During COVID in 2020, Eric and I decided to finally take the trip I’ve been dreaming about for years, and drive the entire Pacific Coast Highway from the top of Washington down to the southern tip of California. We drove from our home in Denver, Colorado to the start of the PCH in Olympia, Washington, and along the way made a few fun stops.
On day 2, after leaving Cheyenne in the morning, and stopping in Buffalo, Wyoming for a quick break in the middle of the day, we finally arrived in Bozeman, Montana to relax for the night.
We checked into the brand new Element Hotel right in the center of downtown. It’s a perfect location within walking distance to anything you may want to do in the city, and with incredible mountain views in the distance. The city itself is very vibrant, with tons of young people walking around enjoying the last of the incredible summer/fall weather. We spent some time walking around looking in the shops before heading to dinner.
We went out for dinner at Blackbird at the recommendation of a friend. We sat at the beautiful bar in the back of the restaurant, and had the most amazing meal. If you are stopping in Bozeman, this is definitely the restaurant that needs to be at the top of your to-do list.
They have a fantastic wine list and an entire wall of small production wines to choose from. We picked an awesome white that paired perfectly with the insane amounts of food we tried.
In typical Lauren and Eric fashion, we ordered WAAYY too much food in an attempt to get a good mix of things from the menu. The absolute standouts were the burrata, the rabbit liver pate, the cauliflower, and the corn agnolotti pasta.
After dinner, we decided to stop for a nightcap at Plonk bar and restaurant for some incredible cocktails. They have some incredible creations, including quite a few house infused liquors to choose from. After a long day of driving, it was the perfect ending.
The next morning we stopped by Starbucks before hitting the road again to our next destination, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for lunch and Spokane, Washington as our final destination for the day. Along the way we stopped briefly in Alberton, Montana at the Montana Valley Bookstore. If you’re driving through the area, I highly recommend checking out this fantastic used bookstore!
We were a bit crunched on time, and wanted to get to the start of the PCH quickly. Throughout the trip, we noted a few cities that we definitely want to go back to for extended vacays in the future. Bozeman is definitely at the top of that list! Have any tips for spots we should add to our next Montana adventure? Let me know in the comments!
