We left Shelby around 8:30 a.m., heading to Butte. It was only about 240 miles so we weren't in any hurry. This trip was actually a change in plans. We were going to just drive West from Shelby, but when David was studying his road atlas, he figured out we could detour a little and visit Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. It's not like we have anywhere to live so . . . . We know both parks will be extremely crowded and we won't be able to see all of both parks but it will still be incredible!!! And we will NOT taunt the buffaloes in Yellowstone. Did you see that on the news? If not, look for it on youtube.
We stopped for coffee and ice tea in Great Falls which is a nice little city. Right next door to the coffee shop was a woman's clothing store named Klover which had cute clothes in the window. I bought a top which will appear in this blog at some point.
I had been complaining that I really need my hair cut and colored so I decided to see what Butte had to offer. I looked on the Yelp app and found what looked like a nice salon in Butte. I saw that one of the styists had a Facebook page so I stalked it and it looked like she was very talented. It's not like my hair requires much talent but I still wanted it to look OK. I contacted her on Messenger (you gotta love social media) and she nicely responded that she doesn't work on Saturdays. A few minutes later she messaged me again and said that if I could come in at 7:00 a.m., she would do my hair and a pedicure. Of course I immediately accepted. So that will be an adventure tomorrow!
I'm a littlle geographically challenged so I figured the drive to Butte would be flat and mostly prairie like. But no, there were some beautiful mountain and cliff views and many rivers and lakes. We both really enjoyed the drive.
There are no Anytime Fitness gyms in Butte so we had to work out at a different gym called Fuel Fitness & Nutrition. We were able to pay $8.00 and work out there. This place is gigantic and has every piece of equipment and free weights you can imagine. It was also spotless and I mean spotless! I don't know how they can even keep it so clean. Anyway, we did work out which we desperately needed!
We wanted to stay in the historical uptown part of Butte so I reserved a room for two nights at the Hotel Finlen, right on Broadway Street. The original hotel was built in 1889, and it was known as one of the grandest hotels in the West. In 1923 the hotel was sold and the new owner closed and razed it and built an even grander hotel in the same spot. It was designed to look like the Astor Hotel in NYC. Lots of famous people have stayed here like Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Lindberg, Harry Truman, then Senator John F. Kennedy, then Vice-President Richard Nixon and David Weich! In 1948 the rooms cost $2.50 per night. The hotel has nine floors but only 24 hotel rooms now. There are also some apartments in the building. There is a cool, retro bar (picture below), with a very nice bartender. We especially like the purple lava lamp on the back bar. We had a gin and tonic made with a Montana Gin.
David is holding a brochure of the hotel but the picture isn't great. Sorry.
The clothing store owner in Great Falls told us she really liked Butte and said we would love all of the old, brick buildings. This town is full of gorgeous empty building just screaming to be revitalized. David fell in love with this building across the street from our hotel and it was The Salvation Army at one time in the past. He wants to buy it and live there during the warm seven day of summer they have here in July. Seriously, the man would freeze to death in Montana!!!
Our bartender was very friendly and nice and after our cocktail he recommended we have dinner at Sparky's Garage. Odd name but very good food! We are glad we tried it. Walking back to the hotel David took this picture. Isn't it cool?
We didn't stay up very late because of my early morning hair appointment. Stay tuned!
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