beach mixer. (And, for the modern day woman, the motel is walking distance from one of Davenport's two latte stands.)

The kitchenette contained no cookware, silverware, not so much as a mug, so if you were to settle in here for a few days, you'd need to plan ahead – though there was a microwave and coffee maker.


The room was clean and comfortable. The rate, for three of us, was $70.00.

We had a terrific dinner and margarita at the Camino Real restaurant on the other end of town, then sat on the bench outside our room and watched the sun set over the courthouse. Next morning, we were well-positioned to drive the 90 minutes to Silverwood Theme Park, north of Coeur d'Alene.