Yeah, Salt Lake City has lots of Mormons, but there are lots of other fun things to do there

I’m headed to Salt Lake City, Utah, so I wanted a good book to get me in the mood. Luckily, professor of American history Benjamin E. Park has just released American Zion: A New History of Zion.

Park is a life-long Mormon who says the stories he was raised on are quite different from what he’s discovered in the historical record, even that of the Mormon library at Brigham Young University. “At the founding meeting for what was then the Church of Christ on April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith, the faith’s ‘first elder,’ dictated the revelation that commanded the faith to keep ‘a record.’ [However,] the new faith’s historical record was primarily envisioned to reaffirm Smith’s role as a prophetic leader and encourage followers to obey his dictates.”

Smith’s first church was actually started way back near Fayette, New York. Even before that, when he was 15, he claimed God descended upon him in a pillar of light and assured him that even though the world was sinful, his own sins would be forgiven.

The controversies started from the beginning. Brigham Young claimed to be Smith’s successor and burned all the existing history at the time so nobody would question his authority. By now, some 400 sects have sprouted that verge from Smith’s original visions for what this American-grown religion would be about. The thesis of the book is to narrate “the long history of cultural wars waged over Mormonism’s purpose and mission.”

Park continues on with the religious or spiritual or whatever visions young Smith encountered along his way. At that point I lost interest in the fairly academically-written tome and decided to instead look at what things I might like to do in Salt Lake City, although with two days at the Kilby Block Party planned, there won’t be time for much else. 

According to “36 Hours in Salt Lake City” in The New York Times, some possible interests include:

• “Celebrate the repeal of liquor laws that required bars to operate as private clubs and collect membership fees. The Red Door has dim lighting, a great martini list and kitschy revolution décor — yes, that’s a Che Guevara mural on the wall. Squatters Pub Brewery serves high-gravity beers from the award-winning brewmaster Jenny Talley.”
• If we need to walk off the rock’n’roll, there’s The Red Butte Garden, “nestled in the foothills above the University of Utah campus. The Living Room is a lookout point named for the flat orange rocks that resemble couches. Sit back and absorb the expansive views of the valley, mountains and the Great Salt Lake.”
• “Chart your own architecture tour. The city’s Main Library, a curving glass structure built in 2003 by the architect Moshe Safdie, has fireplaces on every floor and a rooftop garden with views of the city and the Wasatch Mountains. For older buildings, wander the Marmalade Historic District, home to many original pioneer homes from the 19th century.”
• A growing non-white share of the population means there are great restaurants to be found, including Tibet, Bosnia, and Somalia ones. This includes Himalayan Kitchen, “a down-home dining room with turmeric-yellow walls and red tablecloth tables, where dishes include Nepali goat curry, Himalayan momos, and steamed chicken dumplings served with sesame seed sauce.”
• “As the only sizable city between Denver and Northern California, Salt Lake City gets many touring bands passing through. Hear established and up-and-coming acts at places like the Urban Lounge and Kilby Court.” Ok, I will.
• I kind of can’t believe, with the area STILL getting snow, that I’m not skiing “28 miles east at Park City’s Utah Olympic Park,” but alas it seems my ski season is over.