11-15-08 Saturday (Mormisney)

Today we drove to Saltair. Saltair was closed for the season. I've included some history (listed in blue) about Saltair. Skip it if you'd like. We wish we did.

The Saltair Resort is considered an important culture symbol of the Salt Lake Valley. In 1893 the Mormon Church built Saltair on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake, located about sixteen miles from downtown Salt Lake City. Architect Richard K.A. Kletting, a renowned architect famous for his work with the Utah State Capitol Building, chose a moorish style design for the resort. The church owned the building until 1906 when it was sold to a group of private Mormon businessmen.

Over the next century the resort suffered through its first devastating fire in 1925. After Saltair burned to the ground Raymond J. Ashton and Raymond L. Evans designed a new pavilion similar to the old with hopes of restoring the popular Utah attraction. Due to the financial stress of the Great Depression and another costly fire in 1931 the resort closed during World War II only to be reopened after the war.

In 1970 the resort once more burned to the ground and was forgotten until 1981 when a new pavilion was built around the original site. Throughout the 80's Saltair experienced trouble with flooding and the lake's shifting water levels. Finally in 1992 the resort was purchased by the local Great Salt Lake Land Company. Restoration headed by the Salt Lake attorney and real estate developer Walter Plumb was finished shortly thereafter and the resort complete with a new concert stage for local and national artists was dedicated in 1993 during the resort's one hundredth anniversary. The remodeled resort also hosts a private club with liquor license.

It was ugly. An ugly building, no landscaping, just ugly. The surrounding area, yep, ugly too. We drove up a bit further to a State run marina and wasted $2.00 on a half hour of our life we'll never get back. The only aquatic life that survives the high salt content is brine shrimp. The brine die this time of year and are washed ashore. The odor in some spots made us gag. Anymore and I think we would have puked. We left after that.

We thought we'd try to offset the icky trip by visiting the Mormon Temple. It was very pretty.....in a brain washing type way. We took a tour. Tours were every 15 minutes and were headed by 2 "Sisters" as they are referred to. They spoke about their beliefs and their history. It was all very creepy to me. Some of the displays around made me feel as though I was at the Mormon Disney. I couldn't wait to leave. I could hear It's a Small World in my head. Get it out! Make it stop! I'll be OK.

All the tourguides carried The Book of Mormon and wore name badges prefaced with "Sister" before their last names. I felt like I was on the backlot of The Stepford Wives.

I did find out something I didn't know. It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Their "bible" is The Book of Mormon which was written by someone with the last name of Mormon. They're really not "Mormons", that's more of a nickname for their religion. I also found out it took 40 years to build the Temple.

Here's a video recap of our day.

The trees outside on their property had Christmas lights on all branches. It looks like it would be beautiful to see at night. Jim asked if I wanted to come back at night. I rather stay away.

On a different note, I wanted to share with you, a Wal-Mart bingo card that Nancypants shared with us. I edited it a little bit due to 1 spelling error and a very racial spot. It's funny.