Dinner on the shores of Flathead Lake

What an evening we had with Doug and Amy Deaton. We left Bigfork on a boat and traveled through the choppy waters of the Flathead Lake to The Docks, a Lakeside (it is both lakeside and located in Lakeside, MT) restaurant/bar that has the best mexican food I've had since I was in Yuma, AZ.



After docking the boat we grabbed a table right on the water, discussed ordering sangria (they have 3 kinds) and then decided to go with margaritas. Dee-lish! The chips come with 3 different types of salsa so there will be something for everyone's tastebuds. We had a tough time deciding on entrees. There is quite a selection available on the menu.



I decided on Enchiladas Trio, Hill had Chile Verde Burro, Amy had the Fish Tacos and Doug had a Burro as well. Besides being delicious, the portions were also large enough to take home for another meal.



We headed back to the boat for a smoother ride back to Bigfork where we caught a phenominal sunset to wrap up a belly filling evening.



So if you are in the neighborhood, The Docks are located at 7135 Hwy 93 South in Lakeside, MT. If you are on the water, they are located on the west side of Flathead Lake (more toward the northern area) It's about 45 minutes to an hour south of the West entrance to Glacier National Park. 406-844-3625 for more info.



See you on the water .... or at The Docks!!!



-jay










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Northern Rockies Paddlefest 2008

We cruised down just south of Bigfork, Montana on saturday for the Northern Rockies Paddlefest held at Wayfarer’s State Park. It was a perfect day to be out on the water. Paddle fans of all shapes, sizes and ages came out to test the latest and greatest in paddlesports gear.

Local outfitters and paddle shops were out showing their wares and sending people out and back on any number of demos.

There was also a demonstration by Dubside, an amazing instuctior on how to roll your boat and right it. He had a Qajaasaarneq demonstration set up which he let me try and let me tell you, ... he makes it look easy.

What is Qajaasaarneq you may ask?
Qajaasaarneq is an excercise and training system performed on a double length of horizontally suspended rope. Each exercise consists of a specified position from which you must bring yourself completely around the ropes and return to the starting position. There are a total of seventy-four different moves, all with Greenlandic names and point values based on the degree of difficulty.

The Inuit, the indigenous inhabitants of arctic North America invented it over a thousand years ago. They developed these exercises for several purposes:

-To entertain one another with feats of strength during dark, frozen winters.
-To maintain the tough and demandin level of fitness required for the dangerous occupation of hunting sea mammals by kayak.
-As an on-land teaching exercise for learning to roll a kayak.

I definitely have some work to do before I will be entering any competitions.

It was a beautiful day on the water and there were smiles all along the beach!


More information on Qajaasaarneq is available at Dubside's website.


Be sure to visit Glacier Adventure for all of your Glacier National Park and surrounding area information.


see you on the water (in an upright boat I hope)


-jay






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What a weekend, what a show!!

What a weekend of Adventures we just had.

You'll be able to hear about all of them on Glacier Adventures with Jay & Hill at 10:00am MST on Whitefish Radio

Including, but not limited to, our trip to Eureka, MT for the Kickoff BBQ and concert for Rendezvous Days, then we'll talk to Robert Hanson of the Flathead County Dive team as they 'Clean the Fish'. We also talk to Dori Muehlhof from the Flathead Convention and Visitors Bureau, Leslie Kehoe from the Flathead Audubon was in studio to talk about upcoming birding trips in the valley, and of course the audio from our trip down to the taste of Bigfork which we probably could have made a show out of in itself. Pam and Barb from Farmhands were nice enough to sit down at our table last week at Wasabi in downtown Whitefish and talk to us about their fabulous program as we enjoyed sushi. And a last minute interview was Bill Lavelle who is a part of Bear Aware in the Flathead valley and they have a fantastic program sponsored by the Glacier National Park Fund coming up that we will be covering for next weeks show which is called "people helping people live with bears". It's happening at the Whitefish Middle School Auditorium on Saturday, May 3, 2008 from 2 pm to 5 pm. Whether you visit bear country or live in bear country, we encourage you to attend.

Our producer/editor Ross Strauser also talks about "Death by Chocolate" happening this weekend at the Conrad Mansion.... yep, we'll be there too.




See you on the trail.





.....and don't forget Glacier Adventure has all of you Glacier National Park and Flathead Valley information.




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A Taste of Bigfork

What a day, ... what an adventure in taste.


We spent the day walking around Bigfork, MT and sampling foods from over 20 local restaurants and eateries. There were local brews and wines as well. It was truly a great day!

The variety of food was amazing and the talent showcased would make you think you were in a major metropolitan area. We sampled everything from pork paprikush on sauteed spatzels to mini pulled pork sandwiches to cascabel rubbed buffalo to homemade gourmet ice cream and just about everything in between.

If you are ever in the Glacier National Park or Flathead area at the end of April, I really recommend the Taste of Bigfork. An experience your taste buds won't soon forget.

The party at The Garden Bar for the raffle was like a family gathering. People enjoying the blue sky day, delicious food, and plenty of drink.

We are counting down the days until next year's Taste of Bigfork.

364 days to go in case you were wondering.


We'll see you there.




-jay



Make sure to visit Glacier Adventure for all of your Glacier National Park and Surrounding area information.




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A Little Taste of Paradise

So Glacier Park Fans, spring continues to entice us with thoughts of summer days out on the trail and on the lake here in beautiful Northwest Montana, though snow is in the forecast for today! Got to love spring in Montana.

Friday night Jay and I had the pleasure of joining friends on an Adventure in Taste for our radio show, and what an experience it was!

For those of you looking to travel to Glacier National Park this upcoming summer, we encourage you to take the time to venture into the surrounding communities. Distances in the west are longer than you may be used to, but trust us, both the views along the way and the gems you'll uncover are well worth extra effort.

One such gem is the Culinary Design Studio in Bigfork, Montana. Check out a snippet from our write up from the evening below, and be sure to visit GlacierAdventure.com for the full story!

See you in the park!

- Hillary

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AN EVENING OF YOUR OWN
Up Close and Personal with Josh Auerhammer of the Culinary Design Studio
Tucked right outside the heart of the artisan village of Bigfork, Montana is the Culinary Design Studio, a vision realized for Chef/Owner Josh Auerhammer.

The venue is intimate and personal, the layout comprised of a professional kitchen flanked by an open dining room with seating for eight. There are no dividing walls between chef and table, allowing for a casual, easy accessibility to Chef Josh, and guests are invited to get up and mingle in-between courses.

READ THE FULL STORY, CLICK HERE



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Circling Flathead Lake, Montana

Today, Bruce and I headed out early to take a trip around Flathead Lake and see what was happening in the early spring around the largest body of water west of the Mississippi River.

First stop was a place called Buns by the Lake on 93 in Lakeside where I enjoyed what I will call a decadent cream cheese brownie that took me just about the entire day to finish. One bite was a dessert in and upon itself.

The next stop was a very, very cool little antique shop with an unbelievable selection of gifts. It's called Candlemas, located in Rollins, and Bhritta was the woman behind the counter who we chatted with for quite some time. We found out that not only did she build the fence around the property, but she also built the enormous stone wall out in front. She referred to it as stone therapy. A lover of provincial antiques, home decor, and gift worthy nick-knacks could spend the better part of a day in there. I picked up a bottle of raspberry-chocolate-merlot dessert topping sauce. I can't wait to try it.

Further down hwy 93 we came to M and S Meats where we picked up "a taste of the old west" in a pound of buffalo jerky. They also have other types of jerkys, sausages and meats. I'm not a big bison fan, but the jerky was good.

Our next stop was the S and K Marina where we talked to Tracy and he showed us one of a couple of floating cabins he's working on...

Picture this... you have a slip on Flathead Lake and in the slip is a floating cabin, complete with log siding. You spend the summer on the water, out in the lake (yes, the floating cabin is motor driven, drop anchor anywhere) fishing, swimming and enjoying all a lake front cabin has to offer... and then some. When the season is over, you pull your floating cabin out of the lake, bolt on the wheels and tow it up to an RV park on 40 and you now spend the winter in your cabin (complete with RV hookup) just a few miles from the Whitefish Mountain Resort. After the snow melts, you head back down to the lake (cabin in tow) and start the cycle all over again. SIGN ME UP!!

When we were done drooling over Terry's projects, we headed over to Three Dog Down where they have everything down. And I do mean everything. Stop in the next time you're in Polson, you'll see what I mean.

Continuing around the Lake we stopped off at Ricciardis Italian Seafood House (mile marker 6, hwy 35) only to find out that they have quite a line up of live music this summer, and this Thursday April 3rd, they have Yabba Griffiths & Traxx Reggae Band straight out of Chicago.

It was time for food so we continued up 35 to the Sitting Duck which is right on the lake in Woods Bay. We had a local brew from across the street and an order of wings and not only were the buffalo seasoning deelish, they were HUGE. 8 wings come in an order, but they are large, like a meal.

After a late lunch we hit the Flathead Lake Brewing Company, which is right across the street where Emily poured us a pint of the Whitecap Pale Ale as we reminisced about our trip around the lake. (for more info on the Flathead Lake Brewery, click here)

It was a great day, especially with it being early in the spring, I can't wait for the summer.
See you on the lake, or at least at the edge of it.

-jay

For everything Glacier National Park and Surrounding Area, go to http://www.glacieradventure.com/