Deck the Halls

The word tradition comes from the Latin word traditionem which means "handing over, passing on". We have many yearly "traditions" at the Mountain Lake Lodge, my favorite being the Lodge's Christmas tree. Many Bigfork families and Lodge regulars come each year to have their keepsake photo taken in front of our tree, it is truly a wondrous sight.

Our Sous Chef, Jeff Collins (in the middle of Dana and Merrica in the picture to the right), decorates our tree beautifully every year. Our stately tree is 16 feet tall, with approximately 1300 ornaments on it, taking Jeff almost an entire day to decorate it. Guests are always struck by the beauty of the tree when they enter the Lodge, many exclaiming in delight how fantastic it is.

Along with decorating the Lodge for the Christmas Season, another tradtion of ours is the employee Christmas party which was held on December 17th. Employees look forward to this party each year as it gives them a chance to relax and spend time together without being on duty.

The party this year was especially fun with the delicious prime rib dinner prepared by our lovely restaurant manager Wendy, with all the trimmings, games were also played - our Mountain Lake Lodge word search was a hit, as usual - with fun prizes awarded to the winners, a dessert of decadent chocolate flourless cake finished off the dining, and of course, who would want to miss the infamous MLL employee gift exchange?!

Our gift exchange presents

Colten, Cassie, Tellie and Kathy enjoy the gift exchange

Kathy tries on her awesome new present

Adrienne picks a present

So, as 2009 draws to a close, we would like to wish everyone....

Happy Holidays!
from all the staff, and the owners of the Mountain Lake Lodge

Another tradtion is New Year's Eve Dinner at Mountain Lake Lodge...

We are very excited to be blogging and look forward to keeping you updated on our New Year's Eve Dinner and the New Year's Day Polar Bear plunge to follow!

Please enjoy some more pictures of our decorations and friends........

A Holiday Wine Tasting

"I wasn't going to taste many of the wines, but the Acrobat's bouquet and flavor was so intensely appealing I couldn't resist... and oh so good." - Robert

Our Holiday Wine Tasting on December 16th featured over twenty distinctive wines to savor, scrumptious nibbles of gourmet cheeses, lamb meatballs, and fabulous duck wantons - "I couldn't resist them drawing me back to taste over and over again..." said Paul ,while others also enjoyed our famous spinach and artichoke dip with brie. We would like to draw attention to and thank our restaurant manager, Wendy, for such a fantastic job with the hors d'oeuvres.

Besides the main event... The artists - WOW - we are very fortunate to live in a community of such highly talented artists! There was a rainbow of handmade gifts so tempting, pleasing to the eye and priced just right - from beautiful one-of-a-kind purses, lots of lovely and uniquely designed jewelry, hand-dipped caramel apples (yum!), designer originals, hand-made stem-glass charms, Bigfork Gift Certificates and so much more! The shopping for that someone special was a piece of cake (or.. candied apple?); well not really, because there were so many great choices. Not to mention that I found a few items for myself, too. Shopping and wine tasting was never so fun and easy!

"The name on one of the bottles of the Champagne made by the Roeder Family left me flat, but when Kevin poured it into the glass - I saw the very fine bubbles, picked up the glass and then I felt the bubbles bursting on my tongue. I was mesmerized." - Ray

 Jewelry by Nancy Thomas

 Erin pouring a taste

 Yummy treasts from Apple Trolly

Wine and shopping, a perfect combination

 Ornaments on display

A selection of the wines

Kevin, sharing his vast wine knowledge

Welcome to the Lodge

Mountain Lake Lodge is celebrating its 10th Anniversary... a real milestone in today’s economy. “Tin” is the traditional 10th Anniversary gift. We thought about wrapping the Lodge in tinfoil this year to mark our anniversary, but decided it might be a bit blinding to the eye...

The lodge was established by a local Montana couple in picturesque Bigfork, Montana - located in the beautiful Flathead Valley, minutes from Glacier National Park.

Over the years, our lodge has formed a close family with many "regulars" coming back time and again for those special occasions, or just to get away. We thank our family whole-heartedly for their loyalty and commitment to the lodge over the past decade. We are always looking to expand our family and new guests will immediately feel the warmth we have to offer here.

Maybe you were married here, or your boyfriend proposed to you on the deck of one of our suites, or your 8 year old had a birthday party in Riley’s and they can’t stop talking about it, maybe your spouse surprised you with a fabulous anniversary dinner in Terra or you just needed a getaway to re-charge , maybe you attended one of our special events....

Speaking of special events this week we are having a holiday wine tasting featuring wines by George’s Wines, and hosted by Kevin Marshall. There will be many wines to taste, yummy appetizers to nibble and numerous local Bigfork artists displaying their crafts. We'll keep you posted on how the event turns out!