Life in Utah, in the City and the Country

To say the least, Utah was my favorite state of the trip. Maybe because we did more than I thought we were going to do in a state? From the north to the south, we explored a lot of Utah. Maybe next time I’ll do more of the central parts. For now, we did a little surprise to give you more to explore. Can you find what it is?

Let’s Explore!

Ridin’ Dirty

One of the goals in this trip was to do an activity that each person had a dream of doing. Khadeil’s dream came true today! We went horse back riding in the mountains about an hour from the city. We worked with the Promontory Club to choose our horses and just ride them! It was more of a follow the leader structure and chat along the way, versus a free for all type of ride. Depending on what you’re interested in, you can guide your group in that direction. We didn’t mind either or, because the views made up for everything! Look at those mountains!!!

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Seven Wonders, but Keep it Industrial

This was one of the spots I couldn’t miss in this trip. It’s the Golden Spike National Park, which means that it’s part of the Industrial Edition for the Seven Wonders of the World. In case you were wondering, there are multiple editions for the Seven Wonders and I always try to do my research before traveling somewhere to pick on the historical parts of the state to visit. This train station is the First Transcontinental Railroad across the United States connecting the Central and the Union Pacific Railroads from Sacramento to Omaha.

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Be One with a Foodie

Feeling a little wHOLE again

We had a quick pit stop to an ice cream spot downtown. Normal Ice Cream made the list! Because of covid, it was more of an on-the-go ice cream shop, but the sweetness overload was much needed. We also stopped at the Rock Stop by Zion, which had coffee, pre-made donuts, and cutie stones for sale. It was a mom and pop shop, and looked like a place from the Flintstones. Adorable!!!

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Pit Stop for Comfort

Everyone needs that comfort style food in their trips. We love going to pubs and grills to bring the feeling of home in our trips. Squatters Pub and Legend’s Pub and Grill did the trick. Of course, we got a flight at Squatter’s to add onto our city experience, and Ashley tried cheese curds for the first time EVER! We also dumped our faces in Legend’s nachos and had the full sports bar experience. A nap was completely called for after the day we just had!

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Din Din time!!!

To find a spot that we were all craving the food for and that was open, but not as packed, was a mission and a half. They don’t even allow you to make reservations in these restaurants, so it became a little difficult to find a good spot. We came across Iron Horse, specifically because there was a grocery store around the corner where we killed time to wait for us to get a table. I shared the Surf and Turf with Ashley, and it was SO worth it!

Rodizio Grill is similar to Texas de Brazil, where the meat comes to you and is cut in front of you. They also have a buffet style prior to getting the meats to come to you, so it was nice that we got to experience the full idea. We actually arrived to the restaurant about an hour before the kitchen closed, so we thought we had enough time, but no one informed us of the closing time of the kitchen. So we basically had to devour our foodie to end on a good note.

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Post-Dinner, like the Pre-Game, but After

You know you had a good trip when you stopped at a few speakeasies! We hit Bourbon House and Bodega and thankfully actually got in. The lines were HUGE! We had even made reservations, but I guess it was also a first come, first serve basis… so we walked to the other reserved spot to maximize our time in both locations. Both felt very intimate, great charcuterie type vibes, and the drinks were so worth it! I think this trip made me love speakeasies even more. Catch me out there!!!

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Taking the Films to a Whole Other Level

Can you guess what was filmed in each location?!

Utah’s Capitol

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East High School

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The Real UP House | Riverside Park

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I wanted you to soak in all the photos before I told you what the movies were for each spot we went to. Also wanted to keep you on your toes, but that’s the suspenseful part of the fun.

• Utah’s Capitol was used in Legally Blonde. Who knew?!
• East High School is the High School Musical location, major throwback!!!
• The Real UP House is actually still a livable home, and it’s from the Pixar movie UP.
• Riverside Park, which is also an oldie, is the baseball field from Sandlot.

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Adventure to National Parks

I don’t know how many miles we walked, but the National Parks are worth it! We only had an opportunity to do a couple, mostly because of time, but we made the best of it. I think depending on the parks you want to visit, you would allot the time necessary to explore. Major TIP! Don’t forget to take weather into account, because we struggled just a tad.

Bryce National Park

We were absolutely not prepared for this weather. It was SO cold. If you’ve ever seen me when I’m shivering, I look like I have chicken skin (the saying sounds better in spanish). But I had already pre-planned my outfit, so there was no backing down!

At Bryce National Park, we saw Thor’s Hammer… from very far. I think this was the shortest we walked around a park, because the weather was just not for us that day. It was a cute time though, because we got to eat our snacks in the bench and just people watch.

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Zion National Park

The park signs lied to us. It took us 4.4 miles one way to go towards the top. I’ll give you some insight. It might’ve taken the 2.5 miles to reach Angel’s Landing, but if you’re feeling adventurous, our group climbed to the tippy top reaching Eagle’s Landing. The sign doesn’t tell you about that at the bottom, so we were pretty much dead by the time we reached the top. Thankfully we packed our lunch to eat at the top and snap some shots.

The view was breathtaking, but you had to be so careful with every step you took. The hikers were so nice too, because we formed pretty much a line of people going either way to not cause a traffic jam. These hikes are no joke, but absolutely should be part of the trip!

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Let me tell you a little about our Zion National Park Experience. As part of our trip, we allotted about two days for all things around Zion National Park. The first day was originally for the park and exploring all the areas that we had researched and the second day was more to chill and stay closer to the Airbnb. We drove with our rental car and as we were driving up, there were people already parking on the sides. my extroverted self asked what was going on, and one of the hikers that parked mentioned that we had to call a shuttle to go to the top and reserve it from days prior.

No one told us that nor did the website for the National Parks say that nor anything about covid.

Basically half a day wasted, because Zion wasn’t going to work, but we adapted! We planned for Zion for the second day and switched our days around to make it work. I totally recommend a few things that we didn’t have time or think of doing:

• Bring lunch / snacks that last for everyone for the day. The food at the parks gets pretty pricey if you don’t plan ahead. My back pack was water proof and had a water pouch inside that was easy to drink out of. It was SUCH a life saver!!!
• Bring a water proof phone case for the Narrows, or anything that you’ll be in the water for. also helps carry your ID’s and cash. Here’s the one I used!
• The morning’s are ALWAYs more chilly than the rest of the day. I know a sweater might be bulky once it’s hot and annoying to carry, but no one wants to freeze all day. I personally brought a windbreaker because it kept me warm, from getting super soaked, and it helped with the rain. It also had pockets inside, which was absolutely the best thing ever!
• If you want to go deep into the Narrows, I suggest and extra change of clothes to leave in the car. As well as renting the long pants and boots to cover your outfit when you’re in. I would do the full out suit, because we saw some people in the overalls suits and they fell so quick and got soaked. So what was the point of that? The hiking sticks are also necessary to walk in the water!

I hope these tips worked, if not, can work. It makes your trip worthwhile for sure!

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Utah, you will be extremely missed. Let’s head to COLORADO!

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