15 Things to do During Your Visit to Salt Lake City Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
In honor of Memorial Day, I wanted to write about my visit to Salt Lake City Utah. In 2014, I obtained a job with a hotel group as a corporate training manager, where I was sent to several hundred hotels within a six month period to train the hotel associates on our systems and operational procedures all over the United States.
During this time, I was tasked with figuring out my transport between assignments. I was working with a hotel in Reno, Nevada and had three days to make it to St. Louis, Missouri. The logical choice would have been to fly, but I had a little longer to get there and I had never been to Denver, Colorado or Salt Lake City, Utah so I took this as an opportunity to explore. Also, because I was traveling so much, my rule of thumb was if it was easy enough to keep the rental car and drive I preferred to do that.
Fort Douglas Museum - Salt Lake City, Utah
In addition to Denver and SLC being beautiful, Salt Lake City was special to me. During World War II, my Grandfather was stationed in Salt Lake City before being sent to London. He had met my Grandmother at a USO dance in New York City prior to his departure and they corresponded while he was in Salt Lake. Eventually, in 1942, my Grandmother took a train from New York filled with soldiers, to Utah where she married my Grandfather and lived there for a year before he was sent to England. A woman, who had only been to two states in her 24 years, took a train across the country to marry her husband by herself and stay with him in an unknown city for a year while working for the war efforts. It was an interesting story to me in addition to being a personal one. I was sure a lot of the shops and restaurants would be different from 1942 to 2014, but in this trip I wanted to see the army base where they would have been stationed as well as wander around the downtown Salt Lake City area. I was very close with my Grandma all through my life and I wanted to connect with a little part of her life before I was born.
State Capitol - Salt Lake City, Utah
The first thing that surprised me about Utah was when I crossed the Nevada / Utah border, the speed limit was 80 MPH. Growing up in the congested area of the NYC region, doing 70 MPH most times was unthinkable let alone having the posted speed limit at 80 MPH. I was staying in a Marriott hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. When I arrived I immediately checked in and went right back out to explore Utah's capital city. I went by the University of Utah, Temple Square, and the State Capitol; which had a gorgeous view. I didn't do any shopping but there were quite a lot of retail stores in downtown Salt Lake City. For being an inner city, it had a stunning backdrop and truly was a beautiful city. I did not go to the great salt lake but I did drive by it on my way into the city. I usually try to see local attractions, as well as touristy sights such as parks and museums. With that said I was only in the city for one day so I just got a high level overview, so I missed the Utah Museum of Natural History that looked interesting. For dinner I went to Takashi Sushi at the recommendation of a friend. This restaurant was absolutely delightful with great ambiance.
University of Utah - Salt Lake City, Utah
The next morning after breakfast I went to Fort Douglas Military Museum. This used to be the military base in Salt Lake City during World War II, but is now a museum honoring military veterans. I spent most of the morning there, exploring the outdoor space which housed military tanks, helicopters, and trucks. I also looked around the indoor portion of the museum which provided information on the base, uniforms worn, and soldiers that served. I also spoke to a historian who worked at the museum that told me some additional information. I mentioned my Grandfather was a Staff Sergeant and was stationed there with my Grandmother after they got married. I asked if they would have lived on the base and he mentioned at that rank and with his wife, they most likely would have been allowed to live off of the base. I found this interesting. It would have been difficult though to find where they were housed 72 years earlier.
Tracy Aviary Botanical Gardens - Salt Lake City, Utah
I knew my Grandmother took a train filled with soldiers to Salt Lake City, Utah and lived in the city with my Grandfather for almost a year before he went to London and she went home to Brooklyn, but she didn't tell me much else past that so it was very interesting to see the place they spent the first year of their marriage and learn a little more about the base during the time they were there.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Conclusion
During a different road trip, I drove from New York to Los Angeles. We didn't stop in Salt Lake City because I had been the year earlier, but we did drive through on our way to Southern Utah, where we stayed a little south in Provo. When there, we went to Brigham Young University and drove around the campus, which was beautiful. When I head back to Utah, I would love to spend more time in Salt Lake City to see if I can find any more information on my Grandparent's time there. Also, being a movie buff, I would like to visit Park City and attend the Sundance Film Festival.
Fort Douglas Military Museum - Salt Lake City, Utah
If you get a chance to visit Salt Lake City, below are some highlights
If the bigger US cities seem overwhelming and smaller cities are more your speed, check out my recent post on Richmond, Virginia.
