Salt Lake City

Mormon Temple

This is a fitting image to begin a posting on Salt Lake City.  Temple Square is at the center of the city, indeed the streets are numbered outward from the Square, not the city government.  The Mormons founded the city arriving in 1847 and in waves through the rest of the 19th century into the 20th.  Now the city is more diverse but Temple Square probably is the most visited attraction.  There are general tours, garden tours, tours of the conference center and the best part - the Thursday evening rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is open and free as is the Sunday morning broadcast called "Music and the Spoken Word."

This is the program on Sunday Morning.  Photos are allowed but not during the broadcast.  We arrived early and heard the rehearsal.  As a chorister myself this was a wonderful experience.  I kept thinking of my father who would have loved seeing this choir in person.

My friend Kathy and I attended and each of us called a person, Kathy her husband, me Jim, and let them listen for a while.  Jim said he was the only person on a golf course listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Mormon Tabernacle

 The Mormon Tabernacle is a meeting hall but the home of the choir.  To be in the choir you fill out an application, undergo a rigorous audition and if accepted take a 3 month training.  Then you wait for an opening to be invited.  Of course you are a Mormon.  You can sing for 20 years or age 60 and then retire and make room for another singer.
Notice the beautiful garden.  We took a garden tour of Temple Square. 

 

Salt Lake City has much to offer besides Temple Square and the Mormons although one museum I toured was the Utah Pioneer Museum.  It has thousands of artifacts brought on the trek west by the early Mormons.  The amazing thing is that every item, shawl, quilt, rocking chair, wagon, teapot and picture is carefully described.  What the item is, who owned it, who brought it west and dated.  Because the Mormons are careful about genealogy they had records of all the families and know the documentation of each item.

I also visited The Red Butte natural History Museum, a new beautiful building,  The Red Butte Gardens which rival Longwood Gardens without the fountain show and the Utah Fine Arts Museum  to see an exhibit called "Speed".    This was an exhibit of 16 race cars which broke records for speed some on the Bonneville Salt Flats about 110 miles west of Salt Lake.
All of these are in the University of Utah area up on the foothills and appropriately called the "U".





Red Butte Gardens.

Near Black Scabiosa

Bougainvillea doesn't normally live up north but they must put this in a greenhouse during the winters.

The Wedding Lawn

Ah the Wedding Lawn and look at the scenery above.  The garden has access trails into the natural areas above the gardens.

We went on Saturday morning to a farmer's market which also had artists, craftspeople, food vendors and musicians scattered throughout.

These looked yummy but we had berry parfaits for breakfast.  Marion berries and raspberries and peaches.

My first sail of the year took place on the Great Salt Lake.  I found a brochure for this 27 foot boat and it was a way to see the lake.  Funny thing is the next day Kathy and I went to a place in a canyon called Ruth's Diner for breakfast and the captain and his wife came in just after I gave Kathy the brochure in case she has guests who want to get out on the lake.

I did get to sail the boat but neglected to have Captain JR take a picture at the helm.  Light winds but altogether a nice sail.