Another one of my posts from the other place, in response to a question about a guy who was in from out of town on business and needed suggestions about what to do "after hours" in SLC. I'm an old fogey, so my recommendations skew that way, and they're a little out of date, but I thought I'd port them over here just in case. Other thoughts?

There's TONS of awesome stuff to do in SLC after work.

(I'm not mentioning most of the tourist-y things. You can find those yourself if you want to do them. My picks -- the Natural History Museum if you like dinosaurs; Temple Square if you want to learn about the LDS church or catch a random organ recital over lunch---yes you will be bothered by missionaries but you can politely say you're not interested and don't need any help getting around)

First, if you like to ski, there's still going to be skiing for at least a couple of weeks. The snow won't be great, but the crowds shouldn't be too bad. There are buses that take you right up to the resorts. (That's not exactly after hours, but if you have an extra day before or after your trip.)

Second, there are lots of good hikes nearby that you can get done before the sun sets, even if you have to wait to get off of work. Three easy options are Ensign Peak (cool view above the capitol building of the valley; super short but kinda steep hike, but lots of hills beyond the hike you can explore if you want), The Living Room (different view of the city; couple miles each way; best way to get there is if you have a car, but you can get there on public transit), and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (long, winding trail in the foothills of SLC; great for running once you get up there). (Pretty good photos from all of these places.)

If you have a car, there are tons of hikes /climbs up and around the canyons near salt lake in the Wasatch Mountains. Some might be a little long for after work, but just look on alltrails or your favorite website to find distance and length requirements.

We have an awesome AAA baseball team, the Salt Lake Bees, in a stadium with the "best views in baseball." They have a home stand this week into this weekend (if the weather improves...). Thirsty Thursday = $3 (edit 3.50) beers. It's also easily accessible on public transportation from downtown if you don't have a car, or don't want to take it out. (TBH if you're staying in a downtown hotel, taking the light rail to the ballpark will be faster than getting your car out, driving down, finding a place to park, and walking.)

https://www.milb.com/salt-lake/schedule

We have a major league soccer team, Real Salt Lake. They have home games on the 20th and 30th this month. It's a really fun experience, and the stadium is on the light rail (just a pretty long ride).

SLC has a really strong, growing microbrewery culture. And because of some ridiculous zoning laws, many of them are grouped together. You can rent a bike or participate in our bike share program to get around from one brewery to another (you can do scooters too-- we have all the regular companies, but if you get too tipsy you might be calling a Lyft). The "main beer drag" is from 300 West and Mainstreet east and west, from downtown to about 3300 south north to south.

My favorite breweries to visit because they're fun: Fisher, TF (really great atmosphere), Proper (skee ball, old school video games, nice place); Kiitos (pinball!), Squatters (kind of a Utah original, most of their beers are just OK--food ranges from OK to good); Red Rock (better than Squatters IMO, for beer and food and decent atmosphere -- but it's pretty far from the rest), Bewilder (people like it; I've not experienced the atmosphere, but I'm kinda meh on the beers so far). My favorite breweries for beer: Red Rock, EPIC (their tasting room is just really small, but they're the most awarded brewer in SLC) TF, Proper, Shades (for sours) Grid City (good food), Level Crossing (pretty good food, my current favorite beer).

There are other good breweries/brew pubs worth visiting that are just a bit out of the way from the "main beer drag" like Uinta, Hopkins..,. a few others.

There are also a bunch of pretty cool bars in the downtown area. My favorites are Bar X/Beer Bar (owned by Ty Burrell of Modern Family fame), Quarters (old-school arcade bar), Bourbon House, The Rest (a hidden restaurant/bar below Bodega), Purgatory. If you're willing to take a Lyft, or a REALLY long train ride, to the suburbs, Prohibition is really cool. I think they have cabaret shows on the weekends and the lines are LOOOONG without a reservation.

Bar trivia is a big thing in SLC. You can play by yourself or if you're feeling extroverted, you can ask to join a smaller team. Just google around for places. I think the Green Pig (in downtown) still has trivia on Wednesday nights. Lots of other places are a bit of a drive/Lyft.

(PLEASE remember that Utah's DUI law is .05, so if you've had more than one, get a Lyft or an Uber.)

Our shopping is just meh. City Creek Center, a half-open-air shopping mall downtown, is fine and has the normal stores you would expect. Walking around is pleasant. Utah Woolen Mills is a famous men's clothier. There are some quirky shops downtown (like Ken Sanders Rare Books -- moving soon!) but I wouldn't go out of my way to go shopping here. Park City shopping is a little more interesting, and they have some nice art galleries up there, but definitely not worth the drive.

There's a weird SCUBA spot in an underground spring / crater in a mountain resort town called Midway. I don't think you could get up there after work right now (the cool "back way" road is closed during the winter), but they close at 8 p.m., so... maybe.

https://homesteadresort.com/things-to-do/homestead-crater/

You just missed the window to take a bobsled ride at the olympic track (edit: this was a winter post--you can bobsled in the summer, too!), but there's still an opportunity to curl on the olympic ice with the olympic stones. (Sold out through April, but if you're coming later... You'd need a car to get to the Olympic Oval, and I think you'd probably want to bring some friends along -- you're part of a group lesson but it's way more fun with people you know. https://checkout.utaholympiclegacy.org/activities/56

Maybe they'll have cancellations-- might be worth asking about.)

Beyond hiking, you might get good pics at the capitol, or at Red Butte Garden (they don't have a ton of flowering plants, so spring isn't usually the most impressive time there) or at Tracy Aviary in Liberty Park, or on hikes.

Drive out west of SLC to the Salt Flats on a clear night and get amazing star pics. That's a good hour drive each way though.

OH, you didn't mention culture or music, but SLC has one of the few year-round symphony orchestras in the country, and they're good. They perform pretty much every weekend. Get front-row orchestra seats. They're much cheaper than the other parts of the orchestra section, and you get to be right up to the musicians. They're usually sold out, but if you call the day of the performance, some season ticketholders may have turned their tickets in

Posted in the other place, but reposting here just in case it gets lost or deleted. The original question was what to do in Salt Lake City over a three-day weekend, preferrably with no car. This was my answer. It's a little out of date, but I think still relevant for people looking for travel advice. What do you all think?

Yes, there's plenty to do in a 3 day weekend.

Realize that if you really want to get a feel of SLC and why people live here, a significant portion of that is outdoors stuff. You can do some non-outdoors stuff, and there's cool non-outdoors stuff to do, but my and large that's not what makes SLC, SLC.

That said, here's a draft 3-day weekend itinerary for a "random" 3 day weekend. I'm going to assume it's not July 4th or the 24th (our local holiday, called "pioneer day") and it's not going to be in the middle of winter, where it's not very pleasant to be outside.

Friday:

Arrive from airport. Take light rail to downtown hotel.

If you get in early enough, eat a late lunch at Reg Iguana (it's on the light rail from the airport). Ask for the mole sampler; order something with mole on it. (I'm not going to do a ton of restaurant recommendations here, because a lot will depend on where you go and when, and others might have even better recommendations, but this one is sort of iconic SLC.) I suggest late lunch because they're incredibly busy during "normal" dining hours, especially on weekends. It it's too long, you can go down to Red Iguana II, which is a short walk away and serves the same food (without the same atmosphere).

Explore the Gateway area (on the light rail, but also a pretty easy walk from most downtown hotels.) It was a premiere "open air" shopping destination constructed for the olympics, but has been eclipsed for shopping by City Creek Center (owned by the LDS Church). But it's been reimagined as an entertainment destination, and there's fun stuff there. Check out Hall Pass for a communal eating and drinking experience, or one of the many (decent) restaurants in or near Gateway. Stroll through the unique shops that have come back, swing on the swings, watch the fountain, catch a comedy show at Wiseguy's, a rock show at the Depot, a laser show at the planetarium, or just a movie at the theater.

(There are other live music venues, clubs, and bars near the Gateway, if you'd rather party)

Saturday:

A.M. If you're here in the summer, go to the S.L. Farmer's Market. Walkable or a short scooter ride, it's quite large, and while it mostly features local produce and meat, there is a good selection of prepared foods or artisan crafts. Just a pretty good time.

If not, maybe a bus tour. (I've not taken them, but I think this would get most of the "sights" out of the way, with some explanation about the city and its unique history).

(You can also do a lot of these things on your own... like the Tabernacle Organ concert is at noon and is free. But this packages it nicely: https://www.saltlakecitytours.org/tours/ultimate-salt-lake-city-tabernacle-organ/)

Afternoon.: Spend a little bit of time at Temple Square. Even if you're not LDS, there's interesting stuff to see, and the missionaries won't bother you if you just say you're not interested. There's also genealogy research at the Family History Library, which can be cool. Alternatively, check out the downtown museums, including the Leonardo (an art-meets-invention museum), or the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. If you're willing to take a little bit of a bus ride (or another Uber), check out the Utah Natural History Museum. It's on the backside of the U of U campus, and there is a bus (but service is spotty!), but it's an amazing museum. If you like dinosaurs even a little bit, you'll be in awe of this place. There's other really interesting natural history exhibits too, and it's a working research institution (you can often watch researchers carefully chipping rock away from fossils for study).

Evening: "An Event." Depending on when you come, this would include a Jazz Game, a SL Bees (AAA Baseball) Game, a Real Salt Lake (MLS) game, a Utah Symphony (full-time, amazing group) concert, a Utah Opera performance, a Ballet West (one of the best ballet companies in the U.S., featured on reality TV shows) performance, some other event at Vivint Arena (massive concert, etc.) Utes football game, Utes gymnastics meet (not always on Saturdays, and often during the day, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it), or a performance at the Eccles theater (broadway-like stuff). Everything except the Utes stuff is on the light rail or easily accessible downtown--even the Real SL match, which is way out in the suburbs but right on the light rail that also goes downtown.

Sunday:

A.M.: Travel to Liberty Park (not super convenient on busses, but there are ways to make it work, or a really quick, cheap Uber). Hang out at the park, walk around, check out Tracy Aviary (a bird sanctuary within the park that is cool in and of itself). Before or after, have brunch at one of the many brunch spots around the park.

P.M. Rent a bike, use bike share, or use a scooter to do a pub crawl on the west side of town. You might want to start toward the south side (Level Crossing is my favorite) and ride toward downtown. This could easily take all the afternoon into the evening. Maybe finish at Red Rock, a brew pub downtown that also has really good food.

Crash.

Monday:

AM: Short hike. You can try City Creek/Memory Grove near the capital (easy walk or scooter ride), or Ensign Peak (Uber for sure--a short but kind of strenuous hike for a really good view of the Salt Lake valley) or "the Living Room" (longer hike on the east side of town near the University--pretty much would have to take an Uber--but get really cool views of the valley).

PM: anything that I doubled up before that you didn't get to. Shopping at City Creek (it's mostly standard mall stores, but has a river running through it and is quite pleasant) or grab a souvenir at one of the many souvenir shops downtown.

Evening: Light rail back to airport.

Things not on the itinerary but could be if you were so inclined:

Downtown library (it's got cool architecture, and there are usually things going on there, but it's mostly a city library, and lots of unsheltered folks hang around a lot)

"This is the Place" heritage park (more info about Mormon pioneers, but pretty hard to get to without a car. Not so much for adults)

"Sugarhouse" (a neighborhood in the southeast corner of SLC. There's a nice park, and some local shops, and some good breweries and pizza places, but also some generic commercial development, like a Whole Foods and Old Navy. It's a nice park to run around, and there are a few hidden gems, but it's more for residents than tourists. It's accessible on public transportation, but would take you a while)

Red Butte Garden. A nice, outdoor garden for walking or enjoying good weather. It's close to the natural history museum, so not great for public transit, but doable. Can get really really hot in the summer.

Park City (not really accessible by public transit, there's a commuter bus that runs, but I don't know what weekends or holidays are like. It's a very cool, very rich, mountain town. And once you get there, public transit is free.)

Olympic Oval (ice skating and curling olympic venue) and Olympic Park (Park City -- ski jumping venue with outdoor ropes courses, bobsled, mountain slides, ski jumping shows, and more in the summer). Impossible to get to on public transportation, not so much fun by yourself. But the Olympic Park has fun events.

Ski resorts. There are ski busses if you go in the wintertime but they don't run in the summer. In the summer, there are hiking trails, beautiful mountain lakes, wildflowers, a fun Octoberfest in September, etc. "Outdoorsy" but iconic SLC and doesn't have to be too intense (also a lot cooler up there in the summer).

If you're a museum goer, check out the Salt Lake Connect pass. You can get into many of the venues I've talked about for a fairly low price. 1-, 2-, and 3-day options available.

https://www.visitsaltlake.com/things-to-do/tours-experiences/visit-salt-lake-connect-pass/#venues

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I've played it a few times (I'm a percussionist), and I just love it. I have a few recordings, and my favorite is definitely not this P. Jarvi recording, (I can't remember my favorite, I'll have to look it up when I get home.) But any version is still awesome!~

One of my favorite tracks on my favorite TMBG Album. I love the vibraphone, the production, and the concept of chasing something everyone says is great but is ultimately destructive

> In a recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, Romney’s approval rating among Utah voters dropped to 41 percent, down 11 points from March, when 52 percent of Utah voters said they either strongly or somewhat approved of the senator.

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> "How do we write and change this law to where books where a women naked over a man with a gun to his head is allowed in the libraries of your junior high, and the bible is not," asked Rep. Kera Birkeland.

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Mendenhall vs. Anderson on homelessness in SLC.

Compare Anderson's Q&A: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/06/12/qa-inside-mayoral-candidate-rocky/

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