Head’n South or Where did the Mermaid work before this bar?
Coming back into Montana from Canada is really no big deal. Happens thousands of people every day. I have crossed the border about a dozen times over the past few years. It still feels a little odd leaving the States and feels comfortable coming back. Crossing at Little Chief portal is actually picturesque. You can see a pine forest with mountain peaks in the background at the top of a two lane climb out of Waterton Lakes Nat’l Park into the US. We had a few days before we need to be in White Sulphur Springs so we did what I always like to do, just explore the area and to see what is around the next corner. Every piece of clothing we had with us was needed of a washing machine. We stopped in a KOA in Great Falls to address the fact that everything was dirty or dusty including sheets, towels!) and to catch up on the blog post.
I have heard and read about the Sip n’ Dip in Great Falls for years. My current favorite murder mysteries, written by Keith McCafferty, features a trout fishing guide / private investigator that takes clients to the Sin ‘N Dip after a day on the river. It has been listed as a must-see tourist attraction in numerous magazines over the years. So, I really needed to see this place.
No, she does not have a Coors tattoo, bad reflection
Like a lot of things that you picture in your mind, the Sip N’ Dip didn’t quite match up to my imagination. It was located in the top level of a motor inn in an older part of Great Falls. Yes, it did have real live honest to goodness mermaids swimming bar. Yes, it had a tiki bar motif that had been last updated 50 years ago, probably in the ‘70’s. However, the bar tender was friendly, the place was packed at 6 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, the mermaid accommodated every patron who wanted a picture with her swimming in the background (she blew a bubble kiss if you put money in her tip jar) and we got to cross an adventure off the proverbial list. The Princess did not want her picture taken with the mermaid because she was afraid her Gloria Steinem Foundation membership would be revoked.
After the cooler temps in Canada, Great Falls was just too hot for us to stay and we were ready to move on after one night. Down the road, less than 100 miles from Great Falls, is Lake Elwell. Trees become rare when you go east of Great Falls. You are out in the grassland with 50-mile blue-sky views. Did not expect much for a campsite. We only needed a place to park the rig one night. We found a VFW camp, a small, lovely and free camp ground with shade at right on the lake. I couldn’t figure out what the trees were but they did provide shade and the place was almost empty. This is a great stop less than day out of the Glacier Park if you ever find yourself traveling the Hi Line on the way to Glacier.
This is an accurate depiction of the number of trees on the Hi-Line
As we slowly moved towards our eventual destination for the next weekend, we made a quick stop at Fort Benton to pick up flour from the Montana Flour and Grain mill for our friends at 222 Artisan Bakery back home. The flour mill is a small place but I am told the flour is made from some special wheat. All I know for sure is that the resulting bread is wonderful.
One step closer to great bread!
Our next stop was at Many Pines, a Forest Service camp ground in the middle of the Little Belt Mountains in central Montana. It is large by Forest Service standards but the individual sites are spread out and, because of my certified status as old, it only costs $5 a night. From this location exploring the Little Belt’s was easy and the photo opts were everywhere.
By the way, we found a nice little coffee shop in Lewistown. A beautiful courthouse and a Carnegie Library built in 1905 from local sandstone. A very nice town to spend a few hours exploring.
Next stop, Red Ants Pants (RAPs) Music Festival.
Dennis
