Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Montana ~ vacation highlights

Though Montana was not our destination...it was one of the pleasures along the route.  Our path took us through western Montana...


...where we veered off the main highway and took the scenic route between Missoula and Butte.  And scenic it was!

As I mentioned earlier...this 'road less traveled' took us through the old silver town, Philipsburg...where we spent a wonderful day.  It is an historic old town...with original buildings and friendly people.  We had lunch at Doe Brothers Soda Fountain...and decided to try the P-burg special appetizer...


...deep fried pickles with dip.   So naturally...I took a photo...and the owner saw me and came over to chat...and wondered if I could take photos of the rest of our meal as well...and e-mail them to her later.  She thought they might come in handy on the website...or the menu.
 

And since Ruth really wanted a photo of their famous huckleberry sundae with hot chocolate sauce...she whipped up a complimentary one and had it sent to our table.  If you ever pass by Philipsburg...go have a huckleberry sundae...and tell Ruth I sent you.  (You might want to try the pickles as well!)

We were told that we must stop by the candy shop while we were in town......and stop in we did.


This candy shop is every child's dream!  The Sweet Palace has been a fixture in Philipsburg since 1934. They have a large viewing area...where one can see 'what's cooking'.  The aroma of freshly made candy made it hard to leave.


We checked out many of the historical buildings...and then headed to the hills.


We heard there were sapphires out there for the taking...and so we decided to try our hand at mining. When all was said and done...I had a small handful of sapphires...mostly teeny...but two decent sized ones that are worth doing something with.  It was a fun experience...but if you go...don't wear a white top.

And so ended our short stay in Montana.  We followed the rig below out of the state...


...and wondered if Montana had their own 'pilot vehicles'...since it seemed we were always following something with the Montana logo.

Enjoy the day!

16 comments:

  1. I love the idea of a State Pilot Vehicle!
    This post should be on a Montana Tourism website - who wouldn't want to go where there's a sundae that looks like that, and sapphires too?

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  2. What pretty country it is! Wow! Ruth sounds so friendly. I'd love to visit her establishment and have one of those huckleberry sundaes. Hope Christina gets in there and starts snapping a photo or two. :D And they have a candy shoppe like that?! Outrageous. Some people just have all the blessings.

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  3. So now you know where to take the Grands for candy...but phone ahead to make sure they are open.

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  4. Judy, I just got caught up with reading about all your travels. You and Elmer sure know how to find the most interesting places and people. thanks for taking me along on your travels.

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  5. You got a free sunday because you were taking pictures of the food?

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  6. Looks like you did a lot of fun things on the way. And came home with sapphires as a souvenir. That sundae looks yummy - and huge!

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  7. Your post today was an interesting look at a part of Montana. Looks like you are having a fun time.

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  8. I adore Montana! Even though I am originally from Hawai'i and am an ocean-loving island girl at heart, I love the wide open spaces of Montana. I have family there; we went for the very first time last October, then again this May. I can't wait to go again.

    Glad I found your blog!

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  9. Judy you know I loved this post of my home state Montana. I got so excited to see the photos ! The Huckleberry sundae made me laugh out loud. Only in Montana are all things huckleberry.
    Funny you photographed the back of the "Montana" pace car (I call them). I always wish I owned one, just because it reads Montana!
    It appears you all enjoyed yourself in the Big Sky Country! Welcome home :-)
    Hugs

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  10. So...did you like fried pickles? I know I would love huckleberry sundaes; thanks for the tip. I had forgotten about sapphires being findable in Montana; my son's elementary teacher gave him one once. I have yet to visit Montana but now I know a few places that I will not want to miss!

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  11. Deep fried pickles are popular around here too. But then, this is the south where they deep fry just about anything :).
    Personally, I like the sounds of that huckleberry sundae. How sweet of the owner to send you a complimentary one.
    Montana does look very scenic.

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  12. What a great town! I must put it on my list of places to make sure I get to one day!

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  13. You make me want to pack up right now and head to Montana. Your photography and documentary make it all seem like so much fun and interesting. What a compliment it was to that restaurant owner that you took pictures of her food, and when she sees how good of a photographer you are, she will be so happy that she asked for your pictures. The sapphire mining looked like an adventure too. Thank you for sharing Montana with us. The more blogs I read about this state, the more I want to visit it.

    Your new header photo is so beautiful!

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  14. Wonderful Judy! A fried pickle. I'm going to keep my eye out for one of those :0)

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  15. Montana looks very pretty! I'd love to visit Ruth's restaurant and that large candy store! WOW!

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  16. Wow you did Philipsburg up right. Ha ha I never even noticed the second floor of the candy store. Too busy checking out all the candy or swooning over their ridiculous fudge.

    Great photos of the town. They should hire you for tourism advertising :)

    You should ask Chris about her sapphires...the little stinker =]

    Nancy Drew's remark...perfect=)

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