#SIP N DIP GRRST FALLS FULL#

When the public isn’t mucking around in the pool is when the mermaids come out to frolic, and the prime seating is up at the bar. It’s just a really good time all the way around. Now, the Sip ‘n Dip is the upstairs lounge at the hotel and I’m pretty sure it’s the only tiki bar in Montana and I guarantee it’s the only one with mermaids. There’s some history in that place for sure. I’m not totally sure what that means but it’s sure interesting to think about. I was checking in with my wife, Jenn one time and she asked the desk clerk about the availability of any suites and the old bird said ‘Honey, we’ve got suites but not the kind you’re thinking of. From the outside it looks like any 1950’s motor inn, built out of cinder blocks in a horseshoe shape around a main courtyard but as soon as you get to the front desk you’ll realize that you’re in someplace different. Just east of downtown in this great Montana city is an old time motel, The O’Haire Motor Inn. How about I start with the location? Great Falls is probably one of my favorite places on planet earth, it’s a real cowboy town, running on farmers, ranchers and a little bit of oil.

'RIP Piano Pat Pat was one of the reasons that the Sip 'N Dip was named by GQ magazine as the '#1 bar on earth worth flying for' in 2003, coupled with the near-equally iconic mermaids behind the bar,' tweeted another fan who had experienced Pat's music.Jeez where to start with this little gem? I’m sure lots of you have been there, and if you haven’t, then you know someone who has. Truly a Montana icon who will be so missed,' NBC Montana journalist Maritsa Georgiou tweeted.

Bless you Piano Pat,' tweeted Montana's 24th Governor Steve Bullock. 'Her voice was uniquely hers, and it entertained generations. Pat's fans took to Twitter to lament the loss of the local treasure after her passing. However, it is assumed she died due to old age as well as complications arising from the injury from last years. The O'Hare Motor Inn's tribute message didn't reveal the cause of the icon's death. Piano Pat was moved to the Benefis West Rehabilitation center after her surgery (GoFundMe) How did Piano Pat die? Kerri Anderson started a GoFundMe for the musician and out of the $25,000, they were able to raise $21,451. The road to recovery was long and medical bills and assisted-living facility expenses weren't cheap. However, shortly after, she was diagnosed with a C Diff bacterial infection. The 85-year-old losing her balance and broke her hip and hit her head on her piano. Pat suffered an accident on August 15, 2020. I've met so many wonderful people,' she further said. 'It's just been a good spot all the way around. I don't know if I've got a grandmother challenge for them or what,' Pat joked. 'We get them from 80 to 21,' she said once. From 21-year-olds to someone in their 80s, Piano Pat was loved by all. Pat had to ability to command a room sitting behind the piano and her patrons weren't limited to a certain age group. Piano Pat at the Benefis Hospital in September 2020 (GoFundMe) Everyone loved Piano Pat

She was a single mom of three kids with a day job for 35 years as a medical transcriptionist at the Great Falls Clinic. A Rudyard native, Spoonheim began playing the piano since she was 12 years old. I'm just comfortable here,' she once said about the lounge that turned her into a celebrity.

#SIP N DIP GRRST FALLS FULL#

Pat had been a performer at the lounge for more than five decades and even though she cut down on her appearances in the current years but when she did, it was always a full house. She was hired as a fill-in for a piano player who went on vacation but he never returned to town cementing Pat's position at the lounge permanently. Piano Pat was a popular fixture at the Sip 'N Dip since 1963, a year after the Motor Inn opened.

Sip n dip grrst falls