Dave:
Stopped off in Butte on our way to Bozeman, for the express purpose of sampling our first pasties (pronounced pass-tees; as the girl at the Town Talk Bakery told us, “Pasties are what strippers wear.”). Basically dough filled with meat, potatoes and onions, they’re a miner’s staple from the bygone era when Butte was arguably the premier mining town in the country, from the late 1800s until World War I, when its population was three times that which it is today. It was also home to the Dumas Brothel, considered the longest-running house of prostitution in America, operating legally from 1890 until 1982.
Stopped off in Butte on our way to Bozeman, for the express purpose of sampling our first pasties (pronounced pass-tees; as the girl at the Town Talk Bakery told us, “Pasties are what strippers wear.”). Basically dough filled with meat, potatoes and onions, they’re a miner’s staple from the bygone era when Butte was arguably the premier mining town in the country, from the late 1800s until World War I, when its population was three times that which it is today. It was also home to the Dumas Brothel, considered the longest-running house of prostitution in America, operating legally from 1890 until 1982.
Unfortunately, the Town Talk had completely sold out of the daily supply, as it was homecoming in Butte (who knew?). Homecoming for what, we never found out, though it also begged the question: Why would anyone want to return to Butte? It seemed to be a really depressed area, with its best days well in the past, and an abnormally high number of “Horrors of Meth” billboards. I’m honestly not trying to beat the meth thing to death, and I realize it’s a problem throughout the country, but seeing the attention it gets out here, it must really be at a whole ‘nother level.
Anyhow, the girl at the Town Talk really wanted us to try our first pasties, so she sent us to another café in town, which turned out to have closed before we got there. So, after driving around the very unexciting town of Butte for thirty minutes, we cut our losses - still pasty-less - and headed to Bozeman, where we had a tasty dinner at Montana Ale Works (42 beers on tap, with over half from Montana breweries). Who needs pasties!
We’ve been very impressed with the quality and quantity of Montana microbrews (Big Sky Brewing Company‘s Moose Drool Brown Ale was near the top of the list), so MAW was like a celebration of the local bounty on our last night in Montana. And don’t worry, Josue, we’re bringing some of our favorites back with us!
