Just days after being named one of America's top 10 places to retire, Coeur d'Alene has received another honor.

Writing for World Property Journal, travel and tourism journalist Steve Winston on Friday named the Lake City one of his top 10 "authentic" small towns in America.

Here's what Winston wrote about Coeur d'Alene, which he ranked fifth:

"This town up in the Idaho Panhandle is nothing if not 'authentic.' Its main street is lined with red-brick shops, bistros, and galleries, and old-time street lamps with hanging flower pots. It sits on scenic Lake Coeur d'Alene, with 125 miles of mountainous shoreline. The lake is great for kayaking; dotted with isolated, beautiful coves, with bald eagles soaring overhead. Tubbs Hill, a rugged, wooded peninsula jutting into the lake, offers great hiking and expansive views. Outside of town, the Route of the Hiawatha is a thrilling mountain-biking experience through abandoned railroad tunnels. The best accommodations in town can be found at The Coeur d'Alene Resort, with 340 luxurious rooms (many with incredible lake views), three excellent restaurants, a golf course with the world's only floating green, its own lake-cruise boat, and a float-plane offering dramatic panoramas of northern Idaho."

Winston's criteria, like Lake Coeur d'Alene, were crystal clear, if somewhat unusual.

"There are 'artsy' small towns. 'Outdoorsy' ones. 'Swank' ones. 'Cool' ones. But this list is different. It's about 'real,' 'authentic' American small towns... where nature is beautiful, shops are unique, and smiles are genuine."

Winston told The Press he has been to "your beautiful burg twice, most recently in June. I fell in love with it the first time I laid eyes on it. And I fell even deeper in June."

Winston's last trip here was, well, a trip:

"In early June, I went kayaking out on the lake with ROW Adventures. And, within an hour, what had been a beautiful day turned into a wild one, with a hard, sideways-blowing rain, and big waves crashing over the front of the kayak (and drenching me!). The young lady from ROW said the water was only about 42 degrees - and I'm from Florida! We were being tossed around, and up and then violently down with each new wave. And we had to use every ounce of our strength to get back into the calmer waters of one of the channels. But it was incredibly exciting! I got back to my hotel room soaking wet, and shivering. But it was the best kayak trip I've ever taken!"

Based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Winston has been writing about travel and tourism for 30 years. According to his brief bio, he's been "shot at in Northern Ireland, been a cowboy in Arizona, trained with a rebel militia in the jungle, jumped into an alligator pit, climbed 15,000-foot mountains, flown World War II fighter planes in aerial 'combat,' climbed glaciers in Alaska, and explored ice caves in Switzerland."

And speaking of ratings, Google ranks World Property Journal as the No. 1 global real estate site.

• Winston's Top 10

'authentic' towns

(worldpropertyjournal.com)

1. Grand Lake, Colo.

2. Wallace, Idaho

3. Cody, Wyo.

4. Floyd, Va.

5. Coeur d'Alene

6. Winter Park, Colo.

7. Elkhart Lake, Wis..

8. Bryson City, N.C.

9. Fredericksburg, Texas

10. Woodstock, N.Y.