Antelope Island is in the middle of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Every spring, Mike and I go up there to see if we can see baby seagulls. We’ve never seen them once, but bison, we’ve seen many times.
This photo from Ed Karjala on Flickr is more beautiful than I’ve ever seen Antelope Island. Click on the picture to see it full-sized on Flickr.
Take a five minute vacation from work and enjoy the view at Antelope Island.
This is a different kind of travel video that is a walking tour of the Scott Matheson Wetlands Preserve Walk in Moab, Utah. It is film of a walk around a wetlands preserve. There is no narration or corny descriptions of what you can already see. All you have are the sounds of footsteps, birds singing and maybe even a little water (although the Utah desert is not really known for water).
Here is a glimpse of what the video is like:
I have released two similar DVDs to this in the past: Swami’s Beach and Sugarhouse Walk. This video was created to watch while walking on a treadmill, but it’s a great introduction to Moab, Utah.
Estimated Distance: 2.0 Miles
Estimated Speed: 2.3 mph
Time: 52:00 Minutes
I’m offering this workout DVD for $5 including shipping and handling in the continental U.S. If you live elsewhere contact me and we’ll figure out how much it will cost to ship to you.
Order Starling Fitness Walking Videos Here
You can see the route I walked here. The video goes around the loop twice. I tried to be crafty when I was filming it so you wouldn’t notice, but just now I realized that I have to tell you that I walked the circuit twice, so that you would know the accurate mileage.
Video Description:
It was a hot day and the signs all over Moab said, “Did you remember your water?” I brought a bottle of water, but I was filming, so I couldn’t just take a swig of it. Halfway through the walk I could hear every swish it made in my backpack, wishing I could take a drink. The dry heat seemed to suck all the moisture out of my body, but the Scott Matheson Wetland Preserve was shady.
The trees protected me from the blistering sun. As I walked along the trail, I filmed wildflowers and I could even hear birds. I wanted to hide in the shade of the house at the end of the trail and watch the birds from its quiet solitude, but I was intent on walking. Investigating the little-known paths was a bonus because I found my way to Kane Creek. I turned around and walked it all over again. When I was finished, I enjoyed the red rocks and watched the off-roaders drive by.
Then I turned off my camera and gulped down all my water in one fail swoop. Should have brought two bottles…
Order Starling Fitness Walking Videos Here
For More Information about the wetlands preserve:
The Nature Conservancy in Utah – Scott M. Matheson Wetlands Preserve
Since no one was sending me any postcards, I asked my friends to send me postcards. The first one to send one in was Henry J. Tillman, the joker. He sent me a postcard from Salt Lake City!
Interestingly enough, he chose a postcard that mispelled the word, “Mormon.” The text on the postcard says:
“SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: With multiple spires soaring heavenward, the Morman Temple is truly a magnificent building. You may admire it only from the outside unless you are an LDS member, then you are permitted in.”
Photo by Blake G. Smith
The postcard is correct. Only LDS members are allowed inside the temple, but tourists are allowed on the grounds and in the auxilliary buildings on the temple grounds. The biggest question most tourists ask is, “What do they do in there?” Sadly, it’s much more boring than you would imagine:
Thanks for being the first to send me a postcard, Henry!
Please send me a postcard from your travels or your hometown. If you do and it’s interesting, I will publish your postcard on Starling Travel.
Send your postcards to:
Starling Travel
Attention: Laura Moncur
P.O. Box 522032
Salt Lake City, Utah 84152
It’s like sending a postcard to the whole world when you go on vacation. It’s like bragging about your hometown to the everyone on the planet.
Ash Buckles likes riding his ATV and is always looking for a good trail. He shares a couple with us here:
Tibble Fork – American Fork Canyon, Utah – Ash Buckles – Blog
ATV Trailhead in Tucker, Utah in Sanpete County – Ash Buckles – Blog
He describes in detail how to get to each trail and even provides pictures of the beauty you will see when you’re there. This is his picture from Five Mile Pass.
If you are looking for someplace to take your ATVs four-wheelin’, then check Ash’s website before you plan. He keeps a running log of his favorite ATV trails here:
“Let’s go to that restaurant with the beer.”
“Which one is that?” It’s not like Salt Lake City has such few restaurants with beer that I could tell which one he meant.
“You know, you asked the guy to pour the beer while you filmed him with your camera…”
“Oh yeah… The Bohemian. Yeah, let’s go there!”
Music Credit: Experimental Royalty Free Music – Laid Back Guitars
It was one of those moments when everything is beautiful. Our waiter had poured one glass of beer and I asked if it was okay if I filmed him while he poured the other. We sat on the shady east side of the restaurant outdoors and enjoyed the mild weather.
The beer? Yeah… it tasted like beer…
All beer tastes like teenaged drunken parties and vomit to me. This beer was no different. It looked so pretty, though. It was a cruel joke, looking like a frothy root beer float. Instead, it tasted like beer you should chew.
It made quite an impression on my friend, though…
Where: The Bohemian Brewery and Grill – 94 E 7200 S (Fort Union Blvd) Salt Lake City, UT 84047 Google Map Phone: 801-566-5474
I wrote an article earlier about Lagoon when I was a child:
It is still around and a favorite summer time activity for the kids in Northern Utah. Local hotels sell “Lagoon Packages” to attract visitors from neighboring states.
This website has a webcam installed where you can see a aerial picture of Lagoon updated every five minutes:
I found Google Maps to be much more appealing, even though the photos are out of date, the color is so beautiful:
Sadly, my two favorite rides, The Terroride and Dracula’s Castle, are just huge boring buildings and an aerial shot of them is strangely disappointing when I think of all the “spine-tingling” fun I’ve had on those rides.
There are many locally owned amusement parks like Lagoon all over the United States. If you are feeling a little bored, plan a trip to one for the weekend. You might be surprised at how fun a trip to a local amusement park can be.
It seems like the Sundance Film Festival just ended, but now you have a chance to book next year’s festival and save some money while you do it. You have until August 15th to get this deal so don’t delay.
If you are planning your trip to the Sundance Film Festival, check out Starling Travel’s entries on Park City and inexpensive places to enjoy yourself while you’re here:
A grand opening for a restaurant is usually a quiet affair. A few friends of the restaurant owners show up and they give tours of the kitchen. When Pawit opened his new restaurant, however, it was filled with people, eager to once again eat his delicious food. It was a raging success!
Pawit had been a partner at Thai Garden, but when the business arrangement went sour, he searched for a restaurant to call his own. When he left Thai Garden, the food quality dimished rapidly, so all his loyal customers have been waiting for months for his new restaurant to open up.
Pawit is a perfectionist in the best sense of the word. Not only does the kitchen need to be immaculately clean (take a tour and you’ll feel as if a doctor could perform surgery in his kitchen), but the rest of the restaurant needs to be beautiful. The grand opening of Pawit’s Royal Cuisine was nothing short of artwork.
He had a small staff the opening night and the restaurant was full, so our meal took a couple of hours to complete. We were happy to wait because it was the first time in months that we were able to eat his delicious Massaman Curry and Num Tok Salad. We sipped our Thai Iced Teas and enjoyed the appetizers.
When the food came, we weren’t disappointed. The curry was spicy and creamy. The Num Tok was a refreshing salad of beef and mint. The sticky rice was perfect. The mango and sweet sticky rice was moist and delicious. Once we asked Pawit how he found the best mangoes and he said, “I go all over the city looking for the best. I found these ones at Costco.” He was so proud of his find. Mike and I can never find fresh mangoes in the city, but Pawit keeps searching until he does.
When you come to Salt Lake City, Utah, you cannot leave until you’ve tried Pawit’s Royal Thai Cuisine. It’s the kind of restaurant that is a testament to Salt Lake City’s diversity.
Pawit’s Royal Thai Cuisine
1968 East Murray- Holladay Road, Salt Lake City, Utah 84117 Google Map
Phone: 801-277-39658
Hours:
Lunch: 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
Dinner: 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Friday and Saturday close at 10:00 pm
Closed Sunday
This quick little article from About.com gives a pretty good list for the best hamburgers in Salt Lake City.
My personal favorite is Crown Burger. They have the best pastrami burgers in the area piled high with pastrami on top of ground beef patty. Add their onion rings with fry sauce and you have the greasiest meal in the city.
Enjoy!
Whenever I write an entry about an obscure place in Salt Lake City, I get email from people who are homesick for Utah. I can understand how they feel. Sometimes it feels like even the sunshine here is different than the places I’ve visited.
Whether you’re homesick for Utah or curious about what makes it so interesting, this new walking video is for you. You will enjoy a relaxing walk through the Sugarhouse shopping district, in Salt Lake City.
I created this video for Starling Fitness so you could watch it while walking on a treadmill or riding an exercise bike, but it is also a relaxing vacation in a DVD that you can pop into your player whenever you’re feeling trapped at home.
This video is a little less than three minutes, but it gives you an idea of what you will see.
You can see the route I walked here:
Total Mileage: 2.18 miles
Average Speed: 2.8 mph
Time: 47:00 Minutes
The DVD is shipped via U.S. mail.
To buy the Sugarhouse Walk video for $5.00 (including shipping and handling) click here:
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