Road Trip (Part 6): Idaho and, finally, Washington...kind of

The morning after Yellowstone we started our drive out of Montana. On the way, we took a short detour to visit the state capitol in Helena. We were greeted inside by a stately, colorful capitol dome and an anti-meth rally. Just your usual day at the capitol.

I was peculiarly excited to enter Idaho, which is the last of my top-three most random states to visit (North Dakota and Delaware being the other two). We could have made it through Idaho that day and stayed the night in Spokane. But, I was so excited about the idea of Idaho that I demanded we cut the drive short and stay the night near Coeur d'Alene just so I could say I had spent the night in Idaho. 

Idaho was the last stretch of scenic, winding mountain roads, which is a much more pleasant drive in the daylight than the drive the night before when I was certain that a Prius was going to run us off the winding two-lane highway out of Yellowstone. Halfway through the sliver of Idaho's handle we stopped at Wallace to take a tour of the Oasis Bordello Museum. This stop might be the road trip-find that exceeded our expectations the most. I halfway expected a scam operation that was was going to lure us in for five dollars, show us a pin-up poster, and shoo us out. Instead, I learned so much about organized prostitution operations! The Oasis is a full-fledged museum, preserving a former bordello that had been in operation until, get this, 1988. Aside from that one bordello episode of The Simpsons, I was under the impression that bordellos had long gone out of style as a place for young men to get their jollies. I was so wrong. 

Wallace, a mining town, was once well-known for its many bordellos and bars with underground gambling operations. The town residents were at peace with the illicit side of Wallace right up until its' demise. They simply knew which street not to send their children down. In 1988, the bordellos and local bars got wind of an impending FBI raid. The girls and the madam at Oasis immediately ran from town, leaving the bordello completely intact with all of their belongings. The raid didn't actually happen, but primarily out of caution, the girls never returned. When the new owner of the building purchased it several years later, he was pleasantly shocked by what he found. It was as if someone had left on vacation the day before and would soon return. All of their belongings were exactly where they had left them. The place would be perfect for a museum, he thought. The madam's room still had all her makeup, her Atari, a perfectly made bed, and the "price list" for her girls (I could only understand a quarter of the words for the various "services" they provided). Upon her death, the madam's family donated a few more of her personal items for display in the madam's old room. Other than mannequins to recreate the former inhabitants and a few belongings pulled out of drawers to show what they owned, everything is original and exactly the way it looked on the last day of operation in 1988. There was even a bag of dry goods groceries left on the counter.

Once the museum opened, some of the girls have come back to visit, informing the current owners of how things operated and informally training them with information for the tours. One woman, upon seeing her tip jar on her nightstand, checked inside and found a small tip that she had left behind. Apparently, to this day, shame is still not an issue for many of them.

The girls would work for a few months at a time. They were college-students working summer jobs and traveling call girls on a bordello circuit. Surprisingly, most went on to lead normal and successful lives afterwards. One woman was trying to save up money to buy a ranch with her boyfriend. She left Oasis after a few months with 100 grand. They purchased a ranch together and are preparing for retirement now. 

Unfortunately, pictures were only
allowed in the basement. 

Oh and did I mention that the girls were covered by workmen's compensation? The Oasis was licensed as a hospitality-hotel business and there was a workmen's comp certificate on the wall proving as much. To avoid scrutiny, they even respected their lack of a liquor license and wouldn't accept direct payments for the drinks they offered clients. Time for each service was kept with a kitchen timer and recorded on a timesheet. Each worked and lived in her room and kept sixty-percent of the money she brought in from clients. All the girls were required to see the town doctor on a weekly basis. A handful of maids and cooks  worked in the house. Many of these women have also come back to visit the museum and relayed their perspectives. Based on my impression from the tour, every woman associated with Oasis has nothing but fond memories of the place. 

The tour was baffling. I had no idea that these places existed or the types of operations they were. Do they still exist? Are you a whore at a clean, well-run bordello? If so, can I have some gas money for the month because apparently you're rich. 

Lake Coeur d'Alene

Since threat of the raid, Wallace has cleaned up and become an average, but charming, small-town. That day they were having a huckleberry festival. I had no idea what a huckleberry tasted like, but after eating some huckleberry ice cream I have become a supporter.

We ate a corn dog, bought a commemorative coffee mug at the whore house and left town. 

Boat Show

Spokane

We finally arrived in Coeur d'Alene but decided to cross state lines to have dinner and watch a minor league baseball game in Spokane. The game was sold out, but we walked around the riverfront park and had a great dinner at a neighborhood pub. The riverfront was nice, but Spokane was nothing special. I mostly enjoyed that I had finally made it to my destination state...just to leave again for the novelty of Idaho. Hi there Washington; I'll see you again tomorrow. The next morning we explored more Idaho in Coeur d'Alene: a coffee shop in the morning, a walk along the lake with the longest floating boardwalk in the world, and lunch at Pita Pit (if only because Coeur d'Alene is the Pita Pit headquarters). The lake was beautiful and, for that weekend, was playing host to a wooden boat show. Tad and I had randomly stopped at an antique car show in Connecticut once. This was sort of the same, but on water and with wealthier people. Boat show or car show, I love seeing people's creativity and hard work...but I could have stood less of the annoying and entitled old woman in a Rascal who would not stop honking her motorized chair at people in her way.