Call it fate, coincidence, or luck, but our visit to the Wibaux Palace Cafe this morning was one that was simply meant to be.
And like most great things in life, it happened purely by accident.
We arrived in Wibaux, MT last evening to stay at our Harvest Hosts location, Beavercreek Brewery.
It rained most of the afternoon and we were glad that we were staying in the parking lot across the street from such a wonderful and lively restaurant.
We hurried through the rainy parking lot and made it a night of watching college football and grabbing a bite to eat in the warm and dry environment.
At the end of the evening we nestled back into our nuCamp T@B 400 camper to get a good night’s sleep before heading to Billings in the morning.
![beavercreek brewery](https://livesimplenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/beavercreek-brewery.jpg)
Our Breakfast Plans
However, those plans changed a little when we woke up this morning.
You see, we typically will make breakfast in the camper. And today we had planned on making eggs, potatoes and toast.
But after we woke up to publish our Sunday Update on our Old World Garden Farms website, we decided to look for a local coffee shop, cafe, or diner to enjoy a warm and hearty breakfast.
Yes, of course we could have made breakfast. However, we wanted to conserve our propane gas, as we knew that we were headed for colder weather for the next few days.
And because we would not be hooked up to electric, our only heat source was the propane tank that ran our Alde radiant floor heating system.
![streets of Wibaux](https://livesimplenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Wibaux-downtown-area-1.jpg)
Well, at least we both agreed that it was a fantastic excuse to enjoy a breakfast in town.
After a quick Google search we decided on the Wibaux Palace Cafe. And the best part of all, it was a short 1 1/2 block walk to where we spent that night.
As we headed down the street, there wasn’t a person in sight. After a very active evening in this little quaint town, the morning crowd was all but absent.
And never in a million years would we have imagined what was about to happen.
Wibaux Palace Cafe – A Story of People Gathering Together
![palace cafe dining room](https://livesimplenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/palace-cafe-dining-room.jpg)
As we opened the doors of the cafe, we were happy that we made the choice to have breakfast there.
The front lobby is one of an old hotel that first opened in 1915. And just off to the left of the lobby was the entrance to the Wilbaux Palace Cafe.
It reminded us of an old diner and we immediately fell in love! This cafe was exactly the type of establishment that we talk so much about in our day to day travels.
The one that the locals love to hang out and that are owned and run by the members of the community that we visit.
And because we arrived on the early side of the morning, we had the place to ourselves.
![inside Wibaux Palace Cafe](https://livesimplenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/palace-cafe-seating.jpg)
Which we didn’t know at the time, was a sign of fate.
We had the pleasure of first speaking with Lataea who took our order. And within minutes we were striking up a conversation Sherri and Trudy.
I am sure that it is quite obvious by now, but neither of us have a problem talking to strangers. In fact, that is what we love about this trip.
We get to meet so many people that start out as strangers, but end up as friends in a matter of just a few minutes.
So as we were waiting for our breakfast to be cooked by Jeff, we had the pleasure to tell the staff about our trip around the country and how we ended up in Wibaux for the night.
We loved to hear all the suggestions from the staff about where we should head next. And we even received a recommendation for when we head to Houston, TX, to go to The Original Kolache Shoppe.
![breakfast chicken fried steak](https://livesimplenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/palace-cafe-breakfast.jpg)
We enjoyed chatting to each and every one of them. And when Jeff brought out our breakfast order, he even let us try his special sauce!
The Story of Fate
The breakfast was absolutely delicious! And we even got the chance to try homemade Chicken Fried Steak. This is one dish that Montana is known for. And boy, it didn’t disappoint!
But as we were paying for our meal at the counter, fate struck.
We gave our new friends our business card so that they could follow our journey around the country. And as Trudy flipped it over to see the Old World Garden Farms logo on the front, her jaw dropped.
She asked us if we were the same couple that blogged about a little farm that started many years ago. We laughed and told her that yes, we had a website about our place back in Ohio.
![Trudy from Wibaux Palace Cafe](https://livesimplenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/mary-trudy-and-jim.jpg)
But it was what she said next that simply amazed us. She told us she remembered that we wrote a story a long time go about GMO crops and chemicals being sprayed close to our garden and bees.
That is when we realized that she had been a follower to our website for many years!
She popped out around the counter of the diner and gave us both each a huge hug.
We couldn’t help to be amazed that we had met by fate in this tiny little town. And with the off chance that we skipped making breakfast in our camper and decided to eat breakfast the Wibaux Palace Cafe which Trudy owned.
It truly is a small world!! There is nothing more special about this trip than getting the chance to meet both our blog followers and new friends as we travel across the country!
Happy Traveling! – Jim and Mary
CURRENT TRIP STATS
- Day 21 of 365
- States Visited 4 / 50
- National Parks / Monuments Visited : 4
- Stayed In : Billings, Montana
- Miles Driven : 260
- Total Trip Miles To Date : 3270
- Total Gallons Used : 242.22
- Biking Miles : 0
- Biking Miles To Date : 71.3
- Hiking Miles : 0
- Hiking Miles To Date : 42.05
On September 9th, 2019, we set out in our NuCamp T@B 400 Teardrop Camper to travel to every state. You can check out all of our dates here : Dates for the States
You can follow along by signing up for our twice weekly email updates at the bottom of the page. You can also follow us on Facebook : Live Simple Tour Facebook and Instagram : Live Simple Now Instagram Page.
Hi Jim & Mary,
I can not express what a joy it was to meet y’all! Thank you for the lovely post about our town & the Wibaux Palace Cafe. I hope you enjoy my brother’s, Kevin, kolaches & coffee ( The Original Kolache Shoppe & Zeppelin Cold Brew Coffee) when you get to Houston.
Looking forward to reading all about y’alls adventures.
Trudy Burk
It was truly our pleasure to not only visit Wibaux, but also to meet the entire morning crew at the Wibaux Palace Cafe! What a wonderful memory that we will always have to cherish.
My daughter Jennifer Boatner work’s as waitress at wibaux diner there.interesting story!
It’s a wonderful place!!
This Clint Lunde from DanWalt Gardens in Billings. I grew up in Wibaux and have had many a breakfast at the Palace. It’s A Great little town with great people and isn’t the Beaver Creek Brewery an awesome place to hang out? They serve a chocolate chip cookie with every paddlefish stout.
I’m glad you got to stay there!
What a small wold indeed Clint! Yes, we loved our time there at both the Palace and at Beaver Creek – great food and great people. We also really enjoyed walking through your gardens yesterday – it was simply stunning to see the flowers all around! You will have to stay tuned, we will be doing a story on that for our Wednesday post – I think our followers will love seeing the gardens in full color.
I grew up in Wibaux, and raised my family there. I worked for a time in both the Palace Café and the Shamrock; busy times when the 4=lane Interstate 94 was being constructed through there.
What a great place to raise a family!!!
This is Brenda Maas with Visit Southeast Montana regional tourism. Thank you for your post. Your story shares the essence of what makes this region so special: it’s the people. There always seems to be some sort of connection, some crazy occurrence, and isn’t that what travel is about?
Wibaux is a fun town and we would love to have to you visit again — or other places. I may be a bit biased, but I think you could spend a week or more in the region alone and a MONTH in Montana. Just sayin’.
Safe travels and shout if you need more ideas.
brenda@southeastmontana.com
You are so absolutely right Brenda! It is all about the people we meet along the way that make the places so special. We will be back someday for sure to spend more than a week, it is just to beautiful not to do! Jim and Mary
My second cousin lives in Wibaux my parents homesteaded in that area we have traveled there many times Geneie @Jim Welsh @Ruby Tennant are my second cousins have ate at the Palace Cafe many times
How lucky to have been to such a wonderful place so many times.