annals of a summer family vacation, episode 2

Day three: Butte Montana.

We were only there for about two hours, but Butte made a big impression on us. We stopped there really only because we have some friends that lived there for a couple of years and have some good stories about this small former mining town.

First stop, the Berkeley Pit. It's a monsterous relic from a large scale pit mining operation that was shut down in the 80s once all the copper had been stripped out. Now it is a huge crater right in the middle of Butte, filled with toxic water. It's shocking to see such a tangible example of humans' total disregard for the landscape, let alone the neighborhoods that were demolished in the 50s to make way for the pit.

We make a stop at the house the Stapletons' once called home. We decided that if you're going to live in Butte, this place wouldn't be so bad. It is right downtown and quite lovely, if a little decrepit. 
But the real gem we found in Butte was Matt's Drive In.
We found this funny spot in our Roadfood book, and had to stop for a milkshake.
Liam drank his entire milkshake and spent the next two hours holding a plastic bag in front of his face because he made himself so sick. But that was after we realized we were sitting next to Mae, the very friendly owner of Matt's. 
We learned that Mae had just celebrated her 97th birthday and had owned the place since 1943, after having worked there as a teenager in the 30s. She was wonderful, and so were the milkshakes. Here's hoping we're all so lucky as to be hanging out at a lunch counter eating ham and fried egg sandwiches when we're 97.