Jana Malinek Photography: Philipsburg: The Road To Yellowstone III

Hwy 1 is taking us southwards from the Ohrmann Museum in Drummond to a much larger city of Anaconda.

All we are expecting again is a nice day and the amazing Montana scenery in the heart of the wild West. The main goal of our day is to reach Virginia City and that is still many miles away.

We were not thinking of taking detours but the sign on our left is too tempting to ignore.
Philipsburg?

"We sure need coffee, ..." is a plausible excuse and before we know it our silver steed named Honda is left at the curb of Broadway street, the main drag of this century old, well preserved mining town.

It feels like we've stepped back in time; surrounded by some of the oldest buildings in the West we are ready to walk straight in and along the way, shoot without a tripod, straight from the hip, or better yet from the eye level.

Cameras loaded with fresh memory cards we are on a lookout for a coffee bar and a bank or ATM!

Cunningly we manage to climb to the higher vantage points from where we are able to survey the entire town. It's too bad that we cannot make it all the way to the roof.

Across from us is The Broadway Hotel. Old as is, it is still functional and we are making mental notes: how about settling here for the night next time?

Next to the hotel is a brewery and further up are more old building with some unique businesses inside. Oh, it will be a great walkabout today. Our cameras are already purring but nobody in town seems to notice.

It is high noon when,the shootout breaks at its earnest.

Missing the lens hood I am paying dearly for the mistake! The deadly sun glare cannot be avoided and makes an unwanted and lasting impact on the memory to be.

Deciding to change the strategy I look down and commence to shoot low.

There they are! Firing at their earnest! I can easily get them now!

Ahhh, loser me! Failed to notice that my wide lens betrayed my feet!

Too late ..... they are already speeding away!

Opportunity missed - no more shots from here!

Deed done they are heading straight for the bar! Some local characters (under a pretense of having a drink) already sit there in waiting.

"Say, gardeners have the best dirt, huh ?

Wonderin'if them strangers understand that."

Oh no, thank you, we are photographers, eh? We are sorry, but no dirt please, those lenses are very touchy.

But we would love to share a cup of Java here with you, if you don't mind.

Greenhorns! Sure, jus' settle and have your drink.

No harm done;
on the contrary - sharing the coffee shop with the garden girls we are having the best times of our lives.

With the last powerful drop gone, we check our equipment,
spring to our feet and
hit the town!

First the the micro brewery. Called Philipsburg Brewing Co, it is hidden inside a handsome corner building dated as 1888.

And, again: in the whirlpool of action I forgot to ask the name of their of beer ... what a shame!
Could it be Philipsburg? Aha, everything can be found on Internet: click here

Then the Sapphire Gallery!. If you love real stones just click.

We are discovering that this area is rich with sapphires (ahh yes), and we are going in to check it out.

Looking at the price of this gorgeous set a thought occurred to us: What of the following would we prefer to attach to our bodies?

This on your left,
or
a couple of pro-camera bodies and a superbag with a couple of professional lenses both in a 10K range, maybe a tripod and an off camera flash or two plus other trimmings, and still have money left for lunch? Or two.

It is an amazing set of local blue sapphires and sparkling diamonds in a price range that, just like those cameras and lenses, are beyond our reach.

Still, beautiful things are always nice to look at.

So - we fire a couple of shot from and walk away.

This sparkling bracelet sells only at a fraction of the price but it would still equip one with some prestigious photo gear. It would also look great on the wrist while gardening ... but no, seriously - it is a piece of art!

(Oh, forgot ... everyone's an artist! No, no no - put that credit card away!)

In the dark corner of the jewellery store rest some heavy duty safes. We admire the pride and passion that those, long before us, used to put into making of things. Right here - at home!

All blue we leave the sparkling stones of the Sapphire Gallery wondering to the next door in hope to sweeten up..

The Sweet Palace, world famous candy factory with its thousand sweet selections, pink, white and smelling ... oohhhh-sooo-gooooddddd .... is welcoming us with: