To kick off our time in Montana we spent a week in Whitefish. Unfortunately both Shae and I were sick the entire time there and we weren’t feeling much better during our five days in Missoula after that.
That, and the fact that we had to work a couple of days during that time, meant that we didn’t end up getting to explore the city much. Here’s the limited stuff that we got up to in Missoula.
Where We Stayed
We stayed all five nights at the DoubleTree by Hilton Missoula-Edgewater. This is close to downtown and is just a short walk to the University of Montana, so it’s a convenient place to stay in the city.
It’s a nice enough hotel, but the internet connection was poor and our ceiling air conditioning unit leaked and didn’t get fixed properly by their maintenance team. Here’s a full review of our stay.
What We Did In Missoula
Walking Along The Clark Fork River
The hotel was right next to the Clark Fork River, so it was nice taking our dog Truffles out for a walk each day along the long, paved trail running alongside the river.
Walking Around Downtown
Missoula isn’t a massive city, but it has a fun, vibrant downtown area thanks to it being a college town.
If you’re looking for souvenirs from your visit, it’s worth stopping by the pet-friendly Montana Gift Corral on West Front St as they had a lot of cute stuff.
Missoula Public Library
To help her be able to focus on working, Shae went to the Missoula Public Library two or three times during our stay. She loved the library as it had great working spaces with a lot of natural light and beautiful views, plus there was a MakerSpace and more.
Paddle Boarding On Flathead Lake
After being sick while in Whitefish, we’d decided to change up our plans and return to the Whitefish/Kalispell area after our five days in Missoula. We had some mail from our mail forwarding service we needed, so we arranged for that to be sent to the hotel we’d booked in Kalispell.
However, towards the end of our time in Missoula neither of us felt well enough to go hiking which was the whole point of returning to Whitefish/Kalispell. We therefore switched up our plans again, cancelling our hotel in Kalispell and rebooking our original stay in Helena, Montana’s state capital.
This caused a problem though – our mail was already on its way to the hotel in Kalispell. That meant that rather than driving east from Missoula to Helena, we had to make a big diversion northwards to pick it up. That didn’t require both of us and Shae had been disappointed to miss out on paddle boarding or kayaking on Flathead Lake while we were in Whitefish, so I dropped her off at Sea Me Paddle Kayaking on Flathead Lake while I drove up to Kalispell.
My journey wasn’t very successful because even though our package had been delivered (I’d checked the tracking details online that morning), it was delivered to the hotel’s mailbox off-property and they hadn’t gotten it that day yet. The manager with the key was out too, so I stuck around the area for a little while before heading back to pick up Shae as the hotel said they could forward the mail to us once they had it.
Although I had no luck, Shae had a much more enjoyable time! Here’s her quick account of her paddle boarding experience:
One thing I was really excited about in Montana was going to Flathead Lake. More specifically, I wanted to go out on Flathead Lake to see just how clear the water was. I thought about renting a kayak, but once I saw there were paddleboards available I thought I’d give it another try. I’d paddle boarded three times before this, but hadn’t attempted to stand up on one in 13 years. I had a blast on the water – and in it – but I might’ve had a little easier time if I’d rented the kayak. That being said, the water temperature was wonderful, so even though I went in a few times after standing up it was a refreshing treat to swim in. I had the rental for about an hour and I’ve made a short video for you to see what the experience was like – splashdowns and all!
St Ignatius Mission Parish
On our way up to Flathead Lake and Kalispell, we stopped quickly at St Ignatius Mission Parish. I waited with Truffles in the car while Shae went to check it out. The church was built in the early 1890s and features a lot of imagery on the walls and ceilings.
What’s particularly notable about the art is that in addition to being mostly Christian imagery, it’s mixed in with imagery from the belief systems of the local Salish people.
Where We Ate & Drank In Missoula
The Notorious P.I.G. BBQ
On our final night in Missoula we headed downtown to have dinner at The Notorious P.I.G. BBQ. I mean, how you you resist a restaurant with such a great name?!
I ordered their beef brisket and pulled pork with sides of potato salad and baked beans…
…while Shae got beef brisket and a full rack of ribs to share as I wanted to try their ribs too. The Notorious P.I.G wouldn’t make my top 10 BBQ places we’ve eaten at on the road trip, but it was a very tasty meal nonetheless with a decent amount of leftovers.
The covered outdoor seating at the restaurant is pet-friendly, so Truffles was able to come along and stare intently at us until she got her own serving of BBQ.
Montgomery Distillery
On the walk back to our hotel from The Notorious P.I.G BBQ, we passed by Montgomery Distillery. They had some outdoor seating, so we decided to stop for a quick cocktail. I tried their rye whiskey neat and on the rocks which was very good, while Shae got their Purple Porch which contained pea flower gin, lavender syrup, lemon mint and soda which she enjoyed too.
Sacred Waters Brewing Co
OK, so this is in Kalispell rather than Missoula, but I figured I’d include it here anyway. While Shae was paddle boarding on Flathead Lake, I’d gone up to the hotel in Kalispell we were originally planning on staying at. When it turned out our mail wasn’t there yet, I figured I’d stick around for a little while and hope the hotel manager returned in time to get our mail.
As I mentioned earlier, that didn’t end up being successful. While I waited though I stopped in at Sacred Waters Brewing Co for a quick flight as someone had recommended that to us. I had Truffles with me and they had pet-friendly seating on their patio out front. Their beers were all good, with the stout being my favorite.
[…] spending time in Whitefish and Missoula, our third stop in Montana was Helena – the state capital. It has a really cute downtown area […]