We now return to your regularly scheduled life
There's never been a time when I wasn't happy to be in Salt Lake City. This trip is full of reminders of time passing, and I feel joyful and a little bit wistful at the changes happening here, while embracing the new things to come:
-- A few special hangouts in downtown, including the Crossroads Mall and a sweet cafe where I was once photographed full of hope, are no more -- demolition has begun for one of the most ambitious civic projects in Salt Lake history:
And it looks like it will be spectacular.
-- The downtown malls are currently replaced by the Gateway, a shopping/living/dining/lifestyle complex fronted by the old Union Pacific depot. My daughter Jess and I made a substantial economic impact there during two days of shopping.
-- Got to take my daughter to the Garden restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith building, where currently the Utah Chef of the Year hangs his toque. The Garden is wonderful, with a more casual atmosphere than the other high-end restaurant situated just to the north on the 10th floor. During our visit, the weather was so good, they had the retractable roof open in the Garden, and Jess and I had the best salads ever, under a perfectly white pergola with a view of the Temple, of course.
-- A special bed-and-breakfast on South Temple no longer operates as an inn. It's now a Ronald McDonald House, which in its own way brought a smile to my face. I love the little high-fives life gives you, and this was one.
-- On a more somber note, I reflected on February's shooting spree at Trolley Square, that killed five people and wounded at least four others, and caused enormous property damage. Trolley Square had been one of my former fave haunts, and I didn't go there this trip because I'm not even sure if it's open. The story is still on the front pages of the Salt Lake Trib, though, as those close to the rampage in any way still try to sort things out.
More news to come. Thanks for tuning in!
Nine winters have passed since I first visited Salt Lake City. I loved the city and the surrounding area and I have fond memories of my visits since then. But ever since I moved much closer to Utah, I haven’t taken the opportunity to return to the city itself; my visits have been confined to rushing between the Delta Shuttle and connecting gates or spending more time then I wished in Terminal E waiting for a connection home to Montana.
So I enjoyed your reporting of some of the changes in Salt Lake City; it reminded me of how important places and the memories associated with special places are to most of us. On my last visit to New York, I went out of my way on a Saturday morning to find the busy coffee shop on Lexington Avenue where I had enjoyed a wonderful breakfast long ago; the restaurant was still bustling and noisy, but my omelet didn’t taste quite the same; perhaps it was the lack of company. On the same trip, I was saddened to discover that my favorite bagel shop had closed; just a few weeks earlier according to the sign in the window. I couldn’t chat with Joe, the Egyptian owner�"imagine an Egyptian making bagels in New Jersey�"and recall the times Joe and I had watched World Cup matches in his shop at 3 am. That bagel shop was also where I witnessed the destruction of the World Trade Center Tower; a dentist’s appointment that September morning had delayed my departure for Manhattan by 2 hours. As it turned out, I wasn’t able to get back to the city until Thursday when the bridges and tunnels were reopened. The gap in the sky of lower Manhattan remains the biggest shock to me when I think of New York City. My memories of the World Trade Center are preserved in a photo taken at Ellis Island a few years before the tragedy. The towers loom behind the Emigration Center�"white and silver against a darkening sky.
Just as I love to reread my favorite books, I enjoy returning to the places that have special meaning to me. I’ll continue to do so as I assume will you.