Salt Lake

Salt Lake City Country: United States [[image:|220px|Downtown Salt Lake City]] Links: CS Group Wikipedia Wikitravel

Salt Lake City, founded by the Mormon Pioneers in 1847 welcomes new pioneering Couch Surfers to discover our quirky, but basically friendly culture. Please feel free to add your own content, based on personal experiences!

Tips

Getting around Salt Lake City is easy -- IF YOU HAVE A CAR !!. Seriously, our mass transit system is in the words of my most recent Couch Surfer, "rapidly developing". The light rail (TRAX) system is always improving and is good for going downtown and to the University of Utah, and soon the airport. The Bus System [1] is somewhat infrequent and not geared towards sightseeing.

Understanding the street system. I recently had a couch surfer look for her bank so she could use the ATM. She ended up at 400 South and 400 West, when she needed to be at 400 South and 400 East. Sound confusing? It's not really. Here's what you need to know:

The Mormon Temple is the Center of the Universe. Okay, maybe not the universe, but it certainly is the center of the street system here. Pick any address in Salt Lake, and it tells you how far away from the temple you are, and in what direction. Example: The downtown library[2] is at 210 East 400 South, excatly 2.1 blocks east of the temple, and 4.0 blocks south of the temple.

The street that runs along the south side of the temple is called (strangely enough) South Temple Street. Go one block south, and you cross 100 South. Go two blocks south, and cross 200 South and so on. These streets are also commonly known as First South, or Second South, etc.

The same goes for the streets North and West of the Temple; West Temple Street, 200 West, 300 West etc.

Instead of an "East Temple Street, and 100 East, we call them Main and State Street, but after that, it's the same as all the rest, 200 East, 300 East and so on.

When my couch surfer was at 400 South and 400 West, she was 4 blocks west of the temple, when she needed to be 4 blocks east of the sacred monument! That crazy couch surfer!

So, you alway know where you are at (in relation to the temple) and where you have to go (in relation to the temple) and how many blocks you have to travel in the north-south or east-west directions. For those of you who can't tell direction, remember this; The closest mountains are to the East.

Drink

Our strange Liquor Laws

Actually not that strange. You have to be at least 21 to drink here. You can buy low alcohol (3.2%)beer and coolers at most grocery and convenience stores. Wine, stronger beer, and other liquor can be purchased at the state owned and operated liquor stores[3].

Many restaurants have liquor licenses, some sell only beer and wine, others may have full licenses to sell mixed drinks as well. You have to order food, or at least appear like you intend to order food to get a drink in a restaurant. You can't just order a cocktail. It's easy enough, just ask for a menu, and then ask for a drink while you decide. If you change your mind and decided not to order food, the restaurant can't be blamed for that!

We also have bars and taverns and private clubs. After decades of only being able to sell beer, many bars changed to "private clubs". Bar owners found the state didn't harass private clubs like the Elks Club, or the Rotary Club, when they sold alcohol to their members, so they adopted the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality. So they sold cheap "Memberships" to their customers, and got around many of the liquor laws. This is why, when you want to go out to your favorite bar, you are asked if you are a member. Members can invite several guests, who were not members. I remember the good old days, when going to a new establishment, the greeter would ask if you were a member. I would respond with, "No, do you think there is anyone here who would sponsor me?" The greeter would then point to one of the "regulars" and say, "See Joe over there? He's your sponsor." That meant if anyone asked, I was a guest of Joe's, that's how I got to get in and order a drink without having to buy a membership. Sadly, those days have just about gone, as crackdowns occurred. I think it's still worth a try. If you are just visiting, they sell fairly inexpensive temporary memberships. I still prefer to just by "Joe" a drink, and become his friend, and therefore his guest, but I guess that's the couchsurfing mentality.

If you want more clarification, here are more links:

• Visitor's Bureau site on Liquor Laws [4]
• SLCTRAVEL'S Liquor Law explaination [5]
• Utah Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control official Liquor Law site [6]

Foodsurfing

Here are some of my favorite restaurants. I bring my couch surfers to all of these, and haven't had any complaints yet! Other's out there, please post (or send to me)[7] your favorites too!

• El Rey de Oros.[8]The cheapest most delicios tacos in town. A little Spanish is helpful, but not necessary. For 3 bucks you can get 3 small tacos and a drink. I love the Horchata (pronounced OR-CHA-TA) which is sweet and tastes like rice pudding. My favorite are the pork tacos, called Tacos Al Pastor.

• Thai Siam [9] I love the lunch special here. For 6 or 7 bucks you get two items from the lunch menu with rice and an egg roll. I usually get the green curry something-or-other, and a chicken or beef dish. I don't remember that the pad thai is anything special. It's got minimal decor, but it's pleasant and the service is usually speedy, although they are very busy during lunch.

• Cafe Med [10]Housed in a former Pizza Hut building (I know because I went to Granite High School just up the street) Cafe Med has affordable, tasty and exotic dishes from the Mediterranean. I almost alway order the Turkish yogurt posta, and always have leftovers to take home. The pita bread and hummus are delicious! It's not the easiest place to get to without a car, but can (and should) be done.

• Cafe Trang [11]Trang has been around for decades. It's the first Vietnamese restaurant I remember. I don't think I would know bad Vietnamese cooking if had it, but Trang is tasty and the prices are reasonable if not downright cheap!

Hostels

Under Construction

Memorable SLC Couchsurfing Experiences or Adventures

A day long driving trip I took with Michael from Switzerland.

On a July 2007 Sunday morning, Michael and I started out by eating breakfast at the Emigration Market[12] He was especially impressed with the large stack of pancakes and bottle of colored syrup. Perhaps they don't hve these in Switzerland.

Next, we headed out to visit the Great Salt Lake. From the Saltair building, it was possible to walk out on the salt crust to the waters edge. We took some interesting photos. We then drove to the marina, and filled up a water bottle with brine shrimp. My 7-year-old friend's sea monkeys had recently all died, so I though some fresh ones might perk him up.

After that, it was a 45 minute drive up to Park City to see the sights and have a beer at the Wasatch Brew pub. I've alway said the best thing about Salt Lake is Park City!

Next, we drove up past the old Ontario mine and headed for Guardsman Pass. Michael felt at home in the Alpine setting and we saw a couple of deer. To my surprise it clouded up and we got a cool summer thundershower albeit brief.

On the other side of Guardsman's pass, we drove down Big Cottonwood Canyon towards Brighton. We stopped at Silver Lake[13] and hiked (walked really) on the trail around the lake. One of the highlights of the walk was seeing a moose standing in the water eating plants, and he was just a few feet from the trail.

A quick drive down Big Cottonwood canyon, put us on Wasatch Blvd, and we headed back home. The whole trip took about 6 hours, but could have taken much longer if we had done some more hiking.