Utah, Salt Lake City - Friday, September 7, 2018 - Temple Square and Genealogy Research

Wednesday and Thursday didn’t work out as we had planned.  The Salt Lake City Regional Hospital was not on our list of places we wanted to visit.  Greg woke up about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning with chest pains so we headed to the hospital where they ran several tests and concluded with installing a stent in a major artery in his heart that had a 90% blockage.  We had an overnight stay and came home Thursday afternoon.

We can’t say enough good things about Salt Lake City Regional.  Although Greg wasn’t an ICU patient he was in the ICU because that was where they had an available bed.  The doctors and nurses there couldn’t have been kinder or more attentive.  The director of the ICU even came in to check on him a couple of times.  Everyone talked to us about what was being done and why they were doing it.

On Friday morning Greg said he was feeling much better than he had been (go figure!).  We decided to go to Walgreens and get a new prescription filled and to do a shortened version of our original plan to visit Temple Square.  We thought we had figured out where to park that was close to the Temple.  Turns out we were wrong, we ended up walking about a mile to get to the where we wanted to go for lunch.  A lot of it was uphill and Greg was just moving right along, no problems.  He said he knew he wouldn’t have been able to do that a week ago.

We had lunch at Lion’s House Pantry.  Lunch is served cafeteria style.  We both had a baked chicken breast with a light cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes and herbs and corn on the cob.  One of their homemade rolls accompanies every meal.  This meal was fantastic!  I didn’t take any pictures because I didn’t want to draw any attention to us.  We were already underdressed as this place seems to be a favorite of the local church leaders and area business men and women.

Lion House takes its name from the carved lion on top of the front portico.

Brigham Young, second president of the Church of the Latter-day Saints, built the house for his wives and children (he had 27 wives and 56 children).  He and some early Church members practiced the Old Testament principle of polygamy which was officially ended in 1890.  The basement contained a dining room which could seat 70 people.  On the main floor were sitting rooms and bedrooms for wives with children.  The second floor had bedrooms for children and childless wives – one under each of the 20 steeply-pitched gables.  This picture shows some of the gables.  Brigham Young died in the Lion House in 1877.  The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964

The Beehive House next door to the Lion House was Brigham Young’s residence, office and reception area for official visitors.  At the time the house was built Young was both president of the LDS church and Utah’s territorial governor.  Young’s brother-in-law, Truman Angell designed the Beehive House, the Lion House and the Salt Lake LDS Temple.

Gardens of Beehive House.

Gardens on Temple Square are redesigned every six months and replanted by hundreds of volunteers.

Salt Lake Temple built by Mormon pioneers between 1853 and 1893 – forty years.

Assembly Hall which was built with granite left over from the building of the Temple.  This is a place of public worship and is mainly used for conferences of the LDS congregation.

The Tabernacle is too large to get in one picture.  It is home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  We had hoped to be able to attend the Thursday night rehearsal of the choir but we were both worn out.

Our last stop was the Family History Library.  It houses the largest genealogical collection of its kind in the world.  Visitors can use the collection at no charge.  Over 300 computers are available for use.  Volunteers are available to help you one-on-one if you have problems.  The only catch is the information is mainly prior to 1930 so searching for someone in this generation can’t be done here.  We were here to see if I could get some tips on researching my great grandmother who according to family legend could have been half Cherokee.  We received some great help and I know more about where to search to find answers.

We will move on tomorrow to Fillmore, UT for an overnight stay.  Fillmore was the first capitol of Utah.  Wagons West RV Park will be our destination for the night.

Utah, Salt Lake City - Tuesday, September 4, 2018 - The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island

Our destination today was the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island.  Great Salt Lake is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River.  The lake is a remnant of pre-historic Lake Bonneville.

On average the lake is 75 miles long by 28 miles wide, covering 1,700 square miles.  At this level, maximum depth is about 33 feet.  Size and depth vary greatly with seasonal evaporation and precipitation.

Water flows into the Great Salt Lake from four rivers, however, the lake has no outlet.  Water leaves only through evaporation, because of this, high concentrations of minerals are left behind.  It is at least 5 times saltier than the ocean.

Salinity is too high to support fish.  Brine shrimp, brine flies and several types of algae thrive in the lake and are primary food sources for millions of migrating birds.

Brine shrimp live 3 months and the adults are only ¼ inch long.  The brine shrimp eggs or cysts are harvested every year and sold worldwide for fish and prawn food.

There is a $10 fee to get onto the seven mile long Davis County Causeway which is the only way onto Antelope Island, the biggest island in the Great Salt Lake.  On the causeway there is a very strong odor, but we didn’t notice it throughout the rest of the park.  It seemed rather caustic and I found it hard to breathe.

The island is 28,000 acres, 15 miles long and 4.5 miles wide.  There are freshwater springs on the island that support hundreds of animals – bison, pronghorn antelopes and others we weren’t lucky enough to see.

The visitor’s center tells more about the island and offers some great views.

Statues along the walk up to the visitor’s center.

A view of the causeway from the visitor’s center.

Views of the surrounding area from the center.

Buffalo and Pronghorn antelopes were grazing or running through the pasture near the visitor’s center.

Views of the lake and surrounding area.  Since there are no waves sometimes it is hard to tell where the lake ends and the sky begins.

There is a grill on the island.  However, I don’t think I would want to try to eat there, the flies would be overwhelming.

Mountains run through the middle of the island.

The Fielding Garr Ranch on the island was settled in 1848 by Fielding Garr and his six children.  Garr was a stonemason and built several buildings including the farm house from adobe brick.  In 1850 the Church of the Latter Day Saints designated the island as a range for church cattle and sheep herds.  Brigham Young pastured his animals here as did many other prominent people from Utah.  Fielding Garr died in 1855.  After a series of other farm managers the church relinquished the island in 1875.

It wasn’t until the 1950’s that some modern conveniences such as indoor plumbing and electricity provided by a gas generator came to the island.

The island fell to numerous corporate ownerships until 1981 when it was purchased by Utah State Parks and Recreation.

Buffalo grazing around the Fielding Garr Ranch.

Lots of artifacts in the old barn.

David Snider, this shouldn’t take too much work.

The adobe brick ranch house is in the back ground.  The bunkhouse is to the right.

Laundry area.

The record player was manufactured in Richmond, IN.

Views heading back.

Brine flies swarm near the water.  The larvae hatch in the water along the shore creating a black band.  We enjoyed the drive around the area but had no desire to walk the distance it would have taken to actually get to the water.  Besides that we would have had to fight the brine flies to get there (supposedly they don’t bite).

Utah, Salt Lake City - Monday, September 3, 2018 - Tastes of Salt Lake City

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.  We’ve put off some of our tours of the area thinking that they would be less crowded after the weekend.  So, we hit up a couple of the most recommended eating places.  Both of these places have been written up in local and state magazines and have been featured in “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”.  However…..

Banbury Cross Donut shop’s online reviews were raving about these being the best donuts ever.  It’s a small place, seating maybe 18 inside.  The parking lot is also small but the line of vehicles going through the drive-in window was endless.

The donuts were very good, but I was also very hungry.  I had the maple long john at the store and took a rosette home for later.  It turned out I liked the rosette better.

Although good, I don’t think this shop makes my top five.

1.      Small spot in Pratt, KS – I don’t even remember the name but their donuts are heavenly.

2.     Quack Daddy Donuts in Pendleton, IN – they might move to number one if they had chocolate yeast donuts

3.     A place on Hwy. 109 in Anderson, IN – once again I can’t remember the name.  Makes you wonder if I go brain dead around donut shops.

4.     Krispy Crème – these go to the top of the list if they are warm.

5.     This one is just from memory, they don’t exist anymore.  The Golden Crust donut place in Anderson, IN.  Used to go there with my parents, loved their chocolate yeast donuts.

Our next stop yesterday was Wal-Mart.  We have been binge watching the Netflix series, “Longmire” in the evening.  We started this after we made a stop in Buffalo, Wyoming which is the town depicted in the series as Durant, WY.  Since internet service isn’t always the best for streaming for a binge watching session we decided to go find the series on CDs.

Today we decided to check out the Red Iguana Mexican Restaurant.  This place received numerous rave reviews online – the place you shouldn’t miss in Salt Lake.  It was indicated that even if you had a long wait, it was truly worth the time.  We only had to wait about 15 minutes.

We found some unusual décor on the front of the building, looks like decals from all over.

We were seated in a small nook all by ourselves.  The good part was it was kind of nice to be away from all the hustle and bustle.  The bad part was they forgot we were there.  After a while a waitress did stop by and take our order for mango margaritas.  Greg had the shrimp fajitas and I had one of the house specials.  It was good but I would have been disappointed if I had stood in line an hour for it.  I think Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant in Mesa has spoiled us.

Utah, Salt Lake City - Saturday, September 1, 2018 - Emigration Canyon Tour

We are headed out to Emigration Canyon today.  On our way out of town we passed the University of Utah Rice Eccles Stadium.  The spiral pole is the Olympic cauldron from the 2002 Olympics which were held in Salt Lake.

As we get into the mountains we can see that the leaves are beginning to change color.  Today there were a lot of bicyclists riding the canyon road.  We were looking for Ruth’s Diner for a lunch stop.  It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives so we thought it might be an interesting stop.  Coming out of town it seemed like we were just going to be driving through the mountains.  Ruth’s is quite a ways out.  Since I hadn’t brought any snacks with us this morning I was beginning to get worried.

We finally came upon it.  In 2018 the restaurant celebrated its 78^th anniversary making it the oldest restaurant in the Salt Lake Valley area.  The diner has had three owners since its start in 1930.  Ruth owned it until 1977.  Seems she was quite a character.  She was a smoker of Lucky Strikes and fought with the health department for quite a while after the smoking rules were changed for restaurants.  She finally broke down and posted a handwritten sign on the door that said, “No Smoking Section – First Bar Stool Only”.

In the 50’s and 60’s Ruth’s was a popular spot for the University of Utah frat boys looking for a cold beer.  ID’s weren’t carefully checked since Ruth didn’t think much more of that law than she did of the new smoking ordinances.

The parking lot is huge, at least a block long.

People were still parking along the road.  Even with all of those people we were seated in about 15 minutes.  

We were able to get an outside table, the weather is wonderful here today.

The first thing they bring are some of Ruth’s “mile-high” biscuits.  They are soft and slightly sweet – awesome!

I choose the baked mac and cheese with a shrimp skewer.  It was wonderful and I have enough left over for supper tonight.

Greg opted for the patty melt.  Half of his went home also.  He said it was “ok”.  “Ok” to me means it is just passing.  To him it means it is good.

More leaves changing scenery.

We pulled off at the Little Mountain Summit, the last summit in the Wasatch Mountains, from here it is downhill.  Which was good news to the over 70,000 Mormons who passed by here from the late 1840’s to the 1860’s.  This was part of the “Road to Zion”.  The first group of 13,000 left Nauvoo, IL in February 1846.

The skyline of Salt Lake City coming back home would be nicer without all of the lines of the light rail tram system in the way.