We were advised that the two best things to do while in Helena were the Gates of the Mountains boat tour and the train tour of the city. The train is not really a train -- more like a Disneyworld tram. The tour was great -- it took us through the government area, the shopping area, the old pioneer and gold miners area, and the wealthy old home area. Helena is the only gold mining town that is not a ghost town. At one time there were more millionaires living in Helena than anywhere else. We saw Reeder's Alley, where the single men who were there for the goldrush lived. The tiny buildings, designed in the 1800's by a Philadelphia brick mason, have been converted to offices, shops and a restaurant. After the tour we went back there to explore and have lunch. We met a woman, and her caregiver, who told us she lives in a big orange house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the homes that the tour goes by. (More on that below.)
The third best thing to do in Helena is to visit the City Park. We drove up a hill behind Reeder's Alley, to see the fancy (newer, modern) homes, and came across the entrance to the Park, high on a hill. It was time to stretch our legs and go for a walk.
We had great views of the city, but the more uphill we climbed, the more we realized we weren't going to walk the whole trail.
Back in the car, we discussed what to do next. Jim said "Let's see if we can find the big orange house".
As we stopped for a traffic light in the center of Helena we saw a couple of deer prancing down the center of the street.
Without knowing the specific street, we knew the area, and figured there couldn't be too many orange houses. And we found it -- the woman and her caregiver were sitting out front. We waved and we were invited in to tour the house. Our new acquaintance is Murel (she pronounces it Merril). The house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built by two of his students. There are definite Frank Lloyd Wright touches everywhere. Murel inherited the house from her father-in-law, who, from what Murel said, had his finger in a lot of different things. It's a huge home and while the influence of Wright is there, Murel's put her own personal touches into the decorating (she was an interior decorator). It was quite an interesting tour and we enjoyed our time with Murel. It was obvious that she enjoyed sharing her home with us.
Here's a link to some more pictures of our day touring Helena.
