Salt Lake City, day 1

Yesterday, Arlene and I embarked on our semi-regular annual anniversary trip. This year, we decided to go to Salt Lake City to see the sights, visit some temples we hadn’t been to, and visit some friends who live in the Valley. Our trip here was uneventful; we flew Delta, changed planes in Cincinnati, and arrived on time. (Unfortunately, even after two requests, the DL folks couldn’t get my NW account number on the tickets; maybe I’ll have better luck on the return).
Our rental car turned out to be a Mustang. While that might seem just the ticket for cruising Temple Square, there were two minor problems: Arlene’s megasuitcase wouldn’t fit in the tiny trunk, and I couldn’t fit in the driver’s seat. We swapped it for a boring, but commodious, Taurus and went to our hotel. Unfortunately, our room wasn’t ready, so we parked our car, left the bags with the bellman, and walked the two blocks to Temple Square.
It was a beautiful afternoon for sightseeing; we stopped at the south gate’s visitor center and got a map. I got to see the original Tabernacle, which has that famous pipe organ– it’s just as impressive in real life as I thought it would be. We saw a few wedding couples outside, and learned from one of the volunteer hostesses that there were 55 weddings held yesterday– with about the same number today! That’s astonishing, but I guess you’d expect it given our beliefs on marriage. I got a few good pictures of the west side of the temple; I’ll try to post them tomorrow.
Next, we went to see the film “Legacy,” a retelling of some of the events surrounding the original pioneer migration to the Salt Lake Valley. It was really humbling to consider the obstacles that those pioneers faced; some of them rebuilt their houses, careers, and even families three or four times as the LDS settlers were driven from place to place. While I’m not one to endorse the occasional bragging that goes on among longtime LDS families (similar to the “well, my family came over on the Mayflower, and…” lines from New England), it’s quite a testament to the settlers’ faith and dedication that SLC was established at all.
For dinner, we ate at Shula’s, conveniently attached to our hotel. Arlene was learning toward the lobster until our server brought the presentation cart and held up the lobster to exhibit it. The lobster gave Arlene a companionable sort of wave, at which point she recoiled (but only slightly) and decided on the steak instead. Brief summary: best steak I’ve ever eaten. Yes, better than Johnny Walker’s Black Angus in Sydney; better than Morton’s; better than Mancy’s. It was phenomenal. Arlene actually had the steak; I had a cut of salmon that was easily in the top three I’ve ever had.
After that, we were so full that we had to walk around a bit more. We browsed around some of the shops surrounding Temple Square. At Mormon Handiscraft, I was surprised to find an entire quilting store tucked away in the back. As you might expect, Arlene ended up with a new addition of soul fabric for her stash. After that, we’d both had enough for one day, so we want back to the hotel and hit the rack.