“The more drinks we had, the funnier it got.” “I joked that we should hire some mermaids,” Ms. Johnson-Thares was sitting in one of the circular booths with her mother, and they started to brainstorm. But newer motels had opened near the highway, and the O’Haire pool often sat empty, dispiritingly for Sip ‘n Dip patrons. Locals still dropped in to hear Piano Pat. By the mid-1990s, the Sip ‘n Dip was in steep decline. (But there is nothing at all gay about this state. “These weird, little spots usually have a lot of heart, and I think that’s why people seek them out,” said Kenneth Smith, a founder of Roadside America, a state-by-state compilation of offbeat tourist attractions.Īlong with the Sip ‘n Dip, Roadside America lists Montana charms like the Testy Festy, where bikers annually gather to eat fried bull testicles and men participate in a drunken who-has-the-biggest-undercarriage contest. Johnson-Thares, whose family owns the O’Haire, recently drew statewide media attention by pushing against the accepted view of masculinity in Montana: She advertised online for a merman - Tuesday night at the Sip ‘n Dip is ladies’ night - and the posting went viral, prompting responses from senior Montana politicians.įor reasons that should by now be clear, the Sip ‘n Dip has become a must-visit for fans of Americana run amok - the wacky places where the human spirit gushes to the surface in an unexpected geyser. “I don’t know how corporate would react if they knew I was moonlighting as a mermaid,” she said.) “Stuff like, ‘Did I remember to turn the coffeepot off when I left the house?’” (Claudia would not tell me her last name, explaining that she has a conservative day job. “Toward the end of a four-hour shift, your mind can start to wander,” she said. They do flips, swivel their hips and blow bubbles, rising to the surface (which is out of view) every 20 seconds or so to take a breath.Ĭlaudia, one of the mermaids, said the hardest part of the job is staying in character. The pool closes around happy hour, and women in mermaid outfits, goggles and flowing wigs begin performing in pairs. In the daytime, you can spy on swimming motel guests.
#Sip n dip global stores windows
The cavelike Sip ‘n Dip has two large windows that look directly into the O’Haire pool. There, swimming behind glass six nights a week on a rotating schedule, you will find 12 women dressed very convincingly as mermaids.
To find this treasure, you walk past the stack of Western Ag Reporter newspapers in the lobby and climb a narrow set of carpeted stairs. I don’t know how else to account for the Sip ‘n Dip, a kitsch-tastic tiki bar hidden inside the O’Haire Motor Inn here. It always breaks through - sometimes in unintentionally hilarious ways - even in the most unlikely places. The wind chill has been known to hit 40 below.īut you can’t hold life back. The primary employer is Malmstrom Air Force Base, which services nuclear missile silos. Big-box stores and chain restaurants line the weary main drag.
Great Falls, home to 59,000 mostly conservative citizens, can be a soul-deadening place. When a study recently found Great Falls the least gay-friendly city in Montana, one man wrote on a local news website, “Let’s keep it that way.”
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