An Outing in Salt Lake City

It was good to see Elif at the airport waiting for us. The weather was very nice and it would remain so for the rest of our stay. We arrived at Elif’s house and settled in our bedroom Elif fixed for our arrival. Mina had gone on a trip with her father and was to return home after her dance practice. We were very pleased to see her arrive and decided to go out to eat at one of the local restaurants.

Our next major outing would be to pick up Mina from her school, Salt Lake Arts Academy, and go to a local period costume store called Decades. After that, a trip to the Salt Lake Marina would allow us to see the sunset from a nice vantage point. The used clothing store was quite interesting, well organized, and filled with clothing from the ’50s and maybe even earlier. Unfortunately, their policies did not allow picture taking in the store. There will be a few windows I photographed from outside as well as their Art Deco style logo hanging over the entry door. Mina was able to find the poodle skirt from the ’50s; after purchasing it we got back in the car. Elif said since we have time before the sunset, we could stopover at the Salt Lake City Public Library with interesting architecture.

The library was indeed quite interesting with a slanting curved glass facade and the leaning support legs of the walkway descending from the roof garden. I stayed out a little, took some photographs of the building, and walked into the lobby which is called the Urban Room. There were some small shops, tables, and chairs for enjoying a cup of coffee and relax. The main lighting of the library is over 176,000 square feet of glass on one side and the ceiling. The Urban Room roamed upwards for five stories and glass-enclosed elevators carried people up and down. Elif suggested that we tried going to the roof and asked for directions. Elif and I took the elevator to the fifth floor and found the door to the roof garden. The view was quite impressive and with a little extra effort, I was able to walk up the ramp to the topmost level with an even better view!

After taking quite a few photographs from the roof, I suggested to Elif to call Jan so that she could enjoy the vista and take some photographs. In a few minutes, Jan and Mina were upstairs enjoying the scenery, mountains on one side and the sprawling city on the other. Elif and Mina walked down the stairway perched on top of the slanted supports. A few minutes later she called and told us that I could easily do it. So, Jan and I started heading down. At the end of the stepped walkway were stairs that took us to the plaza where we started.

We found the car in the parking garage and headed to the marina. As we approached the replica of an old salt bath, Saltair, Elif noticed that the gate to go to the marina was closed. Apparently, in the fall and winter months, they close it at 5 pm. Oh, well, we still stayed there. The girls, including Josephine the dog, ventured out to the salt flat but I stayed behind taking photographs of the impending sunset and changing colors. Of course, I made sure I captured the girls on the salt flat as well.

After we saw the sunset, we got back to the car and headed home. The marina would wait for another day. We are returning home to Rhode Island tomorrow. I will resume posting after a few days.

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