Salt Lake City has a lot of what you would expect (Mormon influenced squeaky clean culture) and a lot of what you would not (an active LGBT community, a vocal liberal political presence, lots of gothy/punky/alt culture kids and a rockin’ arts festival). Although there are several intriguing things going on in SLC, the clash between culture and counterculture is at the epicenter of the community. It’s a dualistic system that could, I imagine, force you to choose sides in a more dogmatic way than you might otherwise.
PICKS:
Sugarhouse Coffee
This two floor coffeehouse has abundant space, comfy chairs and electrical outlets. It was like internet user heaven. The coffee was acceptable too. Can’t say the same for their local live music that Sunday morning, but you can’t win ’em all.
We stopped for a picnic but stayed for the nap worthy spot we found in the shady plush green grass. Hooray for lounging in the park! Just don’t try to lounge with alcohol because Salt Lake City doesn’t allow such debauchery in its public parks.
How do you visit SLC without stopping by the center for all things Mormon? The answer: You don’t. You may try to avoid it, but it will suck you in. You will talk to a sister missionary. You will marvel at the sheer number of families with 4-10 children. You will start smiling at strangers (It is unavoidable. All those friendly Mormon faces. You feel compelled to reciprocate.). But seriously, the gardens are beautiful, the reflecting pool is nice and the scene is pretty darn fascinating.
We just happened to be in SLC the weekend of the Utah Arts Festival, and we certainly lucked out with this one. Not only did we get $3 off the $7 entrance fee just for riding our bikes to the festival and parking them at the free bike valet, we also heard some killer local music (Laserfang), ran into some artists from Sean’s hometown (Leslie Guinan and Rob Matthews of Hidden Spring Designs) and closed out the night with some West African groovin’ by Vieux Farka Toure. All in all, a pretty great day….and they even served beer….on a Sunday….in Salt Lake City.
Nobrow is a super cool coffee shop/gallery space that also has its own collection of skateboards and bikes for customer use. Their strong coffee was a welcome part of our morning and (thanks to Sean’s inflammatory t-shirt) we got to meet Pete, a Salt Laker actively involved in the protest scene. He discussed the merits of civil disobedience vs. civil resistance and told us about Free Speech Zone, a local store that can supply all of your political activist needs. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to check it out because it’s closed on Mondays.
For an interesting view of counterculture in Mo-ville, you’ve got to put “SLC Punk” on your list. Besides, it’s pretty funny. Wyoming as the promised land of real beer.
It took me a little while (and a Google search) until I figured out that SLC Punk is a movie…but not to worry it is now on our Netflix list.