JUST FOLKS HOMEY WELCOME AND COMFY ACCOMMODATIONS AWAIT VISITORS TO

The Osprey Inn is the place your parents should have bought on Flathead Lake years ago. You'd be scheduling family reunions there to this day.

But not to worry.

The inn, with its four bedrooms and a cozy log cabin still makes a fine spot for a mini-family reunion. (Many people - honeymooners in particular - skip the family idea entirely and head straight for that romantic log cabin.) Our family happily combined three generations at the Osprey Inn recently, soaking in the hot tub and freezing homemade ice cream to go with fresh local raspberries one evening, then gathering around a breakfast of huckleberry pancakes the next morning. This is not the bed and breakfast to reserve if you're after exquisite architecture or sophisticated interior design. It's homey. It's comfortable. It's vintage '70s-era lake place. The rooms, however, are updated with cozy wedding-ring quilts, fourposter beds and antiques. They feature lots of amenities: a basket of wine and fruit on the dresser, bowls of trail mix and mints on the vanity. There are fluffy terry cloth robes and complimentary tubes of sunscreen. The TV lounge features a fireplace and a player piano. "Our goal has always been to make people feel like they're coming home," says Sharon Finney, who owns the inn with her husband, Wayne. "Wayne's favorite line is `Just pretend you're visiting your favorite Aunt Martha, only you don't have to make your bed in the morning."' The best part of this B&B is the waterfront. There's a canoe with plenty of life jackets. And on warm summer evenings, the Finneys light a fire on the beach for star-gazing and s'mores. Some nights they're the only Americans around the campfire, and they wind up eavesdropping on four different languages. This inn gets lots of favorable attention in European guidebooks to America. It's located eight miles south of Kalispell on U.S. Highway 93 near Somers. Visitors may use the inn as a launch site for treks into Glacier National Park, or simply as a base for exploring the lake itself. The Montana Grill, known for its fresh Northwest cuisine, lies a mere 200 yards down the highway. The stuffed artichoke and the grilled salmon are delicious. Bigfork, with plenty of artsy shopping, galleries and restaurants, is 11 miles away. The Bigfork Summer Playhouse presents a full schedule of musicals throughout the summer. Rooms rent for $95 and reservations, particularly for July and August, should be made well in advance. Two-night minimum stays are required during those months, but a single night may be reserved for an extra $10. The inn stays open five months of the year, and opens during the winter only by special arrangement. The inn is also non-smoking, and off limits for pets. Between the perils of the deck and the dock, the inn is not appropriate for small children. If your family's fairly grown up, and your Aunt Martha's just moved into a condo, however, this could be a perfect site for a lake place reunion.

Copyright 1996 Cowles Publishing Company
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