Having met up with my Auntie Sue, a fourteen year resident of this pleasantly unique
and beautiful city, at the local Cracker barrel (go find one- trust me) for a quick bite, we four set off for the Gateway, a huge pedestrian/wheelchair friendly mall in downtown, for its blissfully cool parking and pop up fountain. We headed for the street through the old train station hall that makes up a large entrance to the mall. Inside we found beautiful stain glass and murals of Utah's western persona and achievements.
We walked a couple hot blocks to the Mormon Temple Square, the mecca of the Church of Latter-day Saints. Here that Gothic temple, speckled with Mormon symbols (some of which were very reminiscent of Free Mason iconography) and crowned with a gold statue of the Mormon angel Moroni. The grounds of this 30-odd acre compound bursts with color and green foliage, like the Mormon founds envisioned their oasis of the desert, which they wanted to call Deseret (for once, the US government went with a Native American word over the one supplied by local white settlers, when the state Utah was admitted into the union.
The friendly elders and missionaries (we met one from Oakland, one from Scotland, and there seemed to be a veritable United Nations of young Mormons serving their obligatory time as messengers of the word of god in a fairly cushy post) offer guided tours and pamphlets about the grounds and their history at the gates, but we led ourselves through so as to take our time with the sights:
The Tabernacle- grand, acoustically-perfect; a lil' Mormon lady tore a newspaper and dropped pins onto a podium at the alter which could be heard perfectly from the back row of the cavernous hall.
The Assembly Hall- a quaintly European chapel with an organ only cute after seeing the Tabernacle.
The Christus replica statue, a truly
trippy piece of religious art.
The Conference Center- a lesser-known gem featuring the largest religious
amphitheater in the world (21,000 seats), and a three-acre roof-top garden
overlooking the city.
We took in the equally expansive views on the road up the hill to the University of Utah's campus, checking out their grounds a little before heading to a brewpub near Auntie Sue's house called Hopper's, featuring great house-made beers and sodas (without caffeine, of course).
Salt Lake City is a must for anyone looking for a region still driven guided by a home-spun religious culture, set in the pink mountains of northern Utah. Some things to remember, though: Liquor laws are bizarre- bars are "clubs" where non-residents pay a minimal fee to drink, state stores dominate sales over convenience stores, and many other quirky, puritan-like restrictions on imbibing alcohol.
5 comments:
nice nice nice. post more pictures! what's the beer situation like over there? I heard they sell at strange hours. Miss you guys, sarah and I say wad up from sunny LA that were visiting right now.
That will certainly be your most "quaint" day on your trip!
How's the camping?
Wow! What a trip you two are embarking on! I hope that Susan and I can get to Maine before too long ourselves. I recall visiting Auntie Sue in SLC a few years ago, enjoying a cool one in the brewpub with her, and reveling in the spiritual and auditory experience of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We would love to see you as you come through Houston.
I'm glad to see some Grateful Dead added to your music list! ;)
I hate to say it, but I can't look at Utah the same since "Big Love". I used to hate the place but after that show and the thought of myself having three wives it doesn't seem so bad. Don't tell Jenna yet I'm still warming her up to the whole "sharing" concept. That church is truly awesome, I can't wait to see what you guys see next.
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