i know helena

Over the last few days, I’ve had the pleasure of hosting my cousin from Arizona.  She’s 18, headed to college at the end of the month and was willing to fill in for our summer sitter for a week.  It has been fun and interesting to show off Helena to her.  Hosting someone in Helena always helps me to appreciate what we have and rediscover what I’ve taken for granted.

So, what to show off to Emily?  It probably helps that Emily is easy-going, easy-to-please and fun to have around.  One of the themes of her time here has been: “this isn’t something you do/see every day.”

We were able to pop in the Cathedral one afternoon.  I think the Cathedral holds a wow factor for anyone.  Even my young boys were in awe.  We hopped on the Last Chance Tour Train – Emily enjoyed the mansion district and neighborhood feel of our community.  As we were on the Tour Train, we really enjoyed having so many people taking the effort to wave at us.  State workers walking the capital loop waved at us.  Construction workers remodeling a house put down their tools and waved at us.  People dining outside at Bert & Ernie’s waved at us.  Shop owners stepped out of their doors and waved at us.  Way to go Helena – thanks for making our tourists feel so welcome.

After the Tour Train we explored the Capitol Building and the Montana Historical Society. We took a trip to Park Avenue Bakery for a lemon bar and Birds & Beasleys for our free tour train gift – thank you Sandy and Birds & Beasleys that was really generous.  And, just so you know, Emily and I didn’t get free gifts just because I’m in tourism – everyone who rides the tour train then goes to Birds & Beasleys with their ticket gets a very generous free gift.  Emily and I got huckleberry jam and the boys picked out antler whistles. 

One evening we headed up to a top secret location and picked huckleberries – not something you do every day - with the Hoffman family.  The dogs followed us around dropping balls at our feet and we enjoyed the fresh mountain air and the fading wildflowers.  After the picking we enjoyed some Big Dipper ice cream topped with the huckleberries – yummy!

On Wednesday, Emily headed to Alive@Five  and was impressed by our sense of community.  She said that where she’s from they don’t have that kind of social community event and she really enjoyed it.  As dusk settled in she headed up Mount Helena with Greta (cousin her age) and they toured Helena together as Greta pointed out all the “cool” locations that the younger people appreciate - apparently the Murdock’s Parking Lot is a good place to go if you’re in high school – who knew?

One evening we were invited to an ice cream social at the Little Red School House thanks to our friends at Montana Marketing and the St. Peter’s Foundation.  Emily was able to experience this awesome Montana event location and to hear the Helena Barbershop Singers – again not something you see every day. 



On today’s agenda is lunch at Café Zydeco where Greta works and then a trip out to the Hauser Lake.  Tomorrow before Emily heads out will head over to the Great Northern Town Center for the Kids Summer Fest.  If we had more time I’d take her to so many more places…

Over Spring Break of this year, my boys and I discovered a new passion – Geocaching.  “Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online.” –Geocaching.com

Since March, the boys and I have geocached all over Montana, parts of Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Utah. 

 Before geocaching, when I would tell the boys on a Saturday afternoon, we’re going on a hike.  I would get mixed responses, but now I tell them we’re going on a geocache and they get all excited to go on a treasure hunt.  They argue about who gets hold the smart phone and seriously discuss which trade items they want to take and what to leave behind in a cache. 

Since beginning our geocaching adventures, I can honestly say that I’ve discovered a whole new Montana and for that matter a whole new Helena – I paid attention to the police memorial at the Capitol Complex, I took a serious look at the outside of the St. Helena Cathedral and I discovered this brick structure downtown that I’m sure I walked by a couple hundred times of the years, but never really “saw.”    

If you’re interested in geocaching, check out www.geocaching.com.  Plug in your zip code (Helena’s is 59601 if you’re interested in caching here) and you’ll get a list of all the geocaches in the area.  There are about 1.5 million geocaches world-wide.

The Helena Valley has received a beautiful start to the winter season.  Over the last couple of weeks the Montana skies have “let it snow”!  It’s the perfect conditions for the outdoor enthusiast in all of us, to bundle up and breathe in some fresh, crisp air. 

Come into town on Friday, stop by the Base Camp or Montana Outdoor Sports to rent the gear you’ll need tomorrow for your cross-country ski outing.  The experts at either of the stores would be happy to help match you to the gear that you’ll need.  And, if you happen to forget your gloves, they’ll hook you up with a great pair.

On Saturday, you’ll need to fuel up.  Start the day with a great breakfast at Steve’s Cafe.  Steve’s was voted Best Breakfast in Helena and a quick glance and their great menu is sure to have your taste buds tingling.  How about a homemade sausage sampler featuring Italian, Mexican chipotle and chicken apple sausage?  Or delicious huckleberry pancakes with huckleberry syrup?  Now that’s sure to give you the jump start you need to ski your heart out. 

From Steve’s you’ll head over to the Bill Roberts Golf Course.  The golf course is located at 2201 N. Benton and is open free to the public as a cross country ski area in the winter season.  The course is groomed for both traditional and skate skiing.  A map of the course can be found on the Base Camp’s web site.  Just click “Bill Roberts XC Ski Trails” in the right hand column and a PDF of the trails will pop up.  The average skier can budget about one hour to make the complete full loop, but there are many other options and ways to ski the area so have fun and enjoy! 

As I’m working on promoting Helena to a larger audience, I have to remind myself that I need to break out of what I do every day and explore all the awesome things that Helena has to offer.  More often than not, most of what I do in Helena are things that I can do with my two boys.  Fortunately, I have a really cool job that forces me to go outside of my norm. 

As I was looking at what to feature in the outdoors section of 24 Hours in Helena, I noticed that I’ve never really looked at folfing.  And, the Helena area has a few folf courses so I’d better get on it.

So what is folfing? “Short for Frisbee Golf, a game played following the same rules as golf, but using specialized frisbees or ‘folf discs’ instead of clubs and balls, and posts or baskets as targets instead of holes. Folf is far better than golfing because the equipment is cheaper, most courses are free, and you don’t have to wear silly outfits. Also known as disc golf.”

I’ve played folf before.  When I worked in Yellowstone National Park, Canyon had a very rustic folf course and I’ve also played a few times with my husband on a course that he created.  I’m not all that great, but folf is a wonderful chance to get out hike around in the mountains.  For our “date night”, we headed out to the South Hills’ Phantom Course to play a game of folf.

To get to the course, take the South Hills exit.  Turn right onto Saddle Drive at the round-about.  There’s a large parking area near Mendocino Drive.  I live in the South Hills and it usually seems that there are at least a couple cars in the folf lot.  The course is opposite of the parking lot, on the south side of Saddle Drive.

The first hole is pretty easy to find and the other holes wind through the area from there – going up and down the hill – so you get a good workout and a beautiful view.  I recommend that you plan to walk ahead and scout out the posts – they are tough to see from the “tee”.  I was glad that my husband had done the course before.  And still, we did have to ask some other players where one hole was located.  The Base Camp (outdoor store in Helena) does have a great map online of this course and others in Montana that you can download and print before you go - probably one of those things I should have looked into before I got out there!

We did talk to a couple people on the course who just moved to Helena a couple of years ago.  One thing that they mentioned is that folf in Montana is different than in other areas because there are so many trees “in the way”.  There is not often a clear shot to the hole.  So, I guess if you’re coming from another community this is an obstacle you should be aware of.

You can pick up your folf disk right here in Helena at Bob Wards (3323 Dredge Drive, phone 406.443.2138) or at the Base Camp (5 W. Broadway, Downtown Helena, 406.443.5360).  You’ll find that there are all sorts of disks that you can invest in – drivers, mid-range, putters.  You can make the sport as affordable or as expensive as you’d like!  But, it is easy to keep in cheap.

Helena looks forward to hosting your folf experience.  Check out the South Hill’s Phantom Disk Folf Course or talk to the staff at the sporting goods stores.  I’m sure they’d be happy to recommend their favorite course in town.

Experience. Discover.  Live! 

Summer is fast approaching and even though the Rocky Mountains are a bit evasive with the occasional spitting snow, it is Spring in Helena.  Last week when I hiked the south hills of Helena, I encountered four different wild flowers.  I’m not a big wild flower person.  I only know the names of about ten different flowers and I only know them because my kids have asked me.  A couple of days later, I took my boys up on the same trail and we were able to find six different types of flowers together.  Well, six if dandelions count and five if they don’t.  We brought the wild flower book up on the trail with us and we were able to learn some new names and we got to experience some beautiful spring colors together. 

There’s always something new to discover, isn’t there?  It really seems endless.  As I’ve traveled around the northwest doing travel shows this winter, not only have I been able to discover the places that I was at - I was also able to get a glimpse of all these travel booths at the shows and I’ve realized that I have a whole lot more to discover out there.  At these travel shows, some people come up to me and they ask: “Why Helena?”  Fair enough question when I’m across the aisle from Aruba - where the answer to the question is obvious with white beaches and crystal blue water.  The “why come to Helena” goes hand in hand with the words discover, experience and live.  When you come to Helena, you’ll be able to have an experience and you’ll be able to discover something and this combination will make a lasting impression because you’ll be able to live in a new way. 

The weekends of May 21-23 and June 11-13 are both showcase weekends in Helena and offer chances for you to discover something new about yourself.  Something that is yet untapped and something once discovered you’ll always remember is waiting for you here in Helena.  Classes during these weekend range from mountain biking to gourd carving.  There really is an amazing array of opportunities - all listed and explained on our web site.

There’s also a Triathlon 101 class one June 4 & 5.  I mention this because it’s not on a showcase weekend, but it would definitely be a new learning experience.  I never thought I was the Triathlon 101 kind of girl, but last night I had a dream that I was doing a triathlon … so maybe my subconscious was telling me that it was time to have new experience and discover something new about myself.  I hope that you’re able to take the time a check out the web site or at least I hope that you’re able to pull out the wild flower book and discover the big amazing world that awaits you in Helena, Montana - Learn to Live!

For lodging information and additional travel information visit: www.gohelena.com.

For May events in Helena visit: www.travelhelena.com/events.html. 
And, if you just need a good old-fashioned phone call, please call me at 866-9HELENA and I’d be happy to answer any of your Helena questions.