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I'm going and probably staying at Marriott Mountainside (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/slcms-marriotts-mountainside/).

Discuss.

significance? significant?

Apparently you have money to burn.  Nice place.   

What do you want to know?

If you want to go swimming in a cool place, head over to Homestead and take swim in the Crater. Or a scuba dive. 90* water in a mostly enclosed rock formation.

http://www.homesteadresort.com/Crater

Not sure.  I only know that I want to ski in/out and I am pretty sure the Marriott does that.  I'm hoping to have the boy learn to ski; he will be six and I'm thinking he needs to learn now instead of later when it hurts to fall.  There should also be places for the woman to entertain herself, so really I'm just looking for "don't wave your hand with the palm facing outward or the Mormons will club you to death" or "do some exercise before you go" type info.


Can't take it with you.  Might as well Stimulate the economy.  Also, I hear bad things about Smuggler's Notch and I'm not going to WV again.

I don't swim, but I will put this in the file.

That place is definitely a ski in type place as it is right up against the resort lifts. My mother in law actually has a timeshare at that place so I've stayed there (in summer) and it is pretty nice.

Don't worry about offending the natives. Park City is not like the rest of Utah. Very liberal place and knows its bread is buttered with tourist dollars. You are going to be relatively close to Main Street which has all of the good shops/restaurants although far enough that walking is kind of a pain, particularly in winter. If no car there is a good bus system that will take you there.  There is also a state liquor store right in the middle of Main Street if you want to pick up anything other than 3.2 beer.  If you want specific restaurant recommendations I can provide those.

There is another shopping district a ways away called Kimball Junction (you will pass it on the way in) that has an outlet mall that I don't think is particularly good, but opinions vary.  You can get there on the bus too but it is about 40 minutes.  If you want to go real high class journey up to Deer Valley for dinner.

If you are spending any time in Salt Lake I can give you info on that as well.

Isn't swimming more of a vital knowledge then skiing?   :why_so_serious:

Get yourself a couple of bottles of this shit...

High West 21-year-old (http://www.highwestdistillery.com/spirits/whiskey/rocky-mountain-21-year-old). Drink 'til the Sundance people go away, then board your ass off.

Ya, I should have mentioned visiting the distillery there in town although I actually prefer the regular stuff over the 21 Year (blasphemous I know).

I also should have mentioned DON'T GO DURING SUNDANCE.  You won't be able to get in anywhere and the posuer quotient exceeds the celebrity sighting quotient.

Ah, shit, did not think of that.  Thanks for the tip.  That is exactly what I was looking for even when I did not know it.

I'd like to go to a high-class restaurant but I'll have the boy, so no point in that.  Seems like I can avoid renting a car, which I'd like to do if possible.  The Marriott should have a shuttle from the airport and I can walk/bus elsewhere.


I keep hearing this.

Why the fuck did you build a pool then?

The other people in my house swim.  You know, when not working at the factory and cooking barefoot.

What have you heard? I've been going there for the better part of 10 years to my uncle's timeshare (he's a club owner).

FYI, it has the (last I checked) highest-rated ski school in the US (all ages), it's a very family-centric resort, and they really take care of you there.

Probably wants to go to a real mountain.  :awesome_for_real:

There are a couple of good relatively high-end restaurants that I will recommend for the heck of it. Wahso is an asian fusion type place and if you can get a booth, you are practically in your own room (they even have a curtain you can close if you want) so the kid wouldn't be much of a problem.  Chimayo is also good and a bit more casual. Both are on Main Street.

Wahso
 (http://www.wahso.com/07/index.php)

Chimayo (http://chimayorestaurant.com/)


Another good place that may work out isn't on Main Street but isn't far from your place called Chez Betty.  (http://www.chezbetty.com/)  


I don't think ambiance-wise a kid would be a problem in any of these places. You can check out the menu to see if you could feed the youngin as none of them exactly have "kid's menus".  Of those I think Chez Betty would be the most likely to "whip something up" for the kid if you asked real nice although no guarantee on that as I've never tried it.

Well, it IS just Vermont.

Ski in/out lodging is definitely the way to go regardless of any $$$ premium.  SkiReport (http://www.skireport.com/utah/parkcity/) helps me see snow conditions.  I also saw some lift package ticket deal while I was at Costco today for Park City (and Mammoth, CA) and I believe there was a mention of rentals and lessons for Park City but I can't remember if that was part of the ticket or some discounted package thing.

I actually grew up here.  Well, fairly close by at least.  It's a beautiful place, no doubt.  I miss the crisp mountain air something fierce living down in the shit smog valley below. 

As for recommendations...well I only know about cheaper places.  The nice tourist fueled restaurants/night life was always above me.  For mexican, can't go wrong with El Chubasco's.  Their burritos are great, and their salsa bar is  :grin:.  For pizza, Davansas is a classic local place.  Star Bar is cool on main street.  If you end up in Salt Lake City, I have many more things to recommend, but for sure go to The Bayou or the newly opened Beerhive downtown.  Classy places with very good beer selections.

It is done.  I'll be there sometime between March 6-11-ish... basically four days, I just can't remember which four.  Marriott Mountainside, which has access to the frozen activities we want, minus the tubing park.  So we will rent a car and drive out to Gorgoza Park for the tubing one day, ski another day and ice skate probably, and go shopping on another.

I'm hoping it is worth the money. :oh_i_see:  Otherwise, back to the East Coast for me.  Personally, I'd be fine staying at the Motel 6, but I'm taking the woman.

There isn't any shopping up there that would justify missing a ski day IMO.

I agree.  I'd say that if I was in WV.

Pretty decent Texas chili place on main street too.

I'll worry about that if I mangle a leg and can't slide down the mountain properly.

Your timing is good. We just had a big huge snowstorm just roll through that dropped almost 2 feet up in the mountains, so you should have good conditions when you get here.  Will probably get more snow on Sunday.
 

Faaaaantastic.  Assuming I can get from SLC to Park City.  The assumption is that the local municipalities know how to clear the roads.

Today and tonight is the game of figuring out how much clothing I can take while spending the least on luggage overweight fees.  Seriously considering buying clothes while there and discarding the surplus before I leave.

We are good at clearing roads here.  Plus its the time of year where the snow doesn't stick to the roads much.

I officially hate US Airways now.  Their shit plane broke and i missed my connection in phoenix.  They put me on a Delta flight but put my luggage on another plane.  Idiots.  Anyway , finally here and boy are my arms tired.  Probably eating at El Chupacabra or whatever since multiple people have suggested it. 

I am not worried about my son making a ruckus in a restaurant, i am thinking he doesn't like asian fusion.  So maybe next time.

Mostly ate pizza. :oh_i_see:  It was good pizza, though.  Tried Utah BBQ at Grub and it was not offensive!  I asked for BBQ chicken but I think the waitress heard me say "four fried chickens, and a Coke".  Kitchen service was not great but the waitress groveled well enough.

I am done with rental boots.  I had some shit ones, which leads me to...

Reinjured my right shoulder.  Appointment to see my GP on Thursday.

Overall a great trip.  Horribly expensive, but great.

Funny, a trip to Utah doesn't strike me as something that should be horribly expensive. Pretty sure they'd have to pay me to even enter the state.

It's cheap to get into Utah as most of it seems to be a post-nuclear adventure.  Park City, on the other hand, is not cheap if you want to do, buy, stay in, or eat anything.  Marriott Mountainside is officially the most expensive hotel I have ever stayed in.

Utah is gorgeous.  I've hiked as much of it as humanly possible.  Mountain biking is similarly superb (Moab anyone?).  I also have found it to be among the best powder skiing in the world.  It's well worth the money if you're into those sorts of things.  

I tried very hard to get a job there, but the main universities weren't hiring and not being LDS hurt my chances at the ones that were.  

LDS is the church, right?  Not some secret scientist thingy?  Just making sure!

LDS = Latter Day Saints.  It's alternative lingo for mormons. 

Hey now. That's just the west desert that no one goes to because it's full of nuclear waste and chemical weapons. The rest is nice.


Aw, you should have told me. I would have given you tips on how to fake it.

I was somewhat joking, plus I like post-nuclear adventures.  :awesome_for_real:  Actually, I did assume it perks up once spring sets in but the area around SLC is rather off-putting about this time of year: ice and swamps is what I saw, from the air and highways, plus the knowledge that the lake is a has-been salty sea.  Several times I imagined the plucky band of Mormons struggling over the mountains to a wide valley, only to find that the huge lake is undrinkable; that's when the contemporary incarnation of Sam Kinnison made himself known to the group: "IT'S A FUCKING LAKE OF SALT! YOU SAID IT COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE! LIES! WE'RE STOPPING HERE! AAAAHHHH! AAAAAAHHHH!"

East toward Park City, things turned into a winter wonderland.  Besides that, there are the rock formations and such that I would like to check out somewhere in the state.  Compares with Nevada: my favorite part of Las Vegas was everything outside Las Vegas, mostly including Valley of Fire park.  I guess I can say the same about Phoenix.

Going home, I realized that Georgia causes headaches.  It was rainy when we got back and I felt sticky and oppressed, and my sinuses sealed themselves off, which I suppose is how everyone else feels when they travel to Atlanta.  I'm going to have to search for some local honey and see if it helps combat the pollen allergies this year.