Missing the Music

On a recent visit to the Highwood Bar in Highwood, MT I grabbed my camera and snapped a few quick photos of this iconic bar/steakhouse.

If you aren’t from the area and want a geographic description of the location I tell people that Highwood is located between Belt and Fort Benton or you can turn off US Hwy 87 sooner if departing from Great Falls. It’s a beautiful drive, some varied geography and rolling crop and pasture land.

It was chilly outside the day we were there and we were actually in search of a hot cup of coffee and a restroom. We had been out to Lost Lake and a cold wind took us a bit by surprise.

The only other person at the Highwood Bar was the bartender. It was about 11am so it obviously was not a hopping spot yet! He quickly put a pot of coffee on and chatted with us.

You can almost drive by the bar if you are coming from the Fort Benton side. It’s a small building, log exterior, set fairly close to the paved road.

Longtime piano player, “Piano Jack” Myllymaki was a fixture here for many years. A tribute to the piano man is on one of the walls. A couple of great artistic renderings of this icon would make anyone wish he was here today to tickle the ivories.

The piano would not be classified as great – it has seen better days but it’s a nice old upright that has a good sound. And, it’s a walk down memory lane for some of us who remember bars that typically had a piano in them!

The Highwood Bar has a wall of local brands on varnished wood. Names of the brand owners are below the brands and it was fun to see how many people I knew. It is interesting to try and read the brands…I get my rocking/lazy whatevers mixed up and I’m never sure if it should be read left to right, top to bottom etc.

We hated to leave the Highwood Bar but we had other places to visit on our trek through Central Montana.

On my next visit to Highwood I will plan it around dinner. The menu at the bar is not extensive. In fact, it reads like a tribute to the beef industry! Just thinking about their great steaks makes me hungry!