My brother-in-law, his wife and two children visited Utah this weekend. They were here for one day and then went on to Big Sky, Montana and Yellowstone National Park. So, we needed to come up with a mini-tour of SLC metro that included fun for kids as well as adults. I had sent my sister-in-law a list of activity ideas in advance of their arrival.
The first stop was breakfast. SLC Metro just does not have many choices for table service breakfast restaurants. After experimenting over the last year, my husband and I frequent The Village Inn on 106th & I-15 for Saturday breakfast dates. Everyone enjoyed the food, service and atmosphere.
Next stop was the The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. My niece and nephew (9 and 11 years old) enjoyed the entire experience. Their favorites were the River Otters, the Penguin Encounter, the Touch Pool with the sting rays and the Animal Superheroes! exhibits. We all hit the gift shop at the end. My nephew chose a "Harry Otter" t-shirt. My niece chose a blue snake, which she named Lotus, who added quite the entertainment for the remainder of the day. There was also an opportunity for a photo purchase (of the group which was taken at the entrance) and we bought one copy.
Our third stop was Temple Square and finding parking downtown was quite an adventure. Streets were blocked off for the Salt Lake City Marathon. There were large crowds due to several other events as well - the Democratic Party of Utah convention, the NCAA Gymnastics Championships, Clinton Kelly at Macy's, etc. At the Temple Square, we toured the South Visitor's Center. (We had previously toured the North Visitor's Center and now realize they are different. North has information/history on the history of the Temple Square and the South has information/history on the Temple itself.) The kids really liked the model of the Temple. It was nice to have the Sisters on hand to answer questions. We also toured the Tabernacle and were able to catch the sound amplification presentation.
Our fourth stop was City Creek Center. The kids enjoyed the fountains. My sister-in-law, my niece and I browsed the Swarovski boutique. It was a new experience for them.There is a location at Westport Plaza in KCMO but that area is not really safe anymore. Everyone was getting tired and hungry so we perused the mall map to find a place to eat.
The final stop in our mini-tour was Hagermann's Bakehouse Cafe. It was new for all of us. Everyone enjoyed their meal and there were positive comments about the bread. It is definitely a place to go on "the list" of veg friendly restaurants that are great for both omnivores and veg/vegans.
Hopefully next time they visit, it will be for longer than one day and we can explore (and blog about) more kid friendly activities.
