|
|
 |
|
|
8/1
Kind of a lazy start today. Gary went fishing for a couple hours & then we headed for town. A little shopping for the grandgirls & us and a delightful dinner at ‘The Signal’ in old downtown on Main St. Wonderful menu choices and not pricey, in spite of a dining room that would indicate otherwise. Took some pics of old downtown & hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Back at the coach, Gary is once again in waders and heading for the river. This is a great place for anglers!
|
|
|
|
Below: The Hamilton Volunteer Fire Department building on the corner.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In 1906 Hamilton’s first City Hall was built. On the top floor were the City offices & on the main floor was the fire dep’t.’s horse-drawn fire wagons & the City Library. The main entrance shown on the left, had the fire doors where you now see windows. The library entrance was around the corner. Patrons often complained of the books smelling like the horses. Eventually the City offices & library were moved, but the fire department remains. The fire truck doors are now on the side of the building.
|
|
|
|
|
Some of us remember the old car dealerships built right into the business district. This one is still selling Chrysler products.
|
|
|
|
8/2
Saturday is Farmer’s Market day here. They also have an opening-of-market tradition similar to Missoula. A man with a triangle announces the opening of the market by striking the triangle and shouting gently that the market is open. There was everything from homemade aprons to homemade breakfast burritos, organic vegetables, all perky in their basket displays, to herb garden plants, fresh flowers to geodes, fresh-picked cherries to artisan jams & jellies. The folks who make jewelry were far too well represented, as they have been in all the markets we’ve been to. You could register to vote, you could sign up for a survey on sustainable gardening, you could buy tickets to the Hamilton cultural events or support the effort to pay to transport the Nation’s 2008 Christmas Tree to Washington D.C. from the forest here. The market is held on an old-downtown street that is shaded by huge trees. There are leisurely strolling families, focused housewives who know just what they want & who they want to buy it from, a smattering of tourists, & people socializing as they greet one another walking the market runway or ‘chewing the fat’ with a vendor-friend. Vendors compare notes between customers and children find their friends in the crowd and do the fun running about that is all part of the day.
After enjoying the market, we went to the wifi café & uploaded the website & checked emails. Returning to the coach, guess what Gary did? Yup, fishing! Shortly after returning from his sojourn to the river, the weather began to change. The skies were a mixed bag of sunshine/scattered clouds as we headed for the market. The sunshine got less sunny & the clouds closer together as the day progressed. About 4pm, thunder was heard and, within minutes, we saw lightening. The rain is coming down gently with a slight breeze. Hope it keeps coming. Last year at this time, Montana was burning. Some of these rainstorms have helped prevent that this year, so far.
|
|
