Western and Northern Montana

Fairmont Hot Springs

It wasn't easy to leave Moose Creek, but on July 20th 2012, it was time to head north and explore as much of the Western part of the enormous State of Montana as we could. Our first stop that day was at Fairmont Hot Springs  http://www.fairmontmontana.com/Fairmont%20Hot%20Springs , not too far from Butte. This lovely resort, built around the very hot mineral water flowing up into their pools, is sitting really in the middle of nowhere. 
Located about 20 minutes west of Butte, a former boom town that grew out of the very rich mineral deposits in the area, and a 15 minute drive to Anaconda, another copper mining boom town, Fairmont boasts a golf course, tennis, lots of other sports, and of course, the huge mineral pools, one indoor and another outdoor. We spent the better part of the day Saturday lounging around the outdoor pool and soaking in those therapeutic waters...very relaxing! On Sunday night we drove into Anaconda for one of the lures in the area to us, The Washoe Theater http://goldwest.visitmt.com/listings/10873.htm. From the outside, this historic movie theater looks like just another small town cinema that has  managed to survive the ill fate of so many others we see as we trek across the country. Once inside though, it's easy to see why it is listed as one of the best examples of Nuevo Deco style from the 1930's by The Smithsonian and is also listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. It was designed by the same architect who did other iconic movie palaces during the Golden Age of Film, most notably The Pantages Theater in Los Angeles. It opened in 1936 (although it was finished in 1931 and the opening was delayed because of The Depression) and has been in continuous operation ever since! About two thirds through the movie, the house lights went up and the intermission sign flashed up on the screen. I hadn't seen that since I was a kid at the movies!

Washoe Theater

It seemed like we might have been the only tourists in the sizable crowd for a Sunday night because we were the only ones who were a little surprised by all this. The concession stand filled up again, and we could only think about the genius marketing going on here. They only charge $4 admission on Sunday, which is the reason for the crowd, and they make a lot of it back with their reinvention of "intermission." Why has some other movie chain not figured this out?
 As we left the theater, we stood outside to admire it again. A couple approached us, and the man told us he'd grown up in Anaconda and has been going to the theater since he was a small kid. He seemed very proud...and well he should be. What a great evening!
We drove into Butte too, a couple of times. These towns are really interesting living museums from when the mining companies built them to support their operations...company towns. There are closed mine shafts scattered all over what was called "the richest hill in the world." There are union halls all around town, as well as neighborhood taverns. One of them in downtown is famous and was the set for a film we both like called "Don't Come Knocking" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377800/ . The M &M Cigar Store http://www.mmcigarstore.com/  has been around for 122 years...and looks like it! The food's so-so, but the atmosphere was worth the price.

Just about a hundred miles north and west is Missoula. We spent a week here and enjoyed this college town of about 100,000. Did we have another ancient theater experience? Yes, indeed we did! The Wilma http://thewilma.com/history.php was built in 1921 and is still operating. The theater itself is in the ground floor of an eight story art deco building, whose interior looks like the set of a 1930's movie.Missoula is built right on the banks of the Clark Fork River and is a very livable town. Almost all streets have bike paths and they are heavily used...like being in Europe. We wonder what this place is like in the deep part of winter though. We are here for the summer, where 90 is really hot for them, and most mornings you wake up to 55 or so. It's one of those places that has one of everything. One Costco, Best Buy, Target, all those, but also several good bakeries, the best for us is Le Petit Outre http://www.lepetitoutre.com/index.php/fuseaction/history.main.htm . Cafe Dolce (see pic below of their great looking space), a fantastic to look at open air eatery, gelatoria, bakery, and coffee bar in a mostly residential neighborhood, gave us mixed feelings. For our first visit we had a really nice lunch, a roast beef sandwich with a good horseradish dressing, and a good mixed salad. Next visit we came for coffee and ordered two pour overs. Price? $9.00!! Granted, they were a full 2 cup serving each...but still! Where are we? New York City? A bit pricey...but good Intelligencia Coffee. The last visit for dinner was a bomb. M A ordered a sausage and kale fusilli dish which she reported as "OK"...not her most enthusiastic response ever (looked good on paper..not so well executed). I ordered a simple plate of Penne Marinara and needed to have dinner again when we got home. Compared with Mary Ann's normal sized serving, mine was roughly half the size. The service was ok at first and then we had to wait long stretches to finally get settled up. Big city prices? Give big city service and food..then we're happy. We won't probably go back next time, even though the atmosphere is really good. Downtown is filled with diners and cafes, all sorts and sizes.
We took a drive up north from town to Flathead Lake. Not as well known as some of the other large bodies of water in this country, but every bit as beautiful. It's right on the way from Missoula to Glacier National Park. What we didn't know is that it is one of the most prolific Cherry growing regions in the area. The entire lake is covered with Cherry orchards. Flathead
cherries are a bit tart and also sweet. They also grow Raniers and other varieties. Needles to say, we have given up apples and other fruits for the time being. When in Rome!! Our day trip took us as far north as Kalispell and through the little tourist town of Bigfork http://www.bigfork.org/. We turned back around in Kalispell  (eating cherries!) and headed down the other side of the lake towards home after logging about 200 miles that day. Before we left Missoula though, we had to try one of the biggest attractions..The Big Dipper! This place is listed on every food blog about the town and for good reason. It's all about the handmade, high fat, few ingredient, ice cream. People are lined up all hours of the day and evening to taste this unusually creamy, good stuff. We went twice. We had to hold off going back again..it's that good!

From Missoula, we head west to Wallace, Idaho for some more historic sightseeing, Coeur D'Alene, and Spokane, then on back to Montana..Helena, Montana, in the next posting...