Salt Lake City
Grand America Hotel
July 21, 2010
The land of Mormons is shockingly diverse. My cab driver from the airport was Iraqi
and my cab driver to
the airport was Pakistani... of course there aren't really any local
cab drivers anywhere in the US so this isn't a surprise. The
diversity goes beyond this though; there are Greek neighborhoods near downtown, the rodeo is filled with Hispanics (of course
it was fiesta night) and the city had a fair share of non-Mormon churches.
After checking into the very ornate Grand America hotel I made my way into the city, but first stopped
at a local restaurant to eat. I choose the place, the Royal Eatery only because the locals were pouring in and out of
the dive. The woman working the register recommended the gyro so I ordered that with some fries and an oreo shake. After
I asked for the fries she asked if I wanted "fry sauce." After inquiring what exactly that was she told me
in her heavy Greek accent that I'd like it
so rung it up before I could respond... for $0.25 I wasn’t going to complain. Everything was good, including the fry sauce, but I was soon on
my way east to the University of Utah.
Through the streets of the city I found unique architecture and street art everywhere. This street art
was essentially graffiti, but done as marketing and advertising tools. After trudging through these unique neighborhoods
and excruciating heat I made it to the University of Utah, which has a nice campus at the foot of the mountain.
Car Art
Street Art
Catalyst
After making my way back downtown I visited the state capitol, which stands on one of the largest hills
in the city. It was here that I noticed the state's obsession with beehives. The beehive symbolizes industry and is a
staple of Mormon symbolism. In fact, the Mormons created a group called
"The Beehive Girls."
"The Beehive Girls," under the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS or
Mormon Church) encouraged girls to care for kerosene lamps daily, identify and appropriately price lace, care for a hive
of bees, destroy 25 flies a day, and get 8 hours of beauty sleep a night.
Killing flies, encouraging bees, and obsession with beauty sleep?
I'm glad I'm not a Mormon girl.
Back to the capitol… the building is impressive, but the views of from the hill are better. To my left
the skies were blue, to my right dark clouds gushed rain and in front of me the Mormon Temple and Temple Square.
Storm
Beehive Statue at the Capitol
State Capitol
As I approached Temple Square the rain began to pour and more than one wedding couple got stuck in the
downpour with me. The square quickly emptied out other than the stuck wedding parties, of which there were three or four.
Each bride was dressed so conservatively that one would feel stressed to see any upper arm or even much neck.
After taking a few pictures and finding some shelter under a tree I made my way into the FamilySearch
center to do some research. This facility is run by the Church of LDS and the atmosphere was odd. Thus far, every Mormon
I’ve met has been extremely friendly and gracious, yet I feel like many want to preach to me. I received questions
asking if I needed help and I overheard one girl asking a couple next to me if they wanted to know why Mormons take
genealogy so seriously. It was as if they were there to help, but were looking for a way to take about the church.
The questions sparked my curiosity and the computer screen offered three options,
the family history library catalogue,
online family history search, or learn more about the church of LDS. I clicked on the last of these options and learned a bit,
including their church’s belief in missionary work and the requirement to preach the church’s mission whenever given the
opportunity.
No one here was pushy or overbearing, as was the stereotype I entered the city with. In fact they were
more hands-off than I had imagined and much more diverse. One girl working in this center was Asian, another Hispanic,
and another Caucasian. Each was dressed in the seemingly standard church of LDS missionary uniform: nice dress pants or
skirts, a white button down shirt, ties on the gentlemen, and easily
readable nametags.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Temple
Latter Day Saints Office Building
Reflection of the Mormon Temple
The genealogical resources here proved somewhat useful and the stop was worth the effort, but my time was
running short so I returned to the hotel to settle down. After re-cooping for about an hour I headed out to eat only to
notice the city had turned into a ghost town. Most restaurants were closed by this time (about 6pm) and the streets had
emptied out. Only after finding about five places that were closed (breakfast and sandwich shops) did I find a Chinese
restaurant open so stopped in for dinner.
July 22, 2010
After much indecision, meetings, and weighing the costs, I decided to rent a car and go to Park City and
the Rodeo today.
Park City was first, then I returned to Salt Lake City for the
rodeo.
After sitting in traffic I paid my $5 for parking, then headed across the street to the Maverick Center
for the "Days of '47" Rodeo. I got in line for tickets and found myself surrounded by cowboy hats, boots, and a surprising
number of tattoos and Hispanics. I found the $5 tickets being sold outside the ticket office so got a ticket in the rafters
and went into the arena.
The rodeo was sort of what was expected and started with steer wrestling and ended with bull riding.
Although it seems everyone was there for the bull riding, I discovered the most hilarious event to be
"wild cow milking."
There were a number of cows standing around in the arena when the gates opened and about six cowboys came
riding in on horses with lasso in hand. After lassoing a cow, another cowboy came running out on foot to put the cow in a
headlock. Once the headlock was secure the first cowboy got off his horse and tried to milk the cow, who was stuck in the
headlock. This whole mission seemed difficult due to the cows trying to kick the cowboys and buck the headlocker away, but
soon enough a cowboy had filled enough milk to run over to the judge who declared him the winner.
Dress at the "Days of '47" Rodeo
Between each event there was a break featuring a mariachi band or Latin-American dancers since apparently
it was fiesta night, hence the overwhelming majority of Hispanics. This entertainment was ok, but I just wanted them to
get on with the show since I had to wake up early the next morning.
As each event passed I began to notice the enormous difference between these professional athletes and
many other professional athletes. Many athletes point to themselves and play to the crowd, but each cowboy just went
about his business as if it were just that, business. After he would milk a wild cow, rope a steer, or get thrown off a
bull, he would simply walk away as if it were just another chore on the farm. Few even recognized the crown and even after
an incredibly fast steer roping, each cowboy would just walk away, get on his horse and gallop off the arena floor.
The introductions of the cowboys were great as well. The announcers did a great job of getting the crowd
involved so stressed local cowboys and gave a little history of each, like past events they won. The best introduction was
of the cowboy, whose great great grandfather built the oldest still standing two-story log cabin in the world. This was
apparently big news in the rodeo world.
Other than the wild cow milking, the highlights were funnel cakes, BBQ pork, and people watching,
particularly the latter. The crowd seemed excited about everything, especially cowboys from Utah, funnel cakes and bull
riding. In fact, when the bull riding began even the funnel cake
stand closed as the entire place got in their seats and became glued to the show.
I stuck around just long enough to watch cowboy after cowboy be thrown from his bull as the crowd became
more and more excited. After a few rides I left early to beat the crowd.
On the way out I realized it was "free bread day" at the
rodeo and each of us was offered two loaves of white bread. I've
heard of free hat, lunchbox, and even free bobblehead day, but free
bread day? After saying I’m from out of town and didn’t need any,
the free bread guy gave me only one loaf and said that I had to take
at least one loaf of bread, because it's really good stuff. It
quickly became a gift to my housekeeping staff.
Free bread? I want a cowboy bobblehead!