Unskedded Sidetrip Finds a Gem

We left Yellowstone yesterday once again having cleaned off the car covered with four inches of snow. We'd decided with the weather so poor that after we had seen the "must sees" we just didn't want face more cold winds and faces full of snow. However, the sun as shining and the snowy, wintryvistas were spectacular--a perspective most visitors to the Park don'have. We did a quick stop by Yellowstone Falls, which were clear of storm for a while.


So we decided to break our trip to Glacier NP with a stop in Helena, Montana.

What a wise decision. Not only is Helena a delightful gem of a little city, but it gave us a chance to do a bit of exploration around Butte and continue the Search.

Let's talk the Search. As you may have noticed, most mornings contain a sidetrip to find a perfect XXXtraDryCappucino. Yesterday's search took us to the junction town of Livingston. There in a parking lot, amidst western clothing stores, in a valley populated by emigrants brought in by the Northern Pacific was a lovely drive-through Java Joe, which made an excellent XXX for Unohu. And of course a good double shot skim latte for Unohu-gozalong. Sipping it through the rain on the way to Butte.

Butte was the richest hill in the world. Now it has one operating mine and a suburban style town attached to the 19th century old historic district. Mine heads are visible all around the valley and two great big pit mines remain--similar to Bingham.
One is still operational. Butte has seen better times, we guess, but now there are no operating polluting smelters that ruin the valley air and the place appears to be picking itself up. Most of the deep mines closed about 50 years ago. The old downtown has the air of a decayed steel town in Pennsylvania. Ah, the detritus of uncontrolled Industrial Revolution.

Then on to Helena. It was founded in the 1860s as a silver town. We stayed in a new hotel built in the old Last Chanch Gulch, which was the mainstreet of the silver miners and is now a pleasant walking mall of mostly 1890-1910 office buildings and stores nestled against the hill valleys. With only 25,000 or so inhabitants, it's not large, but we found the hotel, with pool and gym, and a fine restaurant last night. It also doesn't hurt to be six floors up and viewing the entire valley and distant mountains.


The restaurant, Benny's Bistro, serves a variety of dishes, well. Patty, our waitress, had her recommendations, and since there were only two other couples in the place on a thursday night, had a chance talk.

We discussed the wines of the day (I had one, a glass of Oregon Pinot Grigio, a bit on the sweet side, but what I wanted), the specials and and Idaho wine. We also had a good bit of politics at the end...she being an Obama supporter who said she expects Montana to go blue this election.

The special I had, the world's best meatloaf, was better than mine. I was impressed. Nicely bound with mushroom gravy, sauteed kale and garlic mash. Lovely. Ben had two crepes florentine stuffed with spinach, made by a local crepe maker! For starters we split a smoked Montana trout with cream cheese, capers and cucumbers and a selection of breaded and fried fresh Northwest oysters. And the wine...we learned something: The Columbia Valley in Idaho makes a nice chardonney: Coeur d'Alene Vineyards chardonnay. Very European in taste. Not quite a white burgundy, but very nice with the mains. Not the best with oysters. For them we decided we needed a sancerre or entre-deux-mers, but these were not to be had.

Today we head to Glacier. Depending on hookups it is possible the next posting may not come till we reach Edmondton, Alberta next tuesday. Not sure about the availability of connections in Glacier or Banff. More to come. Happy Father's Day.