Love, life, and the pursuit of Happy's

Many owners have come and gone, making their mark on a historic, landmark inn, and the current owner is ready to pass on the torch.

Happy’s Inn is nestled on the side of U.S. Highway 2 right between of Libby and Kalispell. It’s a gathering place where young and old from near and far, can sit and enjoy a relaxing evening filled with conversation.

“It’s always been a good time,” owner Carry Mick said. “It’s a community gathering spot. It’s a place where you can find an alcoholic sitting next to a millionaire having a conversation. It’s a collective group of people gathering.”

While Carry only has nice things to say about her business, in the spring of 2015, Carry and her husband, Jerry, announced they were selling, after owning Happy’s Inn for four years.

“If everything would’ve worked out right, we could’ve retired,” Carry said. “As you get older things develop that you don’t expect.”

Carry, 62, lost her husband and co-owner, Jerry, in September to a motorcycle accident, and Carry herself is going blind due to incurable macular degeneration.

“This has changed since he died,” Carry said, sitting amongst the walls and ceilings Jerry decorated with wood carvings and paintings from local artists, animal hides and mounts, photographs of scenery, street signs and miscellaneous items which are either for sale or from their personal collection. Carry said that Jerry modeled the decor from dive bars they visited during their travels, but the place is much more than a dive bar — it’s a lakeside sports and karaoke bar with live-music on an outdoor stage that doubles as a restaurant and gas station.

When they purchased Happy’s, neither of them knew how to work a till, not to mention manage an entire business. Jerry was a retired air traffic controlman, and Carry worked in realty. When they learned that Happy’s was for sale, however, Jerry was keen on purchasing the place.

Ambition and eagerness wasn’t something completely out of character for the couple — they were married six days after they met.

“It was a joint effort,” Carrie recalled. “We both had a lot of work ahead of us, but both of us brought our own skills and talents for it to come together.”

Before, her and her husband used to take breaks together from running the inn, taking his motorcycle out on the road to travel or visit family.

Now, Carry said she basically lives at the inn. The only time she’s not there is when she’s sleeping in from a late night before.

Since his death, two employees were hired to fill Jerry’s shoes, but Carry said the entertaining spirit Jerry left could never be filled.

Carry isn’t concerned about a corporation purchasing the place, noting that it’s in such a rural location, but as a former realtor she knows it’s a possibility.

The over-100-year-old Happy’s Inn has changed owners quite often through the years, having three owners in the past 10 years. Carry said that Happy’s is often compared with the logging days, when it went through owner after owner.

In its 100 years, Happy’s has probably served customers who helped build the Libby Dam, gold miners, loggers and fur traders.

Not only that, but people from all over the world stop by the Inn.

Jerry hung up a map last summer for people to place pins in to show where they’re from. In just over a year, the map contains pins in the islands of Alaska all the way across to Brisbane, Australia.

Carry said that she hopes Happy’s sells before she goes completely blind, because then she may have to close.