Salt Lake City, Utah

I had a quick weekend trip in Salt Lake City, Utah, and it was a really fun weekend; there is so much to see in the city. We stayed at the  Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek, which has rooms for a decent price and is in a great location next to the City Creek shopping center, right next to the convention center, and in walking distance to Temple Square. From our hotel room, you could see the entire city, as well as the Rocky Mountains in the background. It was truly beautiful.

Temple Square

Temple Square is a beautiful campus which is home to the Church of the Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), where many Mormon people gather. Since I visited in the spring time, there were beautiful colorful tulips all around the campus. There were also fountains all over as well. Many people were dressed for a wedding.

Family History Library

Also located in Temple Saure is the Family History Library. This library is the largest genealogical library in the world and is open to the general public. We went to the Library and with the help of some workers were able to trace my family roots back to the 1500’s in Germany, Italy, and Ireland which was really interesting. They also give you a user log in where you can keep researching from home in your leisure.

City Creek Shopping Center

After the Family History Library, we walked through the City Creek Shopping Center, which is filled with higher end stores such as Brooks Brothers, Rolex, Nordstrom, Porsche, etc. The concept of the shopping center is interesting because most of the stores are outside, but they do have an indoor part with glass ceilings, and they have a creek running through the middle of the shops. It was nice our hotel was so close, and if I lived in SLC, I think I would go to this shopping center often.

Farmers Market

Every Saturday in the historic Pioneer Park, the city has a Farmers Market with lots of local art and food to shop for. My fiance and I had a great time walking around and sampling all of the different food. We ended up buying a bunch of different things to ship home for our Mothers for Mothers day. We got some barbecue sauce, fudge, olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, trail mix, and some meats and cheeses for ourselves for lunch.

Salt Lake City Public Library

We ventured over to the Salt Lake City Public Library because a friend that visited the city told us how beautiful the architecture was, and they were not kidding. While we were in the library, many senior’s in high school were posing for their prom pictures in the beautiful library.

The Leonardo Museum

It was fun to be a kid again at this museum/science center. There are many interactive exhibits that are designed for children, but many can be fun for adults as well. We made pinwheels and put them into a wind tunnel to see how far they could fly, we made snowflakes, we used computers to color some CAD models, we colored on a gigantic colored pencil wall, there was an infinity room with mirrors everywhere, and we did many of the other exhibits as well. I would highly recommend this place for someone that is with kids, but it was also fun to visit as an adult as well.

Salt Lake City Museum of Contemporary Art

The Museum of Contemporary Art was right near our hotel, and it is free to visit, so we stopped by. The museum is not very large, but it had some very interesting art. Contemporary art definitely is not for everyone, but it is nice that it is donations only so that the art can be shared with a wider audience that may not otherwise experience it. We donated $5 dollars each for the gallery, which is the recommended donation.

Les Madeleines

For breakfast, we went to Les Madeleines, and it was like being in a Paris bakery. Just walking in the front door, the smell was wonderful of fresh bread and pastries. They are known for the Kouign Aman, and they sell out daily. It is a pastry that is crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside, buttery, and flavorful. We also tried a ham and cheese pastry, and it was delicious as well.

Cathedral of the Madeline

On Sunday before our flight home, we walked to the Catholic Cathedral of the Madeline for Sunday mass. The Cathedral was built in 1909, and had such beautiful vibrant colors everywhere from the stain glass to the murals on the ceiling. We were lucky enough to randomly pick the mass that had a choir, and it was a wonderful and refreshing mass.

La Caille

When we pulled up to this property, it felt like we were in a fairytale. The grounds were so immaculate and beautiful, and the restaurant looked like a little old castle.  There were swans, bunnies, and peacocks roaming the grounds. Dinner was delicious and the waitstaff are so friendly and professional. It was a great experience, and I would highly recommend.

Park City, Utah

My husband and I visited Park City to snowboard for New Years Eve 2019. We got to Park City via the Salt Lake City airport, and we just took an Uber/Lyft Ski with our snowboard bags for a reasonable price ($60 USD). There are also different shuttles and ride services you can get, but we found that Uber/Lyft Ski was the best cost.

Park City Marriott

We stayed at the Park City Marriott, which was about 1 mile away from the mountain. The Marriott offers a free shuttle service to Park City Mountain and Deer Valley Mountain. The hotel also offers a free Après Ski, which included s’mores kits, and hot drinks like coffee, tea, and cider. They also had blankets available for you to use in the cold, which I thought was a very nice touch.

Park City Mountain

Park City Mountain has over 340 runs and 40 chair lifts. The mountain was celebrating the new year with music at the different lodges. It was quite crowded for the new year, but we still had a great time. The mountain was so beautiful, and we really enjoyed every minute of it. One of my favorites was that it had ramen at one of the lodges for lunch; I love a warm treat for lunch on the mountain! We would love to come back here and snowboard again.

Park City Fireworks

On New Years Eve, Park City had a show in the Canyons Village with a live band, DJ, shops, food, and drinks. It was 0* Fahrenheit, so we tried to stay inside at the different shops as long as possible until the fireworks started. Once they started, a crowd gathered in the common area with the DJ, and everyone celebrated the new year together in awe of the awesome firework show that lasted for about 15 minutes.

Downtown Park City

Downtown Park City is just at the bottom of Park City Mountain. We loved how cute and walkable the downtown was. There are so many different restaurants, bars, shops, and art galleries to browse through. We went to Davanza’s Pizzeria and had a delicious lunch at the popular pizza spot that has been around since 1979. Just across the street from that is the High West Distillery, which had a 2 hour wait time to taste their famous whiskey. We also went to No Name Saloon & Grill for a drink, and the place was PACKED! They a heated roof patio, and the inside is decorated with Christmas lights to bring the holiday spirit to everyone’s night.

Utah National Parks

My husband and I also visited Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, which were AMAZING. Read more about that trip here.