The Grabow Hotel
On the road to Yellowstone along the route northeast from the Kellogg "farmstead" is fine scenery with arid peaks alternating with conifer-covered mountains rising above meandering streams. I love a free-flowing creek and they abound in sparsely populated Montana.
The wildlife, though, may be there, but we have not seen it. Just a few ducks, an unidentified bird of prey and a squirrel at a roadside stop. Surely, it will be in abundance at fast-approaching Yellowstone National Park.
We reached Missoula - home of the University of Montaina - about lunchtime. I had offered up a local eatery, The Top Hat, but Min was quick to her phone going over the menu. Mert didn't like a bit of it. And they said it was "$20-$30."
Mert spotted Tennessee -based Cracker Barrel - way out here in the wild West, and she made a bead for it. We all did enjoy the sweet tea especially, and the vegetables and biscuits.
Later, we looked off to our right and saw a towering structure that we learned was the smoke stack for the Anaconda Mining Company. At 585 feet high, it is 30 feet taller than the Washington Monument and one of the tallest brick structures in the world. A state park has been built around it.
We drove past Bozeman with its beautiful setting in a valley surrounded by mountains, then made our arrival at Livingston, Montana.
Each of these previously reserved hostelries is approached with some dread for fear of getting stuck with a dud, but we have found, thankfully, that seldom happens.
We came upon a small but bustling town lined with historic buildings that almost all appeared to be in a fine state of preservation. Livingston is said to have over 400 structures on the National Register of Historic Places.
We soon pulled up to the three-story Grabow Hotel and, as with many small inns nowadays, we were on our own to check in. We entered a charming lobby with walls lined with historical photos and plenty of inviting couches. There was a heavy dark staircase leading up to the second and third floors. Thankfully, our delightful quarters were just behind the lobby - no stairs to carry up all our accoutrement as two prior stays.
Behind the lobby door we first saw a bedroom and an adjacent bath. Down the hall was another bedroom and another bath - this one with two showers. There was also a handsome sitting area with a 16-foot ceiling included.
This hotel was started by William and Elizabeth Grabow in 1908 at a time when visitors were pouring into America's first National Park - Yellowstone.
John D. Rockeffer was among the guests at the Grabow when six trains arrived daily at the large brick Livingston depot. The station still stands and Livingston is on the Amtrak line from Chicago to the Far West.
A granddaughter of the Grabows reacquired the beloved hotel in 1998 and has restored it to its former allure.
After a jaunt around town and a stop at the world's most colorful Mexican restaurant, the boys unmercifully won Hand And Foot so much that, as the frustrations rose, we switched to Mert's favorite game - Up and Down The River.
On tomorrow to Yellowstone.
Historic Livingston buildings have lovely mountain backdrop