Day Trip to The Sweet Palace

Savvy has been working 10-14 hour days with barely a day off each week (and loving it).  She came to Montana in August and is now the General Manager of her store.  She says no voodoo was involved.  Anyway, yesterday was suppose to be really nice outside and they (Savvy and Texter) had a choice, Freezout Lake and bird watching or The Sweet Palace.  You can probably guess where we went.

We loaded up in the morning with a bit of trepidation.  Lady K is prone to car sickness on longer rides.  Around town, no problem.  On the road, it's not so much fun.  Texter packed a bin of clothes and blankets and water and no big breakfast before we left.  Our problem then was a child who doesn't understand the concept she has to stay in the car seat and was really cranky about it.  But who could stay inside on a day that looked like this?

Our destination was The Sweet Palace in Philipsburg, Montana.  Part of the route we had been on several times as it is the road to Missoula.  But about halfway there, you turn off and head south.  (Actually, this forms a nice "loop" back down to Butte and back up to Helena.)  We parked across the street (in front of the library) and walked over to open the doors to this...

Row upon row, bucket and jar upon bucket and jar of every kind of candy imaginable!

Lady K was intrigued by the puppets they had for sale there.  And if I had an extra $55 I would have carried home a dragon.

Savvy did check out everything, but settled on a box of assorted handmade chocolates and then a little sleeve of 'beer' flavored ones (I think that's what they are).

I did selected a milk chocolate and dark chocolate nut cluster (pecan and cashew).  These things are bigger than my hand.

Savvy is making sure her selections are satisfactory and cussing me for bringing her before payday and not after. 

And a colorful display of candy everywhere.  You can chose to create your own bags of candy or they have some remade for you.  Texter and I selected our own.  She did a bag of jelly beans (Lady K loves jelly beans) as a 'potty' reward for Lady K.  Then we went through the gummies (blue raspberry for her and banana, orange flavors for me) and then the fruit slices.

Between trying not to drool on the candy displays, there is an area upstairs where you can sit and ponder your purchases.

After driving ourselves crazy trying to pick and choose, we decided lunch and a stroll around the rest of the town was necessary.

We made it as far as the soda shop across the street.  Savvy had a bison burger (tastes like beef) and a little cup of chili (which she had to share with Lady K).

Texter had chicken strips and homemade potato chips, while I had fish and chips.  Everything was freshly made and delicious.  Unfortunately, we did not leave any room for a malt. 

Working off lunch and the anticipated calories of all the candy we were bringing home, we strolled through Philipsburg.  One of the things I love were the little architectural features everywhere, from the buildings to the decorations on them.

There were several other places to eat and poke around in.  I can imagine during the summer tourist season, Philipsburg gets pretty busy.  It's just a bit up the road from a couple of large lakes.  But as delightful as the buildings and what is in them are, the outside is just as much fun with lots of statues around the downtown area.

Savvy and Lady K discover a garden area at the end of the block.  It must be really pretty in the summer.

The town is really a paradox.  First off, it is in the middle of nowhere.  This only served to strengthen my resolve to learn more about Montana history because I am often confounded about 'why here' with regards to the location of towns.  Secondly, there is obviously empty buildings and some for sale signs, but what is there is cute and pretty and very well done.

Back into the car we piled, Lady K only protesting mildly at this point and off we drove the rest of the loop home.  

How could you not love driving through country like this?  The lakes were still frozen over.

We had to stop for me to take pictures and Savvy ventured onto the 'ice' and checked out a hole.  I figured it was left from someone ice fishing earlier in the year.

Typical scenery.....yawn.

We drove through Anaconda and another case of wanting to know more about the state I live in.  I know vaguely (very, very vaguely) Anaconda was mining, but that's about it.  Having lived in a mill town in my early years, I can recognize 'company' homes, which were evident as we drove through.

So we started a little after 9am and got home about 3pm.  Weather was beautiful.  Lady K had no car sickness this time.  However, Texter and Savvy did pop some dramamine.  It seems I was the only one not dozing on the ride home.

Peeking up from behind Savvy's box of chocolates, is a little Easter bunny and a couple of malted milk 'eggs'.  And somewhere in there is a little bag with some licorice for a couple of co-workers who love licorice.  The big bag of taffy will be split up and taken to the library and Qdoba for consumption.  The rest will be slowly and carefully savored over the coming weeks.  And another trip is in the works, probably in the fall after the tourists leave (I'm not a tourist, I live here!).