Ring Around the Collar

Linda Burton posting from Salt Lake City, Utah – A trip to Salt Lake City wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Great Salt Lake. It is, after all, the largest lake between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean, and the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere! It is about 75 miles long, about 35 miles wide, and about 30 feet deep at its deepest part; all those numbers vary depending on the weather of the year. It is landlocked, with rivers feeding in but nothing flowing out, resulting in a mineral-filled mix five times saltier than the ocean. About. Only brine shrimp, and brine flies, can survive in it. I wanted to get my feet wet there, and so I did. And I learned something new. » read more

Since 1929

Linda Burton posting from Salt Lake City, Utah –“If you’re going to cough, now would be a good time,” advised our host. Live broadcast #4,312 was about to begin, and the perfect acoustics in the Tabernacle required that we not applaud or talk during the performance. No cell phones, of course; and no photography. I snapped as many photos as I could as the orchestra assembled and people took their seats; the balcony was filling fast. Our tour guide had slipped us into a third-row pew behind a walkway, almost in the middle. It was a great seat for listening, but as usual I wound up behind a tallish bald-headed man. Not so good for the bottom fourth of pictures of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! I retrieved a cough drop from my bag; now I was thinking about Not Coughing. I set my camera on the seat and tried to divert my thoughts by reading the program. » read more

Superglow

Linda Burton posting from Salt Lake City, Utah – It’s Cinco de Mayo, the fifth day of May. There’s a super moon tonight, and a super show at the Energy Solutions Arena. The San Antonio Spurs are in town and it’s Game #3 in the first round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs. The home-town crowd is stocking up on souvenirs. There may not be many more games for the Utah Jazz; they’re 0-2 going in. But hey, there’s hope, and faith. Horse-drawn carriages clop around the fringe of the intensity; in every downtown parking lot an orange-vested entrepreneur waves you in; $14 for the Event, fork it over, park close by. They’re lined up to the street at Red Iguana, waiting to get in, waiting for the game to start, waiting for the super moon to rise. Fast forward. » read more

Prom Night

Linda Burton posting from Salt Lake City, Utah – “My daughter had her prom here,” our tour guide said as we stood in the rotunda of the Utah state capitol. There was an audible “ah” from our group as we gazed upward, 165 feet we were told, clear to heaven it seemed; clouds and seagulls soaring and floating in blue, blue sky. Imagine that! Girls in party dresses with flowers in their hair, boys in Sunday suits; dressed up and dancing on a glass-bottomed floor, lit up from below. Music in marble halls on top of the loveliest hill in town. It’s a party in the People’s House, just one of many events that happen here on a regular basis – proms, weddings, concerts, meetings; get-together for fun or for business, this building is open for your use. But back to that prom. » read more

A Crowning Achievement

Linda Burton posting from Salt Lake City, Utah –The smell draws you in, it wafts out to the street and fills your car. It’s nearly suppertime, so stop already! There is plenty of parking or a drive-through if you have to get home. I’m going into Crown Burgers on North Temple, even though I don’t eat hamburgers. A place that smells this good has got to have good food, I think. I order a Single Chicken Souvlaki at the counter, with lemon rice and salad. While I’m waiting for my number to be called, I read a framed and matted article hanging on the wall; it came from the NY Times, 2009. The article touted the delights of the Pastrami Burger, a piled-high meat-on-meat delight that originated here. Well, partly. There is more to the story.  » read more

Central Square

Linda Burton posting from Salt Lake City, Utah – New York has Times Square and Central Park. DC has the Ellipse and Hollywood has, well, Hollywood and Vine. These are the Go to Show places that prove you’ve “been there”; you’ve set foot on the center of that city’s spirit, its soul, at least your take on it. It’s where you pose for pictures, the background leaving no doubt that you were really there. In Salt Lake City, that place is Temple Square, so central and so significant that even the street names designate one’s distance from the place. Why do people go? Is it a spiritual quest, or simple curiosity? Do people go for history – the history of their family, or the history of the settling of the west? Or do they go because it’s pretty?  » read more

The Scent of May

Linda Burton posting from Salt Lake City, Utah – Sit down on the bench and close your eyes. Hear the children laughing, the sound of water splashing near. And a bee, a lazy buzzing bumblebee. The sun is warm; stay all afternoon. Inhale; take a deep, deep breath; smell the smell of spring. Wisteria takes the lead, but there’s another sweetness in the air. Where is that splashing water? Where are those children? Pass under the arbor; wisteria clusters brush your shoulder; leave their scent. Flowers fill the May-day scene in crayola-brilliant landscaped beds; snowballs on bushes go sprawling up the hill. Where is that splashing water?  » read more

What Next! What Next?

Linda Burton posting from Salt Lake City, Utah – Paraphrasing an old tune: I got to Salt Lake City on a Sunday, by Monday I learned a thing or two. But up ’till then I didn’t have an idea, of all the things right here that I could do. I counted thirteen places with Connect Pass, and then I Googled more and more and more; next thing I read the Travelhost and Chamber, and learned about the Tours out to the shore. What next! What next?

 If that didn’t bring the tune to mind, I’ll tell you — it was that old ditty from Oklahoma about “Kansas City” that was buzzing in my head as I assembled my To Do list.  I learned this – » read more

I Wanna Go Fast

Linda Burton traveling from Elko, Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah –Boggled by nature’s theatrics as I drove east from Elko, I thought by now I’d seen every type of terrain. I was wrong. My curving descent at Wendover, past the last of the Nevada casinos, showed flashes of white ahead. A battery of signs assailed me – Mountain Time Zone, Welcome to Utah, High Wind Area. Then another sign, a green directional, that simply said “Bonneville Speedway.” I didn’t hesitate.  » read more

If I Were A Geologist

Linda Burton traveling from Carson City, Nevada to Elko, Nevada on the way to Salt Lake City, Utah – If I were a geologist, I think I’d choose to live in Nevada. Nevada claims to be the “most mountainous” state of the lower 48, yes, ahead of California, Montana, Washington, Colorado. The numbers vary a bit depending on the source, but Nevada has (approximately) 314 named mountain ranges and 172 summits over 2,000 feet. With that many mountains, you wind up with a matching number of valleys of course; just think what a challenging life of ups and downs for a serious-minded geologist! (Technically, that is range and basin geology.) And good news for the traveler, none of these mountain-valley scenarios looks the same. Today, I’m just a traveler. » read more