This year there were five of us traveling to Salt lake City for our annual gathering. After having missed the last two years due to high school football, I was thrilled to be able to rejoin the group! I didn’t care WHERE it was!
As it turns out, Salt Lake City was an excellent choice. We stayed in a Springhill Suites near downtown that was just fantastic. The staff there were the best and hey, free breakfast AND a free shuttle. Not just for airport runs either – the shuttle also took us and picked us up from downtown all weekend long. With just five of us, it worked out perfectly since we could all fit.
By 6pm on Thursday we were all settled in so we hopped on the shuttle and had them take us to the Mormon Square. Prior research had revealed that Thursday night rehearsals of the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir were open to the public. They started at 7:00 and went on for 2 hours and people could wander in and out. So, we started out there and hunted around for a simple spot for a light dinner. In one of the many large buildings within the square, we found a lovely sandwich shop with hot soup, salads and turkey pot pies.
And thus began a conversation that did not truly stop until the first run back to the airport on Monday morning! In between we occasionally remembered to go the places we wanted to go, but it was touch and go a few times!
Anyhow – we wandered leisurely through the square to get to the choir hall and sat down for about an hour to listen to beautiful sounds. It was a bit amusing as the conductor would stop them and chastise them or give them instructions and encouragement. We couldn’t always hear everything he said since his back was to us, but he was wearing a microphone so we would catch bits and pieces. He also turned to address the audience now and then, to thank us for watching and to tell us about the upcoming choir events. They mostly rehearsed snippets of pieces, but when he would let the full choir and symphony finish a piece to the end, you could not help but get chills. There really aren’t proper words to describe it.
Back at the hotel, we turned in relatively early given that everyone had traveled that day and agreed to meet up at 8am for breakfast the next morning in the hotel.
Stay tuned for Day 2!
Pics from Day 1 – click on thumbnails for full sized versions:
Trees & Flowers & Birds! 
Beautiful shots! Looks like a great Day 1. 🙂
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I agree with Robin about the photos. SLC looks like a great place. I recently became interested in visiting SLC so this was kind of timely for me. I’ll look forward to reading about the rest of your trip!
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