Drinking Montana: Mermaids Make Sip 'N Dip ‘Absolutely Insane In The Best Way’

A few tourists briefly ogle, mid-sip, as a mythical sea creature glides past the bar, her long and shiny tail billowing in the water. 

But it’s just another Monday night at the Sip ‘N Dip Lounge in Great Falls, Montana, a tiki bar tucked into the second floor of the O’Haire Motor Inn in downtown Great Falls.

The Sip, as it’s affectionately known, is one of those great melting pots where you're as likely to rub elbows with a group of friends celebrating a birthday by tackling one of the bar’s legendary 10-shot fishbowls as you are to spot a few tourists soaking in the scene. 

Many celebrities have also stopped into the lounge, which has been in business since the 1960s, to take in the mermaids. 

But they’re a relatively new addition. 

Starting in the mid-1990s, the mermaids made a one-night-only appearance each New Year’s Eve, until 2000 when, at the staff’s urging, owner Sandi Johnson-Thares decided to make them regulars and eventually built up to their current nightly appearance.

Word of the Montana mermaids has spread ever since, thanks in no small part to GQ magazine, which dubbed the Sip ‘N Dip the “#1 bar in the world worth flying for” in 2003. 

A steady stream of other accolades have followed and now the bar is one of the must-see places to visit for anyone passing through Great Falls.

“It’s a huge tourist attraction,” said Kacee Laronde, who was tending bar at the Sip ‘n Dip, where she’s been working for the past couple years. 

“It’s not like your normal bar,” she added. “It brings in the most interesting people.”

Not Known For Ordinary

The rather uninteresting exterior of the O’Haire Motor Inn belies a much more interesting story within. 

Originally built in the early 1960s by two brothers, the concrete-and-cinderblock building once served as a military bunker and had a helicopter landing pad on its roof. 

Though the original Sip ‘N Dip had an art deco theme, it got a tiki makeover in 1965. 

Johnson-Thares’ stepfather bought the business in 1968 and she’s been at the helm for the past 35 years, guided by a pretty simple mission: “Make it a stay, make it a story.” 

And the hotel seems to do just that, provided that people welcome this sort of quirkiness. 

“If you’re looking for a Hilton …” Johnson-Thares said, before trailing off. 

A Hilton it is not, and that’s precisely the point.

The hotel is in the midst of a “retrovation” in which each room is being updated with mid-century furnishings that will more fully restore its heyday authenticity.

“We’re not known for doing anything that’s ordinary,” Johnson-Thares said. 

Kitschy Dream Comfort Zone

That sense of authenticity courses throughout the building and it’s a reason why the Sip is so resoundingly adored. 

Soaking in that kitschiness is why first-time visitor Bill Dumas purposefully made a detour to Great Falls while driving from Whitefish, Montana to his home near Austin, Texas.

A self-described “huge fan” of tiki lounges, the Sip ‘N Dip bubbled up on his radar at some point. 

“We came specifically for this,” Dumas said, motioning to the pool where he had just posed for a photo with that evening’s resident mermaid. 

And the Sip certainly didn’t disappoint, offering that perfect combination of kitschy, cheesy, and weird that Dumas said he loves. “This is absolutely insane, in the best way.”

But it’s also the sort of place that’s chill enough to come enjoy a couple beers and wings for a regular named Nickolai, who is currently stationed at Malmstrom Air Force base.

Though his mother initially cajoled him into visiting for the first time to see the mermaids, no arm twisting is necessary these days. In fact, the Maine native said that the Sip has been a “saving grace” that’s helped him to feel more at home in Great Falls.

“It’s more of a comfort zone for me,” he said. “I’ve met some really cool people here.”

A Big Family

One reason why people might feel so at home is because of the people — in fact, the mermaids have long been only one part of the Sip’s appeal.

Another legend haunted this lounge for more than 50 years: Patricia Sponheim, better known as “Piano Pat.” 

“Truly, she was the one in charge,” Johnson-Thares said. 

Even well into her 80s, Piano Pat could be found at the lounge each Friday and Saturday night, tickling the ivories and belting out lively renditions of fan favorites. 

She vowed to die before she could retire, Johnson-Thares recalled, and she did just that — performing her final “Sweet Caroline” at the lounge only days before she died in May 2021 at the age of 86. 

Piano Pat was far from an anomaly — the bartender who works weekdays has been there since 1987 and Johnson-Thares said that more than half of the 80 employees have worked for the family-run business for 30-plus years 

And while Johnson-Thares may get credit for some of the wackier ideas, she attributes all of the success over the years to the staff. 

“We’re a big family,” she said.

Mermaid Auditions

But this particular family does look a bit different, in that it currently includes 12 mermaids. 

Some aspects of Johnson-Thares’ job look different as a result, including regular tail maintenance. Each mermaid has two tails that require her to hop on a sewing machine to make anew or repair, as the chlorinated pool takes its toll on the costumes.

Then there’s the mermaid interviews. 

Endurance is a must; mermaids swim for 45 minutes and take a mandatory 15 minute break for every hour of shifts that last four to five hours. If an applicant proves to be a strong enough swimmer for 10 minutes, they’re asked to slip into a mermaid tail for another test.

“All they have to do is swim,” Johnson-Thares said. 

“It’s All About the Fun”

Even though the hotel intentionally offers visitors a wave of nostalgia, it continues to evolve. 

Johnson-Thares had a dream earlier this year that inspired the hotel’s newest attraction, the Atomic Underground Lounge — part speakeasy, part grandma’s basement, part fallout shelter, and wholly unique. 

Only 42 days after that fateful dream, the basement lounge was ready. 

The Atomic Underground takes an entirely different spin on the retro theme: It’s a sanctuary entirely devoid of anything, drinks included, that didn’t exist in the 1970s, with a lot of alien decor, a drink menu viewable on a View-Master, a journal where patrons share their real (or imagined) alien abduction stories, and even an old Playboy stuffed between some couch cushions.

But whether they come for the aliens, the mermaids, an overnight stay at the Inn or a meal at Clark & Lewie’s, Theras has one goal.

“I don’t want anybody to enter the building and leave without having had some — even a minuscule — experience that’s fun,” she said. “It’s all about the fun.”