Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to escape from reality for a quick and amazing five days in the beautiful state of Montana. Fifteen years ago, my grandparents built a house there and our family has been visiting every summer and winter ever since. Each year I fall more and more in love with the mountains, the fresh air, the WEATHER, and the small-town, slow-paced life of a little town called Whitefish.
With one stoplight, gorgeous backdrops, delicious restaurants, and amazing people, this town will steal your heart in under a minute. As I grow older I learn to appreciate each and every aspect a little bit more, and this summer was no exception.
Five days is definitely the shortest amount of time I have ever gone to MT for, but that wasn’t a problem. It just meant we scheduled our days to be jam-packed full! My sister and I arrived on Saturday around 1pm. My mom and grandparents picked us up from the airport and we headed straight into downtown for lunch. Immediately we were greeted with amazing weather with ZERO humidity, and Jen & I were in Heaven. The downtown area (pictured above) is so so cute and I love walking down the streets of shops, boutiques and coffee shops, but we were STARVING so we immediately stopped at Casey’s Bar for lunch. Their menu had changed since the last time I was there, and I was so excited to see literally the most perfect meal I could have imagined on the list. The “Montana” Grilled Cheese was made with mozzarella cheese, tomato, basil pesto, and balsamic reduction on sweet Montana sourdough bread. It also came with my newest obsession: TRUFFLE FRIES!!!! and I was in Heaven. I ordered a glass of Riesling and I was so content I didn’t care what happened the rest of the trip. It was already the perfect vacation to me.
After lunch, we went grocery (read: wine) shopping and then headed to the house to rest and relax. The time difference isn’t too terrible, but it’s enough to make you tired, especially after having to wake up at 5am for a day of flying! Jen took a nap while my mom and I watched Gilmore Girls until it was time to get dressed for dinner. I wore a cute summery dress with a leather jacket and booties, and ordered the most fabulous pad thai. This restaurant is also one I hadn’t been to in a while, and I loved the vibes it gave off. The bar had a sign that said “It’s better to arrive late than ugly” which cracked me up! The best part of the evening though, was that we ran into my friend’s parents and her mother beamed and hugged me, saying “Jordan!! So good to see you, are you famous yet?” She cracks me up, I was truly flattered.
The next day we woke up, made coffee and ate breakfast on the balcony. It was around 65 degrees, which means I was in absolute Heaven. (Again!) We got dressed and went golfing. It took about 3 and a half hours, so afterwards we all just hung out, took showers, made a delicious dinner and once again ate on the balcony.
The next morning we woke up pretty (very) early and got dressed in workout clothes, because we were joining my grandma at her 9am Booty Barre class. It was actually so much fun and quite the workout! Afterwards, we headed into Kalispell (another town nearby), went through the Starbucks drive thru, and then got spoiled by our grandma with mani/pedis!
Tuesday was a more intense day, because we woke up early again to hit the mountain, because we were going ZIP-LINING!! Whooooo! Guys I cannot tell you how amazing the weather is in the mornings in Montana!
Jen and I did eight super long and super fun zips throughout the beautiful mountains that we usually ski down. It was a day full of gorgeous weather, incredible views, and meeting some super friendly people! The entire time we had been zipping, my mom and grandparents had been hiking up the entire mountain. *insert laughy emoji here* Jen and I don’t “do” hiking, so we snagged a ride up the gondola, and met the family for lunch at the Summit! Later that afternoon we went for a drive in the convertible to the CUTEST little booth called “Cowgirl Coffee” for Italian sodas 🙂 It was just such a nice moment of the trip, hair blowing in the wind, yummy drink, super summer-y snapchat filter… I was so grateful to be on vacation!
That evening was a super nice dinner and wine tasting at the country club my grandparent’s house is in! We enjoyed INCREDIBLE appetizers like crab wontons, onion fried shrimp, and bacon wrapped oysters. I got to try a glass of fancy champagne, a rosé, a pinot noir, a French Chateau de Saint Cosme, an Italian Le Sughere, and a Napa Valley Cabernet! It was a dreamy night that dinner was just the cherry on top of!
The next day we were once again, busy busy busy, as we headed straight for our neighbor’s house, because he had offered to take Jen, my mom and I ATVing! We rode in a crazy car looking thing and went not off-roading, but off-off-roading!! 
It was super fun, yet super terrifying, and when we finished, we were COVERED in dust!! (and bugs) lol.
But it didn’t really matter because right after that, Jen and I went jet skiing on the lake. There is literally no greater feeling than coasting down the lake in the middle of mountains during the summer. It is so freeing! We had so much fun. That night we had my grandma’s “World Famous Spaghetti and Meatballs” 🙂
Thursday was my last day and I was really sad that the trip was coming to an end, but I was really happy because I finally got to RELAX! I slept in super late, worked on some internship stuff, and then started getting dressed for the evening. It was going to be a busy one, because we were going to a new bar in town, then dinner, then a musical, and then drinks with some family friends from home in Florida who were in town! The new bar, Spotted Bear Spirits, was amazing! The company makes their own vodka, tequila, and gin and all of their cocktails are insanely interesting. No such thing as a boring drink there. The aesthetic was also beautiful, I mean look at this place!
Dinner was at one of our favorite restaurants downtown, called Latitude 48 and we all shared an appetizer of Kale Chips that legitimately changed my life. The musical was called Liberty, and it was an American and patriotic themed show of songs, dance numbers and tap dances. It was incredible. My grandma and mom cried! Drinks with our family friends was a lovely end to the evening, especially because we had to drop them back off at the house they were staying in, and it was outside the city in the farmland, and we could see ten million stars. It was GORGEOUS!! The perfect end to my perfect trip.
Until next time, Montana♡
