An Accidental Day in Salt Lake City

Tension builds as the boo and I are headed to the San Francisco Airport.  We got a late start.  The fog was intense the entire weekend, so he wanted me to have an ‘unobstructed view’ of the Golden Gate Bridge.  I wanted In N’ Out Burger, my newfound west coast love.  We had to return a rental car, take a rail to the terminal and check a box of wine that we didn’t know until that morning we were unable to put through the mail.  He thought we had more than enough time…I had a nagging feeling that we had made one stop too many.  But alas, we make it to the gate.  But we are literally, the last two on the plane–with everyone else seated for what looks like ages.

Well we made it.  We get settled into our seats.  And the waiting begins.  Apparently after all of that rushing, someone had goofed on the paperwork.  So we were waiting for one of the two people in the only airport who could fix the goof, to head to our plane.  Fifteen minutes…30 minutes…we are cutting it close if we want to make our connection…we finally get into the air over an hour after our flight was supposed to leave.  It becomes clear that we are not going to make our connecting flight.

Once we arrive in Salt Lake City, Delta gives us the news…we can either take a flight leaving soon to Baltimore (not happening with a $100 cab ride back to DC) or we could take the red eye from Salt Lake City back to DC.  The catch…it was only 3pm.  That means 8 hours in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Admittedly, not a place I’ve ever wanted to visit.  Well, we’re here…let’s make the most of it…

We get hooked up with a hotel for the day, which had a free shuttle service to and from the airport.  We shared the shuttle with several other Delta delay casualties.  We arrive at the Crystal Inn.  The desk staff was very nice.  They gave us a map of the downtown area, suggested places to visit and places to eat.  They also informed us of the free light rail service that could help us see a majority of the downtown area in a short period of time.

When in Salt Lake City, do as the Salt Lake Citizens do…visit the Mormons.  Temple Square (LINK TO CITE) is undoubtedly the center of attraction in this suprisingly picturesque town.  History of the Mormon Church:  check.  Eager missionaries willing to answer your questions:  check.  We opted not to do a tour of the Temple Square, but did go across the street to the Conference Center for a tour.  The facility is beautiful.  And the view from the rooftop is amazing.

After leaving, we took the light rail around town.  It was Sunday, so we did have limited options in terms of shopping.  We ended up at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner–who can go wrong with the Cheesecake Factory?!

However, we did not realize that the TRAX stopped running after 8pm on Sunday…cabs as you can imagine were limited.  We trekked over to a hotel for a cab back to our room, gathered our belongings and headed back to the airport.

I can honestly say, I was annoyed to have to spend the day in Salt Lake City.  But once there–I realized that it wasn’t half bad.  I learned a lot.  The people were friendly.  And the views were beautiful.  It’s not a bad place to spend half a day…