Salt Lake City

A Brief Layover - July 19 - July 21, 2013

We added an extra 46 hours prior to meeting Cy at SLC for our trip to West Yellowstone MT on a 28-passenger plane.

Our residence during the stay was the Ellerbeck Mansion Bed and Breakfast Inn.  It is a restored Victorian within walking distance of Temple Square and a lot of other destinations.  However, our walking distances were truncated by the 100°F and higher temperatures.
The entryway and stairwell were graced by some nice stained glass, plus fireplaces (not needed on this trip) on both the first and second floors.
The heart of Salt Lake City is Temple Square, and the heart of Temple Square is the Salt Lake City Temple.  This is strictly reserved for Mormon functions, and it is not open to visitors.  Its construction started in 1853 and completed in 1893.  To its right you can see the Conference Center, which includes an auditorium seating 21,000 people.  It was sold out for the two evenings we were in town.  To the left, a low shining dome, is the Mormon Tabernacle.
The Assembly Hall, just south of the Temple and the Tabernacle, is a smaller building dating to 1882.  It is much more like a traditional church, and it is open to visitors.
The Hotel Utah was opened in 1911,  largely funded by the LDS Church, but one of the ironies is that they sold hard liquor at a spacious bar in the basement in  order to pay off the loans.  This building was re-purposed as the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in 1987.
The top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Hotel Utah is a beehive, the state symbol of Utah.
The lobby of the Hotel Utah is a showplace, and very welcoming.
This view of the Mormon Tabernacle is familiar to everyone who watches PBS.  I was actually a bit surprised that it was not bigger.  The building was completed in 1867, and the shingle roof was replaced with aluminum in 1947.  This is the 16th largest pipe organ in the world, with 11,623 pipes.  (The Wanamaker organ in Philadelphia is the largest with 28,765 pipes.)
The 11,623 pipes are controlled from this 5-manual console.  (I count six if you include the pedal manual.)
The Salt Lake City Public Library was constructed in Beaux Artes style in 1903.  In this case, the benefactor was not the LDS Church; it was a local mining millionaire, John Q. Packard.
In contrast to all the historic architecture, we see City Creek.  It is a 2012 shopping center just south of Temple Square.
This is the second story of City Creek, with a retractable roof.  This center has all the same stores as every other contemporary shopping center.  That was a turn-off, but its air conditioning was a big benefit.
If one looks east from Temple Square, you can see the Wasatch Mountains in the distance, and in their shadow, the University of Utah.  Salt Lake City is now less than 50% Mormon, and the view is punctuated by the tower of the Cathedral of the Madeleine (Roman Catholic).
The interior of the Cathedral of the Madeleine has a rose window on its south front, and an impressive, if not world ranking, organ.
The Cathedral of the Madeleine is a traditional cruciform church, and I found the ceiling in the crossing  interesting.
Speaking of the Wasatch Mountains, we went to Park City in hopes of escaping the heat of Salt Lake City.  We got 90's, not 100's, a slight win.  The area is surrounded by ski runs, which compete with the Sundance Film Festival to be Park City's raison d'etre.
The really good thing about this view of the heart of Park City is not visible.  We were on an outside balcony, above the street enjoying a refreshing breeze and a refreshing beer.

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