I posted a thread on LDS LinkUp (Where I'm known as "The Church Avenue Lion") about my recent travels to Salt Lake City. Now, I've finally got a chance to post them here, so here it is.
Day 1, Monday
After a long flight, where I was able to watch Cars, Shrek, and a 10-minute short featuring the Newark, NJ subway, my mom and I arrived in Salt Lake City. We had a bit of confusion upon arriving at the baggage claim. When we arrived at the baggage claim, we were presented with baggage claim carousels 1, 2, 3, and 4. After a much needed restroom break, I went to see where the bags for our flight were. A display indicated that the bags were being displayed on carousel 5. Since we only saw carousels 1 through 4, we had no idea where carousel 5 was, since all that was there was the ticketing and check-in counters, and baggage claim carousels 1 through 4. There was absolutely no indication of where carousel 5 was. After asking a security officer about the location of this mystery baggage claim carousel, we went over to the building next door, where carousel 5 was prominent in our view, showing flights from various cities across the country…except New York. My mother, who had a very distinctive bag, spotted it on carousel 6, which didn't even show our New York flight on its display. After arriving at the hotel, which just happens to be across the street from Temple Square, we went and did some business in Temple Sq. First, an organ recital at the Tabernacle. I can sorta understand all the cracks the GA's have made about the seats in there. Then, we stopped over at the Long John Silver's over at ZCMI (it was about 12:30, and I hadn't eaten any real food (snacks on the plane don't count) 8½ hours!) and then went into Deseret Book. Then, into the JSMB for the distribution center. My mom asked if they had The Testaments on VHS, but they said it's only available on DVD. Looks like we know what to get Grandpa for his birthday.Then, we went back to DesBook after seeing that the metal oil vials are only sold there. We went to the north visitor's center and saw the Christus statue. We rested a bit in the hotel room and went back at about 8 for dinner and another walk through downtown SLC.
Day 2, Tuesday
After a breakfast buffet, mom and I went to the temple for the 9 AM session. It was very interesting how it the temple is laid out. My mom saw it interesting how there were so many marriages going on…on a Tuesday! After we were done in the temple, we went over to the post office, to mail a letter to my dad. Then, we went to the Gateway. After browsing through there and buying some socks, I was hungry for some Carl's Jr, and having searched for one on the Internet the day before, I had to make sure it was where I thought it was. Apple Store to the rescue! The nearest one happens to be at State and 200S, not far from the TRAX station. With that, off we went. When I received my Double Western burger, there was an extra surprise for me. On the tray was not just the burger and fries, but two small containers of fry sauce. Only in Utah, I guess. After that, we went back to the hotel for a little rest. Noticing that the studio for Channel 2's news broadcast was right by the TRAX station we visited earlier. For dinner, we met up with some friends who had moved out of the Astoria Ward and then went over to a park adjacent to the Church Office Building to see a T Minus 5 concert (They're dropping a new album on August 25th, for anyone who's interested). After that, some nighttime photos of the Temple, then dessert, and back up to the room for the night.
Day 3, Wednesday
Everyone who has visited Utah has said, "You've GOT to visit Park City." I was expecting something interesting. We did visit some Olympic venues, including an active ski jump,, and the bobsled/luge/skeleton track. Main Street was more blah than wow, though. There were some nice stores, but like I said, more blah than wow. Later on, we met with some other folks who used to be in the ward, and we went out for dinner at Tucci's. It was nice.
Day 4, Thursday, A.K.A. The Voyage Home
Mom had signed us up for a 2:00 van to take us to the airport from the hotel. However, since check-out time was at 11, that left us with some time to kill before going home. After breakfast, mom and I hung out in the room, taking some last photos of our view from our 8th floor hotel room. Once check-out time came, we went back over to the Gateway for some last minute things. We partook of the services of Auntie Anne's and Ben & Jerry's. That Phish Food shake they sell is de-lish! Mom was looking for an aquarium to kill some time, but I told her that I've been seeing some commercials for this aquarium down in Sandy, and I figure that if there was an aquarium at the Gateway, they've packed up and moved down to Sandy. We spent the last hour watching TV and surfing the Internet in the hotel's library. There was a tour bus operator there. As I was walking over to the men's room, I overheard him say something I thought was very interesting. "This hotel is owned by the LDS Church.…"
Our ride to the airport was delayed a bit because we had another person to take with us, and by the time we were in the van she was still over by the Convention Center! Just as we were about to leave, we saw her. She got on, and we were off.
At the airport, I had a more pleasant experience going through security. This is due to the fact that I was wearing pants that didn't have any metal in them. Afterwards, having some food at the Burger King (Isn't it funny that both pre-flight meals were at a Burger King?) we strolled over to the gate. I noticed that as I looked out the window, I could see downtown Salt Lake City, including the temple, so I got a picture of that. Once aboard the plane, my mom says to me, "Did you notice that lady sitting in First Class with the blond hair?" I said that I didn't. She then says that it was Sheri Dew. I thought that was cool. A prominent member of the Church flying to New York with us. The pilot had said that it was a good day for flying, and he was right. There was a bit of rough air, but not too much. The flight was otherwise uneventful, and I passed the time by watching Over the Hedge and Back to the Future, then some Bugs Bunny cartoons. By the time we were approaching New York, it was dark, and I couldn't identify anything because there weren't any identifiable landmarks. Then, I saw a tower/smokestack thing which I knew was in the vicinity of Westbury, New York. We were flying over Long Island. I watched as Roosevelt Field Mall passed before me, then no other recognizable landmarks until the Green Acres Mall came into view…Then Brookville Boulevard. Then, without me seeing any other signs of airport, we had landed. (I later found out that we had landed on Runway 22L, which is near the eastern edge of JFK Airport.) It was definitely the airport because I saw airport signage passing by, the first of which being a big illuminated 5 on the side of the runway…then a 4…then a 3…By the time we passed the 3, we had lost much of our forward speed, so we taxied over to the gate. The pilot announced a gate change. We were scheduled to arrive at Gate 3 in Terminal 3, but we arrived at Gate 28 in Terminal 2. Our bags would be brought over to Baggage Claim F, and afterwards, we got a taxi to drive us home, where we arrived at 12:20 AM.
OK, so that's it. I'm home now. It's good to be back.
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