The time had finally come for my visit to Salt Lake City.

I had to ride the Frontrunner to the city from Ogden. Well actually I didn’t have to but I wanted to because I have zero experience with public transportation. Becky had to work in the morning but she got home at noon, we had lunch in Ogden outside at a little cafe that was very cute, and then we went to the station to catch the 4 o’clock train. The Ogden station is pretty confusing. It was rough finding the machine to buy the ticket but once it was purchased, I was home free for the most part. It wasn’t that bad. I just found a seat and got comfy for the next hour, but the train wasn’t crowded yet because Ogden is the starting point for the Frontrunner which is nice.

I managed to not miss my stop and got off just fine but finding my hotel was another story. Of course I went the wrong way from the station and so I had to take a longer loop which unfortunately went through a sketchy part of town.. My hotel was in a great spot because it was right in the middle of the city surrounded by the places I wanted to visit. However it was also right beside the park where the homeless people sleep at night and the shelter so I did have to be a little careful at night and of course walking by with a suitcase was a bit uncomfy.

The day I got there it was too late to go anywhere and I had to get up bright and early to cross off everything on my list so honestly I just went to bed. Not before getting some dinner though. This proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be because turns out I’m indecisive but I knew that. After scrolling through the lists of options, I starred the ones I liked but then time was also an issue. Not too many restaurants were open at 6, unless they were a bar. Determined to find some falafel which I had the chance, I found a little place by Main St. However it took some searching because the shop was actually in the back of a convenience store. It may seem dumb to city people but for me it was wild. The place was small and the lone table who seemed to be family of the owner kind of eyed me up. Other than the few questioning glances, they were very nice and I enjoyed sitting for a bit planning my excursion tomorrow. My falafel was alright though a little dry but it was time for bed. The next morning though.. rise and shine.

I had to plan out the night before where I would eat because I’m picky and that was rough. However that work paid off because while I could not find the cafe I wanted to go to (which was a terrifying first experience in Salt Lake because it made me think I would not be able to find anything), I stumbled upon The Rose Cafe. Let’s just say my tea and poppyseed bread was GOOD 10/10. My first stop was the Rio Gallery right by my hotel for obvious reasons. There was only one show in the free section but it was neat. There were ceramic pieces and a few paintings as well as some collages with cloth and newspaper.

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The next stop was more eventful. I was pretty excited to visit the Leonardo because they have the huge Doug Snow mural done for the old Salt Lake City Library (it’s the same building). The building was much more crowded than I thought it would be and granted it is more of a kid museum, but I was a little frustrated by the field trip of children running through the section I wanted to see. Other than the mural, the museum did have an exhibit that was interesting regarding optical illusions and skewed perspective paintings. The paintings were crazy (see first photo). The mural was also crazy. It is absolutely huge but a bit hard to see with all of the new construction for exhibits. The last photo is also a pretty cool instillation with lights that move up the strands and hang over top of you as you move up the escalator to suggest nerves (btw I hate escalators so wasn’t too thrilled to have to ride that).

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Outside the Leonardo is a walkway overhead that leads to the new library as well as some statues and a fountain. I loved walking through Salt Lake. For the most part it was very pretty, but there was a fair bit of construction so sometimes your planned route would be blocked for the next four blocks. This did provided an extra level of challenge trying to figure out how to get where. At least the streets in Salt Lake are simple. They increase in number moving out from the Temple. So there is Broadway and Main but for the most part it is numbers so being able to get back to Main St isn’t bad and then my hotel wasn’t far from there.

I decided to grab some lunch early since most lunch places seemed to close around 2. After passing a funky strip of small shops and restaurants, I grabbed a bite in one of them. The owner was young and very friendly, and my veggie panini was delicious (My goal was to get as much good veggie options as I could while in Salt Lake). The Leonardo was a bit of a hike from the hotel and most of the other things I wanted to do were closer together, so when I saw that Trader Joe’s was right there I decided to swing by and see if they had anything we can’t find around here (they didn’t). All was not a waste though because I really do love walking but I also stumbled upon the Gilgal sculpture garden, which I hadn’t really planned on going to be I’m glad I did.

After making my way back towards the center of the city I wanted to hit up two spots, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and the Urban Arts Gallery. The museum was closer so it was first on the list. At this point in the day it was HOT and the walk seemed a lot longer than I thought it would be (it was uphill too) but I made it there only to find out that the main exhibit was still being set up. Of course. There was a short movie playing in a room and a collection of photographs displayed, and I glanced down through the glass at the main room. The artist was setting up some pieces and the paintings looked interesting from what I could see, but I just had to move on. I booked it to the Urban Arts Gallery before they closed at 5. It was smaller than it looked online so there wasn’t a ton but the prints they did have were cool. There certainly were much more of the abstracted or surrealist pieces I wanted to see, just a lot less landscapes as well.

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Well I still had quite a bit of time so I walked around the “mall” area by the Temple. The section I was in does have some art shops and galleries to wander. One of the galleries was very unclear of what it was from outside which called it “an experience”. Straight up, what does that mean? A bit skeptical I mustered the courage and walked in. It was a small room with some chairs and a young girl selling tickets. She was very nice and gave me a discount despite them not having student discounts. I can totally see how if you are a good talker you could finesse things because I’m so introverted and usually anxious that I don’t talk to service works much if at all, but in Salt Lake I kind of had to and people were really nice. Anyway it turned out to be this walk through of rooms with different scenes all made from recycled materials. Dreamscapes apparently was a school project that they are trying to keep as a permanent instillation. Walking through was fun with the lights and sounds adding to the mood of each room. There was a room like a cave and a forest and one full of optical illusions. It was a very creative space. The couple in front of me with a small child that was screaming did mess up the mood a bit and I would have liked it if they didn’t take forever in each room, but overall I enjoyed the “experience”. Can you believe that they did not apologize or even acknowledge me any of the times I walked into the room, realized they hadn’t left yet and went back out or when I had to fully just walk past them in the ball pit though?? Sorry that just kind of blew my mind and really contrasted from how nice everyone else in Salt Lake had been.

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After Dreamscapes I was pretty tired so I headed back to my room to plan out dinner. A ton of places were already closed at 6 but I did find a little place by Main again that had pretty good reviews for its curry. Boba is another thing we don’t have too many places around back home so I also set my sights on finding some. Turns out the closest one was back by Trader Joe’s… but now the idea was in my head, I decided to just make the trek. Other than it being hot so I got pretty sweaty, the walk wasn’t bad. There’s a house you pass on the way that has the prettiest garden out front. The entire yard is flowers and bushes with them climbing up and over the fence onto the sidewalk. The smell is heaven too. After getting some boba I stopped by a little one room stand for the curry and managed to carry everything back to my room. It was delicious and I was exhausted so I just called my grandmother, chowed down and went to bed.