Salt Lake Trip- Beaver

On our way back to reality we stopped by the Creamery in Beaver.

Again.

And we ate ice cream.  

Again.

Beaver is not only home to great ice cream, but as we walked around we realized that it is also home to great architecture.  

Hard working mormon pioneers built the Beaver library in 1917.

This town is just too much fun to walk around.

The Court House is probably the best building of all.  It was constructed in the late 1800s and is considered one of the finest examples of pioneer architecture.  

Beaver, Utah, who would have guessed!

It makes you wonder how many things you miss trying to get to your final destination. 

Salt Lake Trip- Beehive House

Third time is not a charm.  We drove to Snowbird again, but 70 mph winds means that the gondola is closed to foot traffic.  Oh well, it will give us something to do next time we are in the area.

One attraction I found that peaked my interest was the Beehive House, the home of Brigham Young.  

The Beehive House, along with the Lion House next door on the left, is where the LDS church president lived with twelve of his wives (you need two houses with that many wives).  He actually had sixteen wives in total but they didn't all live with him.  Brigham Young founded the Great Salt Lake City and was the first governor of the state of Utah.  That and 59 children will keep a man busy.

This is the Lion House where most of the bedrooms were located.  The Beehive House (which we toured) is where much of the business took place.  

I wonder if he ever got tired of mansplaining things to all of his wives.  It must have been exhausting.  

I have to say, I think this was the most amazing part of the house, an original pre- Civil War map which shows no Idaho, no Nevada, no Arizona, no Montana...  I could stare at this map for hours.

Brigham Young was a carpenter and built much of the house.

The tours are free and run when there are people interested.  I would definitely recommend it.

We are enjoying our last day in Salt Lake City.

Love the architecture,

love the random pigs, 

love the mountains.

Salt Lake City Trip- Public Library

Once again we drove up to Snowbird and once again the gondola was closed to foot traffic due to high (60 mph) winds.  The drive is beautiful and we got caught up on naps so it worked out, BUT I really want to go to the summit!

We found a little snow to play in before heading back downtown.

The city county building is really elaborate, and right across the street from the library.

It was originally constructed in 1894.

The Salt Lake City public library is really amazing.  

It is five stories tall, and tens of thousands of stories wide.  

That was a library joke.

The pop-up books and vintage advent calendars made for an interesting exhibit.

I can't say as much about the "art".

Glad that we have another Salt Lake City site checked off our list.        ✓

Salt Lake City Trip- Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and the State Capitol Building

Loveland Living Planet Aquarium is much more than an aquarium, it is home to over 2,000 species of animals from all around the world; otters, sloths, penguins, sharks, reptiles, birds... there is a little of everything.

And bees, don't forget the bees.

Utah is known as the beehive state, beehives being a symbol of hard work and industry. 

The state capitol is ornate and beautiful.

Its official.  There is no age too young to be thoroughly impressed. 

The column behind this darling baby is solid marble and weighs 5,000 pounds.

Our baby, future politician.  

We ended the day with Wasatch Brewery, a sister brewery to Squatters Brewery.  

Not so fast, Little One!

Wasatch Brewery's slogan is "why just have one?"  Haha.

No surprise, polygamy porter is their best seller.