SALT LAKE CITY

Having worked and played around Utah for fifteen years, between 1978-994, and written two “Best of the Southwest” guide books, I often get asked questions about Salt Lake City (SLC).

“Is it worth going there?”

“What can you do there that’s fun?”

“Is it hard to get around?”

“How many days does it take to see the cool stuff?”

What are the Mormons like?

Salt Lake is what I like to call an airport city. There are airport cities and destination cities. Destination cities — like New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, or Miami — are places that people travel to and spend three or four days checking out the scene. Airport cities are places that people fly into on their way to somewhere else. Phoenix immediately springs to mind. Most people who fly into Phoenix are on their way to the Grand Canyon. And Salt Lake is a gateway to the ski resorts and some of the premiere western national parks like Zion and Bryce. But few people choose to vacation in SLC.

I have found that Salt Lake City is pretty much a total mystery to most Americans. They know the Mormon Temple is there, but that’s about it.

And most people seem to think that because there are so many Mormons that it must be weird and kind of backward. Well, Mormonism is a bit wacky, but then all religions are off their rockers. The Catholic Church and its pedophile priests are as creepy as it gets, but that doesn’t stop tourists from flocking to the Vatican City.

Clearly, the Mormons realize they have a public relations problem. That’s why their 93-year-old President Russell M. Nelson recently talked to God and was instructed to drop the time-honored, tongue-twisting title “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”, along with the abbreviation “LDS” which often gets confused with LSD. From now on, it’s just going to be “The Church”, or “The Church of Jesus Christ”. And Mormons should now refer to members as “members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” or just “Latter Day Saints”. I certainly find it interesting that god is into advertising, and they might get the true believers to use the new and approved lingo, but heathens like me will always fondly call them Mormons.

Regardless of religion, Salt Lake and the Utah Lake Valley, the Beehive state’s new technology corridor, is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Large international companies are building mega factory complexes for developing and shipping goods around the world. Companies like Amazon and Google are erecting expansive service hubs in this area, taking advantage of the well-educated and homogenously-reliable Mormon workforce. Salt Lake City is fast becoming the future of America, pure and simple.

The city itself is a sprawling beast that doesn’t stop until it hits the surrounding mountains. To see it all by foot would feel too much like a forced march. The architecture is, for the most part, uniformly institutional and rather boring. It all pretty much looks the same. And the place didn’t really become a real city of import until around 1900, so there aren’t many historical structures.

That said, you can easily fill an entire day exploring Temple Square (Non-Mormons cannot enter the Temple!) and surrounding places of interest. And you can spend half a day at the genealogical center which commercialized DNA testing through now-popular companies like ancestry.com,. The Mormons have always been obsessed with mapping their family trees, so it only makes sense that the whole trace your ancestry craze would all start in Salt Lake City.

After checking out Mormon Command Central you should spend a day roaming the whole city by bike. There are several tour companies offering three hour rides. And the city offers Bike Share bikes, but only in the downtown core; meaning they are not really an option for seeing the whole town.

The latest craze for getting around SLC are electric scooters. And they are everywhere you go — literally on every corner. You just pay with your credit card on the spot and immediately start riding; and when you’re finished, you just drop it wherever you like.

I tried it one afternoon when I was in a hurry. They are very easy to master, but not really my cup of tea. I much prefer bikes. But renting a scooter is definitely an option for getting anywhere you want to go around SLC with ease.

The city, of course, has an excellent bus service that covers the whole town and beyond like a blanket. It also has an inexpensive and efficient metro running right through the middle of town. And there is the FrontRunner train line that was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics and which connects Ogden (North) and Provo (South) to the capital. Inna and I took all three forms of public transportation during our stay and enjoyed the rides.

After two days, you will have seen the whole SLC show. But by no means should you leave because I am going to give you a hit parade of fun-filled activities that will easily keep you hopping for four or five days.

There are some fine guide books that will tell you in great detail about everything there is to do and see in Salt Lake City, so I am not going to plow that ground. What I’m going to do is share the exact itinerary from my last visit. That means, there’s no guesswork and I am going to give you an excellent game plan to follow. And if you want to know more about each place, just Google it. But this is way better than a guide book, because it can be your step-by-step schedule for fun.

DAY #1

We flew in from Baltimore on Southwest and landed at the Salt Lake City Airport in the early afternoon. We Ubered into town ($30), but I would suggest you rent a car for your last two days because it will be more convenient and cheaper than Uber to get to places outside SLC. And don’t wait until the last minute! There are numerous car rental agencies right downtown, but they have a limited number of cars, so you should book your car in advance.

Most of the nicer hotels, like the Sheraton and Marriott, are all clumped together within easy walking distance of Temple Square.

Here is a great website that is constantly being updated that will tell you what’s happening in SLC: https://www.visitsaltlake.com/

Takashi Japanese Sushi for dinner. SLC’s finest, and way more than sushi!

Temple Square at night

Historic State House at night

DAY #2

Explore Temple Square
- Temple Square North Visitors Center
- Salt Lake Tabernacle
- Church History Museum
- Pioneer Log Cabin
- Family History Museum
- Brigham Young Monument
- The Beehive House
- Eagle Gate
- Genealogy Center

Home

The fancy schmancy City Creek shopping center is located directly across from Temple Square. You can power shop or eat to your heart’s content, but what makes this urban mall a must see stop is the fact that it has a small creek flowing right through the middle of the glass-enclosed shopping center.

Eat dinner in one of the restaurants located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which was previously the luxurious Hotel Utah. It houses two excellent restaurants, The Roof Restaurant (formal) and The Garden Restaurant (casual). The Roof Restaurant has fabulous vistas overlooking the Salt Lake Mormon Temple and is a more formal, (expensive but very delicious selections), whereas The Garden Restaurant is more reasonably priced and offers great food. The Memorial building houses many additional venues including the LDS genealogy facilities.

DAY #3

Bike Salt Lake City

https://www.viator.com/tours/Salt-Lake-City/Big-City-Loop-Tour/d5200-25052P1

Leave three times daily from Liberty Park $108

Liberty Park (Largest park in the city and the starting point of the bike tour)

Gilgal Sculpture Garden

City Hall

Downtown Salt Lake City offers a brewery pass for only $15 that allows you to try one beer from 12 different participating breweries. The pass is completely mobile and delivered to your smartphone.

Dinner at The Grand Hotel

Home

DAY #4

The Leonardo Museum

Hop the FrontRunner train for a scenic and inexpensive ride through the Salt Lake Valley to Ogden. Buy a one way ticket and get off at Ogden. Then take an Uber to Antelope Island.