My Exciting Day in Salt Lake City
Visiting Salt Lake City, the first thing that I noticed were the lofty mountains surrounding the city nestled in a valley. Salt Lake’s beauty and attraction proved to extend far beyond the beautiful views of nature. I had a great time exploring the interesting things Salt Lake City has to offer.
I started my exploration of the city by visiting Red Butte Garden nestled at the foothills of the Wasatch Mountain range in Salt Lake City. Run by the University of Utah, a stroll through this botanical garden I saw a huge variety of plant life and flowers. With 21 acres of garden in total, I couldn’t see it all but enjoyed what I did!
Heading down from the foothills into downtown Salt Lake City I decided to stop by an attraction known to locals for years but just recently gaining more attention from those visiting out of town, Gilgal sculpture garden. Gilgal sculpture garden is home to 12 original sculptures made by a hobbyist sculptor who lived in Salt Lake City. The sculptures in the garden vary from the slightly unusual to the truly bizarre and draw off of many aspects of Mormonism.
After visiting Gilgal I headed north to visit the Cathedral of the Madeline. Open to visitors and located directly below the avenues, a trendy Salt Lake City neighborhood, the Cathedral of the Madeline serves as the seat of the Catholic church in the city. Finishing construction in 1909, the exterior of the cathedral was built in a Neo-Romanesque design, while the interior drew from Neo-Gothic influences. Walking inside I was able to admire the polychrome murals that decorated the walls as well as the interesting sculptures.
City Creek
Deciding to head west into the heart of downtown to visit Temple Square, I first decided to stop by City Creek Center. City Creek Center was built by the LDS church’s commercial arm and finished in 2012.
Meant to revitalize the heart of downtown, City Creek Center combines residential buildings, a large open-air outdoor shopping mall, office space as well as a man-made creek winding throughout. I walked through City Creek Center admiring the landscaping and decided against ducking into one of the many upscale stores that are housed in City Creek and decided to head on my way to Temple Square.
Temple Square
Temple Square houses the most iconic Mormon temple in the world and consists of 10 acres total with other church-owned buildings, historic and modern, residing on the square. Passing the Lion House, Brigham Youngs historic house from when he lived in Salt Lake City, I passed the towering church office building and finally made my way through the walls to see the imposing Salt Lake City Temple.
The Salt Lake temple took 40 years to complete, with granite being hauled from nearby mountains to aid construction and is the largest Mormon temple in the world. Covered with symbols, such as stars, moons, eyes, and planets, the Temple was a beautiful sight and the perfect place to end my day in Salt Lake City.
Visiting Salt Lake City was an experience filled with beauty and interesting sights and I can’t wait to return and explore the city further.