So fresh and so clean

Day 14 – Salt Lake City, UT

I’m not gonna lie; camping has been great and a lot of fun, but waking up in a big, comfortable bed in a room where the temperature was exactly where I wanted it and a clean bathroom was only steps away was really, really nice.  The decision to make the drive to Salt Lake City last night definitely paid off, both in the sense that this whole part of the country got hit by hard rain last night and in the sense that we got a great night’s sleep and a relaxing morning.  I don’t think either of us had realized it, but we were both getting tired, so having a relaxing day was much needed.

A gloomy view of The Great Salt Lake.

We took our time getting going and then headed out for our sightseeing.  We decided to go see The Great Salt Lake first, then head back into the city for lunch/dinner and more sightseeing.  We put the Aussie Lady on and she lead us out to the Great Salt Lake Marina.  Not having a boat, this was not exactly what we wanted.  So we looked on the map and saw that there was a state park called Antelope Island a bit further up the shoreline, so we made the hour-long trek there.

Amy heading to check out the lake.

To put it bluntly, The Great Salt Lake stunk.  I mean this literally and figuratively.  It smelled really bad, and only got worse the closer we got.  It smelled of stagnant water and birds.  It also just wasn’t that interesting.  I’m sure I’m being overly harsh.  After all, we had just come from the Black Hills, Yellowstone, and the Tetons, so it would be hard for anything to live up to those standards.  And it was raining.  And the beach is studded with sharp rocks like little pieces of glass.  And seeing more deer and bison just really didn’t do it for us anymore.  And honestly, it’s just a huge lake.  We live right next to one that’s a lot prettier and has a lot more going on by and on it.  So we spent very little time on Antelope Island before heading back to town.  Enjoy our $9, Utah.

We got back into town, dropped the car off at our hotel (which was located perfectly right in the middle of everything), and went for some lunch.  We continued our tour of microbreweries with a stop at Squatters, a restaurant owned and run by Salt Lake Brewery.  Amy made short work of the six beer sampler which included a pilsner, a golden ale, a heffelwiezen, an American pale ale, an amber ale, and an oatmeal stout.  She was not a big fan of any, but luckily our roasted pork nachos made up for it.

Exploring the capitol.

After lunch we made the walk up to the state capitol building.  I saw “up” because Utah’s capitol  is located on a fairly steep hill that overlooks downtown.  Standing on the western steps, we could actually see the lake which is more than 15 miles outside of town.  Touring the capitol was actually very fun.  It was a Saturday, so we couldn’t see into any of the chambers, but it also meant that it was fairly empty.  The building itself was pretty cool (although it has nothing on Madison) with neat murals and sculptures on the inside and some impressive architecture.  There were numerous sculptures, paintings, busts, displays, and murals describing Utah’s history.  While most states have an interesting history is some sense, Utah certainly has one of the more unique histories.

The Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints.

After visiting the capitol, we walked down to Temple Square and the surrounding gardens.  The LDS’s footprint in the center city is quite impressive.  Even outside of the religious buildings, there are also museums, a convention center, and a massive headquarters.  We started our tour by walking through the gardens outside the square’s eastern gates.  From there, we worked our way into the square to tour the buildings which were open to us (which is everything except the actual temple).  We began in Assembly Hall, which looks like a small church and has some beautiful stained glass.  After that, we went into the tabernacle where all of the concerts and programs are performed.  While not an impressive or evenly remotely ornate building, it was interesting to actually be inside something we had seen so often on TV and hear the amazing acoustics.  One of the tour guides/missionaries actually gave a presentation displaying the acoustics.  Without using a microphone, she ripped a sheet of newspaper which could be heard, loudly, throughout the whole tabernacle.  She then dropped three pins, which could all be heard clearly, and a nail, which was even louder.  Finally, she continued talking, again without a microphone, while doing a complete 360° turn.  Even when her back was to us, we could still hear her voice clearly.



The "Guthrie" section of the Legacy Library.

We left the tabernacle and, after a brief stop at a pioneer cabin, headed into the Church’s family research museum.  We both really enjoyed this stop and were impressed by the magnitude of the operation.  In addition to this main center, there are hundreds of other centers around the world where people can research their genealogy.  The center has numerous computer stations, family books, and floors of microfiche.  All original records are stored in a vault built deep into a mountain just outside of Salt Lake City.  After watching the introductory video, we headed to the family books section.  I was able to find 7 books that people had compiled on Guthrie family history.  In the 30 minutes or so I spent reading, I was not able to make any direct connections to people I know I am related to (and my knowledge of my lineage is very limited), but there were substantial parts discussing Guthries in Indiana (where my grandpa joe had family) and in Wisconsin.  The Guthrie name seems to be traced back to Scotland and a guy named Squire Guthrie.  There is a town of Guthrie and a Guthrie castle near Aberdeen, so we will need to add that to our list of places to visit.  Amy was also able to find a substantial number of books discussing Schwartz family history.  Unfortunately, books for the letters A, B, N, and O were off the shelves so we couldn’t find anything for Becker or Novara.

We headed back to the hotel and settled in for a night of watching crummy TV and updating the blog.  It was a nice, relaxing end to the first half of our trip.  Tomorrow, we head to Denver for another hotel night and O.A.R. at Red Rocks!