There were two things I wanted to make sure happened when I planned our family vacation to Utah. I wanted to experience new things and I wanted to have fun. First on our List was to stop in Salt Lake City on our way to MOAB. There is so much to see and do in Salt Lake City and the surrounding areas that it wasn’t very hard to find fun things to do. The hardest part of the process was trying to decide what we wanted to do. Things to do in Salt Lakes range from historical sights, museums, great food, sightseeing to Olympic venues. We quickly narrowed down our choices and we were off to the city!
Our family loves church history so first on our list was to stop by Temple Square. It is Salt Lake’s most popular tourist attraction. The Conference Center was our first stop and I was very impressed by its size. It can hold up to 21,800 people during a conference session! We then stopped off at the Beehive house which was pretty neat to see where Brigham Young first lived. The house was beautifully handcrafted and had so much detail in the wood. Next, we visited the Tabernacle building where The MOTAB choir practices. We were able to hear the bells choir practice for their upcoming concert. The acoustics in the Tabernacle are amazing!
Next, we decided to head over to the Visitor Center. It is so neat how they have a replica of the Salt Lake City Temple. It looks like a very expensive dollhouse. We learned that the Temple took forty years to build since at one point they had to bury the foundation. We also learned a little bit of church history while we were there. Viewing the temple and the gardens was one of my favorite parts of our tour. One of Salt Lake’s nicknames is the “Genealogy Capital of the World.” Since our family loves genealogy work we decided to visit the genealogy center right there on Temple Square. We enjoy finding out about our ancestors and the process really helps you to understand we are all part of something so much bigger than ourselves. We felt so connected to our family as we sat there and scrolled through information and pictures. What a neat experience for my kids!
After a quick bite to eat we decided to head up to Park City. It is also high on the list for popular Salt Lake City attractions. The famous Park City is a ski town that is located in the Wasatch Mountains just East of Salt Lake City. The main street is lined with quaint little shops ranging from restaurants, art galleries, jewelry shops to clothing boutiques. To go through each shop would take at least a day. We managed to walk for about two hours and needed to take a break. We sat in a little pub called Davanza’s and had a yummy Philly cheesesteak sandwich and the best onions rings! These rings had the perfect panko crust with a great crunch and a fantastic special sauce to dip them in. We will be going back just for the onion rings next time!
The Olympic Park is in Park City, so we wanted to check that out next. In 2002, The Utah Olympic Park was built for the winter Olympics. They use it as an Olympic training center now where people pay to enjoy the attractions as well as watch the Olympic ski team practice. They actually practice their jumps into giant pools of water. Talk about a genius way of practicing without getting hurt! The Olympic park also offers alpine slides, zip lines, and ropes courses as part of the attraction for tourists. We did not allow ourselves enough time at the park so be prepared to spend all day there. It was a blast!
Our day in Salt Lake City was so much fun. There is seriously so much to do and see that it is impossible to accomplish it all in one day. We did a pretty good job of crossing off our list but my recommendation would be to plan for a few days when you visit Salt Lake City. There is just not enough hours in a day to see and do everything on your list. We got a taste of Salt Lake City today but we will definitely be back again to see the rest of this amazing city of Utah!