Jay About Montana... Revenge of the Spa!!!

Sorry, this has been the most protracted 3 part vacation recap ever. I have been kind of busy. Seriously, I swear!!! Anywho, my special lady and I finally wrapped up in Wyoming and headed North to Big Sky Montana. We first had to come to the realization that even though Gardiner MT to Big Sky is really fast as the crow flies... we are not crows and you have to take a huge detour to get there. No problem, time was an ally!! In Gardiner itself we exited Yellowstone park and looked for a place to eat. Gardiner looks like a town that you run out of gas in and then become a character in a horror movie, and not the one spearing hapless teens. We looked around and were not hopeful, but then we came across the Sawtooth Deli. Excellent pub food, a screened in deck, solid Grateful Dead tunes, and very friendly and competent service. Given the rest of the options, 2 thumbs up! OK, moving on. We decided to drive up and through Bozeman. Now, granted it was the 4th of July but Montana is crazy outlaw. You can get fireworks anywhere along the road, a mortgage in grocery stores, and you can gamble and/or buy discount cigarettes in gas stations. Plus the speed limit is 75mph, 65 through towns. Do you know how fast you can get places with an extra 10-20mph?! It was awesome!!

Bozeman was cool, its clean and bustling downtown belied the town's small population. There were tons of cool looking shops, restaurants, record stores, etc... We just wandered around and did a little browsing. Then it was on to Big Sky. The country running into the mountain is beautiful, lush woods, running creeks and rivers, blue sky. All at 85mph!!! Once we got into the town at the base of the mountain it was a quick stop into Lone Peak Brewery. Friendly clientele, solid beers, no nonsense bartender. I almost traded my Red Sox hat to a cook, he didn't have anything good to trade back though. We then shot up to Moonlight Basin Lodge.

We had a cool little house up in the mountains. The area is overdeveloped but folks we met said it was never crowded and as chill as the weekend we spent there. Our cabin had a deck w/ a hot tub overlooking the valley and was very clean and comfortable. For chow we ate dinner twice at the Lodge itself. The bartender was super friendly though I would suggest sticking to beer, for an older guy he didn't know shit about mixing a cocktail. The food both nights was really quite good. We ate at the bar one night and the dining room the next. A few of the hits were the trout which was good and the tamale appetizer which was off the hook. The gnocchi and the fillet were also quite good. We really enjoyed the setting and the food. 1 3/4 thumbs up. The last thing I have is breakfast on Saturday (oh yeah it was snowing that morning... seriously). The Bluebird Cafe. Good, very strong coffee and some really nice hearty but not too heavy breakfast fare. Service was ok, as were the prices. Solid place to grab a quick bite in town. 1 1/2 thumbs up.

And that is that!!!