It was my second full day in Salt Lake City, and I had to start the morning with a few errands. Before heading out, I decided to grab breakfast at a new kolache shop in the neighborhood where I was staying.
Kolaches are a Czech fusion food with roots in the early Czech settlers who immigrated to Texas in the 19th century. They are not well known outside of Texas, but Hruska's seems popular already! The line was out the door when I arrived, even though it was still early in the morning. I guess it's like when Krispy Kreme opened for the first time. People get excited about something new.
I ordered a sausage, egg, cheese, and jalapeño kolache, but I also wanted to try some of the seasonal offerings. I also ordered a sweet pumpkin and chocolate chip kolache and a savory turkey, bacon, and avocado kolache along with a cup of strong, hot cafe-style coffee.
It was a cool, breezy afternoon. Dominik took the hardtop roof off of his Bronco and we rolled down the windows, drank our sodas, and drove up into the mountains above Salt Lake City to This is the Place Heritage Park.
The park is located at the eastern side of Emigration Canyon. On July 24, 1847, when an early group of Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young, who assumed the First Presidency of the LDS church after the assassination of Joseph Smith, passed through the canyon, Young stopped and famously said, "This is the right place, drive on." Descending into the valley below, the settlers stopped and founded what is today Salt Lake City.
The monument, which was constructed in 1947 on the centennial of Young's arrival in Utah, honors not only Mormon pioneers but other influential explorers and historical figures from Utah's history including Fathers Dominguez and Escalante, two Fransiscan priests who set out to find an overland route from Santa Fe to Monterrey; the ill-fated Doner party; Shoshone chief Washakie, and others.
There's a small museum on site as well as activities like hiking and horseback riding. The main attraction is the heritage park, which features a large replica pioneer village where kids can run around and explore while learning about history.
It was such a nice day that we wanted to keep on driving, so after stopping for a flock of wild turkeys to cross the road, we took a joyride up into the mountains above Emigration Canyon.
Much of the canyon was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961 for the canyon's significance in Utah's early pioneer history. A smooth, winding road through an extremely scenic drive passes camps, biking trails, overlooks, and other recreational areas.
The canyon was the original route that the settlers used to cross into Utah, hence the name "Emigration Canyon".
As we got higher into the hills, the leaves began changing to gold and orange, and the canyon is just a few weeks away from having some really amazing fall foliage.
There was still some time left in the day so after a drive through the University of Utah campus, we decided on a whim to drive back up Capitol Hill to visit the Pioneer Memorial Museum, an expansive and eclectic collection of artifacts and memorabilia donated by the descendants of the early Mormon pioneers.
I especially enjoyed seeing one room which was full of wagons and stagecoaches which were in remarkable condition considering their age.
That evening for dinner we decided to try another restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: Curry Pizza. This popular local restaurant takes two beloved comfort foods: American pizza and Indian curry, and combines them into an incredible fusion creation
After breakfast, I took the train to Walmart to pick up a new hydration pack for my upcoming hikes as well as a few other little things that I needed for the next week.
My shopping complete, I headed back to my friend Dominik's apartment where I was staying. He was able to get off of work early, and he arrived back around 1pm. With half of the day ahead of us, we decided to head out and explore more of Salt Lake's surrounding areas.
Before leaving town, we stopped at Swig, a drive-through "dirty soda" shop. Mormons cannot drink coffee, tea, or alcohol, so soda has become the popular go-to drink in Utah and other heavily Mormon areas. A dirty soda is basically a soda with lots of syrups added to it to create a flavorful soda blend. I ordered a seasonal "Dr Spice", which added pumpkin pie spices to Dr Pepper.
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| Brigham Young and Joseph Smith |
The monument is way bigger than I expected, and the pictures don't really do justice to how huge it actually is. It's set in the hills above the city, and you can look down into the valley to see the capitol building and part of downtown SLC below.
It's autumn, but a little warmer than typical for this time of year in Utah. It was in the 60s F at the top of the canyon, and the cool, dry breeze felt amazing after months in sweaty, stifling Bangkok.
As we got higher into the hills, the leaves began changing to gold and orange, and the canyon is just a few weeks away from having some really amazing fall foliage.
Perhaps the most significant artifact at the museum - definitely the oddest - is a string cut from the underwear of Joseph Smith himself.
We placed an order for two large pizzas to share. We ordered two signature dishes: chicken tikka masala pizza and butter curry pizza with chicken. After placing our order, the staff built the pizza right in front of our eyes and popped it into the big pizza oven behind the restaurant's counter.
The chicken tikka masala pizza used a delicious masala curry as the sauce and was topped with melted mozzarella cheese, roasted bell peppers, roasted tomatoes, onions, jalapeño, cilantro, and fenugreek.
We also had the butter curry pizza with chicken. A delicious makhani curry (better known as Indian butter chicken curry) was topped with mozzarella, roasted broccoli, green onion, artichoke hearts, jalapeño, and fresh spinach.
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