CC w Chris Day 12

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2014 09 13 Day 12 Salt Lake City



While visiting Salt Lake City we are staying at the Staybridge suites, very nice suite with full sized refrigerator, microwave, stove, sink, etc., very roomy and comfortable.



Like the Holiday Inn Express, they provide a complementary breakfast bar. We ate there and then drove into Salt Lake City. When the map showed that we were only about 5 blocks from temple square we parked the car and began to walk to the square. It quickly dawned on us (as we became out of breath) that a Salt Lake City block is about the same size as three or four Philadelphia blocks. Of course it was uphill, too.



We walked around Temple Square for a little while, taking pictures, then took a open-air bus tour of the city. The tour guide was great. He played a pre-recorded tape which described what what we were seeing, but oftentimes, he would pull over, turn off the tape, and give us an unvarnished version of what we were seeing. He also gave us good recommendations about where to eat and what to see.



We were both very impressed with the city. I thinks it is probably the nicest city I have ever visited. I particularly like the very wide streets, It is said the Brigham Young wanted all of the streets to be wide enough so that a team of oxen pulling a wagon to be able to make a U turn.



After the tour completed, we had lunch at the Nauvoo cafe located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, which is a beautiful ornate hotel built in 1911. The tour bus driver recommended this cafe, saying that the Mormons are non profit so the prices are reasonable, and the food is good. He was right, we had a very nice lunch.



After lunch, we went into the theater in the hotel and watched a movie about the beginnings of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. The movie was well done and we both learned a lot about the history of the church.



We toured the temple square with missionaries acting as our tour guides. We were told that there are over 2400 missionaries form all over the world who work in temple square. The missionaries answered a lot of questions and explained a lot about the workings of the church.



We also took a tour of the hotel, which is not only very beautiful, it also provides a great view of the city from the 10^th floor observation deck.



Last August we had an opportunity to visit Joseph Smith's childhood home, where he lived when he saw his first visions. That visit piqued our curiosity, and many of our questions vwere answered by the movie, tours, and museums we visited while in Salt lake City.



We drove back to Midvale, intending to find a restaurant, but we found that all of the halfway decent restaurants had huge lines of people waiting to get in, so we stopped at a grocery store and ate in our motel room, getting there just about eight o'clock.

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