This is part of an ongoing series highlighting things that the team here at TWA love.

A lot of people want nothing better than to leave work at closing time and get away from the office. We’re a bit weird at TWA. Sometimes after eight hours together, we all head some place to spend more hours together just hanging out. It’s a bit like family, except we’re not related and we don’t dread holidays together. But seriously, we enjoy each other’s company and thought we might share a few places we really treasure.

Bozeman Hangouts

If we just want a few brews, we make a short walk through a couple parking lots to the Hop Lounge.  They have 50 beers on tap, many of which are Montana-made craft beers.  They’ve got you covered from dark to light and sour to hoppy and everywhere in between.  They’ve even got to-go options for your beer.  Seriously!

They’ve got a great atmosphere and the TVs are often playing some sort of Red Bull/extreme sports movies and videos.  

Their tag line is “beer, chicken, and vinyl” and on the chicken front they’ve got fire-roasted rotisserie chicken and hand-cut fries.  Really yummy.  But if you want even more food options, you want to check out Nordic Brew Works.

They have a huge, beautiful, clean, open space with high ceilings.  Just like Hop Lounge, it’s not far, though more of a short drive than a short walk.  Also like Hop Lounge, they have plenty of beer plus they brew their own too!

Their speciality is pizza and the original cheese pizza is amazing.  But before that pizza comes make sure to order the Dirty Potatoes.  They are fried potatoes in a curry spice blend, topped with pickled beet relish, scallions, and sweet chili aioli.  If you’re really ravenous you can even add some braised pork on top of all that.  

Nordic is also located in this wonderful building called The Market which has other stores team members love, like Garden Barn, which has so many fun plants, as well as Catch and Slachicha which have great clothes to choose from.  

On the other side of town is Montana Ale Works, which also has a large selection of beers (are you noticing a theme yet?).  But they don’t just have beer, they’ve got a wicked jalapeno and pineapple infused tequila they make in house.  You should try it at least once!  The food changes seasonally but you can always count on yummy selections.

Outta Town

Sometimes it’s not enough to just get together after work for a few hours: sometimes we spend the weekend together!  Crazy, right?

Virginia City, Montana

First stop is a place where our VP has his home so we get to hang out and party there.  It’s a small, historic town that has real history and character.  It was the new territorial capital of Montana back in 1865.  Activities include:

• Ghost hunting (that’s us, not sponsored by the town or anything)

• Backyard camping

• Sunset watching

• School gym basketball at midnight

If you want to see the town at its busiest, the summer is the time to come.  That’s when all the lodging, shops, restaurants, and saloons are open.

Island Park, Idaho

Last year we rented an Airbnb here for a birthday celebration.  It was a log cabin that had plenty of room and games for us.  We managed to cross country ski together (if you haven’t done it, it’s really hard and tiring, but we bonded!).

We had a great time and we went back this year and had a talent show.  First place went to Jessie for her baton twirling to the Titanic theme song, but she was followed in a close second by Mo killing it with some Irish dance.  Tabor and Jadon came in third with a super dramatic drum and guitar combo band.  We still gave participation trophies to Elysia who did a bit of stand-up and Cody who frankly freaked us out with his flexibility skills. 

If you’ve got suggestions in or out of Bozeman for us to add to the list, tell us!