Montana summer!! ⛰️🐎🤠

Recapping my work trips to Kalispell, Whitefish, and Bozeman, MT this summer. Complete with where I ate, where I shopped, and my favorite highlights from each trip!

When I first became a flight attendant, I was most excited to travel to the big name cities that almost everyone looks forward to- London, Paris, Rome, etc. What I didn’t expect is that some of my favorite places to explore would actually be in the cities I least expected. I’ve traveled to Montana several times this summer, and it has quickly become my little slice of heaven.

Kalispell & Whitefish, MT

Earlier this summer, I had a trip with an FCA layover. I may be a flight attendant, but I don’t know every single airport code off the top of my head. I don’t know why I was expecting FCA to be in Arkansas, but when I googled it and saw that it was actually Kalispell, Montana, I was thoroughly surprised and excited.

On this trip, our entire crew got to know each other pretty well. Throughout the trip, one of the pilots kept raving about the “huckleberry wings” at a restaurant in downtown Whitefish. So, when we got to our layover, we all met up and went to said restaurant to chow down. It’s pretty rare for pilots and flight attendants to hang out together on domestic trips, so this was a pleasant surprise for all of us.

I decided to stroll downtown and go in some of the local shops after dinner. My first stop- antiques. I love decorating with antiques I’ve curated from my travels, it’s become one of my favorite hobbies.

This store also had the cutest doggo who greeted every person that walked in.

After antiquing, I went into some of the other tourist shops, finding some cute postcards to send to family (editing to add that my brother’s got lost in the mail 🙄), a magnet to add to my collection, and a whole lot of huckleberry themed items- which is apparently a huge thing there!

My haul for the day! My antique finds include a decorative glass swan and a beautiful glass cream and sugar set (for only $10!! NYC could never!).

I ended up calling my friend Kate afterwards (I needed to show her my antique haul immediately, specifically the swan because we are both obsessed with swans) and we chatted while I sat in the park and enjoyed the nice weather and people watching. After a quick stroll back downtown, I headed to my hotel to pack up for my early morning flight the next day.

Bozeman, MT

Occasionally, I’ll get a super long layover on my schedule, and this month I was able to get 30 hours in Bozeman, Montana- a paid vacation in my eyes. I’ve been to Bozeman briefly before, but it was so short of a visit that I was never able to explore.

Our flight didn’t land in BZN until 1AM, so first up was a good nights rest 😵‍💫. One of the flight attendants on my crew had been to a bunch place called Jam! in downtown Bozeman before and said it was delicious, so we decided that we had to go first thing in the morning. This was quite the brunch, complete with a massive chocolate milk, stuffed French toast, and breakfast sausage.

obligatory fit pic + phone eats first

We walked off our feast with a stroll around downtown, going into several stores, Heyday being my favorite for little gifts and knickknacks and Country Bookshelf being my favorite for books. Bozeman is quite possibly one of the cutest towns I’ve been to, with local shops and character everywhere. It feels like a Hallmark movie in the best way.

Picked up some Huckleberry Jam to try with the family! My dog's name is Huckleberry and he would love being the star of the show in MT.

Now we’re up to present day- where I’m currently writing this in Wild Joe*s Coffee Spot in downtown Bozeman. When I originally got this layover, I thought it would be the perfect time to catch up on my writing- I’m a little behind because it’s been such a crazy few weeks!! Alas, I’ve gotten distracted and only written this one, but I digress. We’ve been sipping on spritzes and coffee, reading, writing, chatting, and people watching over the past few hours and it has been the most peaceful and relaxing time.

Me writing what you’re reading right now… crazy right?

After our coffee shop time, we headed out in search of thrift stores, vintage clothes, and antiques. We ended up stopping at two different stores- Rare Bird + Sacks Thrift Store. If you’re into curated vintage clothing pieces, Rare Bird is a must to stop at! If you’re more into the Goodwill vibe, then Sacks is for you- they also have an amazing book section! I found so many new releases for $2 each.

Thrifting haul includes a Boston hat and 2 books I've been eyeing! There was also a hail storm in the middle of said thrifting- just needed to add that in because it was the most random storm I've ever seen.

I don’t know about you guys, but it never crossed my mind that Ted’s Montana Grill would actually be in Montana. We have them at home and I knew it was a chain, but never thought it would actually be in Montana, if that makes any sense. It’s quite similar to us having KFC at home, but when I saw a KFC in Kentucky the other day, it seemed too on the nose. Moral of the story- we went there for dinner🫡. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

One bison slider + one beef slider with a side of onion rings pls and thx. There was also the cutest dog in the lobby, just needed to include him.

Alrighty, now you’re all caught up on my trips to MT this summer! Montana has become one of my favorite states to visit and I have so much left of it to explore. Thanks for reading this slightly chaotic post, see you next time!!

xx,

Caro