Thursday In SLC and The Local Area

This is the Thursday blog written on Friday morning. Yesterday I called it Thursday when it was Wednesday. Sorry!

At the end of the night, I was at Soundwell: Studio bar across from the hotel, with a DJ spinning original vinyl records from the 1960s. The turntables, some old-school-sounding amps (I did not see any tubes), and his care made the records sound perfect. I had not heard before, that I remember, Lee Morgan’s The Sidewinder from 1964. It was wonderful, and hearing it made my night (here is a version). I thanked the DJ, who told me that this music was the first Jazz to make the charts in the USA.

The chef made a wonderful, slightly spicy but subtle Vodka Sauce to go with the garlic bread (freshly baked in a pull-apart form filled with cheese. I told him that it was the best version I had had and better than my version (which is pretty good, but a bright sauce). He explained it was the recipe from their executive chef, and he loved making it. The chef explained it has only four ingredients and is all technique, but the secret he shared is baking it in the pizza oven (600ºF/315ºC). “That is what makes the difference,” he told me. Later, he would send me a complimentary dessert of baked bread with a sweet sauce.  Excellent.

Later, I would get a pizza and have a few slices with plans to have it for lunch too. The director of the bar made me an excellent Olf Fashioned, the other bartender who tookover on a slow night, told me that they (pronoun unknown) did not make whiskey drinks, but they tried (It was the first drink I ever sent back), and then they made me a decent Old Fashioned. I was reading my new book on Absinthe, Absinthe Forger by Evan Rail, and they made my drinks with special whiskey.

At the end of the night, the bill was high, the food was reasonable, but the drinks, no surprise in SLC, were expensive. I paid the high bill with a tip. I also gave the DJ, who was in a tip jar, a $5 tip. It was an educational night. I met, without planning, Deborah and her co-worker in the hotel lobby. We chatted and then said goodnight. Next, I tried to fit the pizza in the fridge (the slices ended up stacked there) and found my PJs and soon fell asleep.

Starting Thursday morning, we woke early and watched the sky turn from dark to gray to bright blue. Today would be in the 70ºFs (20ºCs). Deborah dresses and heads off to her sessions. I write the blog for a few hours in the morning. I shower and all that, but forget to remove the Do-not-disturb sign when I head out (but Deborah got us towels and coffee, and, to our surprise, the hotel staff cleaned the room later).

Today I would use the car and try to reach some new places in SLC. I found the car where I left it (using the convention center elevators to reach the parking garage level P2. I used the room key to leave the garage, and the valet folks had told me it was a daily charge and that I could come and go without extra charges. Fingers crossed!

My first stop was the King’s English book store that Dondrea had recommended. It is an amazing place; a house, they explained, that was slowly turned into the eclectic storefront with tiny rooms and steps and ramps here and there. It is, unlike many in Portland, only new books, but the collection is wonderfully complete, and I found books there that I had known about and got a wonderful book on Absinthe that I already mentioned (already on chapter 4), and a few knick-knacks. I felt that the bookstore was curated to have complete sections and not a pile of picked-over books you find in many branded stores. I thanked the staff for their excellent collection.

Next, driving to the other side of SLC (this would become a theme as I would retrace some routes four times), I arrived at Hastur’s Games (H*****r is part of the Lovecraft Mythos and is known as “He with the Unspeakable Name”). It is a clean and well-organized gaming store, but prices are disclosed at the check-out. Hmmm. There, I found many of the add-ons for Arkham Horror: The Card Game for sale, which I received for Christmas, and the game is out of print as it heads toward a second version, which reportedly will not align with the first version (I have yet to play it, but I am quite happy with this version). I was tempted to get the large add-on (as this is hard to find), but instead, thinking of my luggage, picked a $14 additional story. They also had a cheap figure (unpainted) for more than 30% off. If I were here for any length of time, I would definitely try the store out; there are plenty of tables to play on (though each is marked with the Unspeakable Name and the Yellow Symbol). An insanely nice store!

I waited twenty minutes for lunch at the legendary Red Iguana Mexican-style restaurant. The salsa was spiced but did not have the cheap burn of many and was light on the tomatoes. My meal was mole, with too much food to dip in the cosmically good stuff (I did eat it all, having skipped breakfast). The mole was a chocolate savory sauce with ground, toasted seeds. Dreamy and again not slap-you spice. Wow!

Fed, I headed to get gas for the Hyundai as we have a four-hour trip back to the south of Utah on Friday. The Sinclair (the one with the dinosaur) offered $4.29 a gallon, and I was below half a tank. I performed the unfamiliar ritual (Oregon is an optional full-service at the same price as self-service, and I now drive an EV) and payment. I could not resist getting DINOCARE with all the Jurassic stuff we saw. We are set for Friday’s drive now.

Next, retracing, I headed to Utah’s Fine Art Museum, which had a tiny collection intermixed with modern pieces. There were no masterpieces there, which surprised me (no Monet or other French Impressionists). But the staff had an interesting write-up for the art they did have. One described how the item, a wooden warrior shield from Africa, had been collected by a German, purchased by a museum, traded for another item from another collector, later purchased from the art collector in a private sale, and then donated to the museum. I saw only one item I thought remarkable, a 1600s Japanese sword from the Yamato area.

Deborah asked for some yogurt by text, and I found Smith’s Grocery (now owned by Kroger) and used its down escalator to reach the produce and dairy area (I did not see how carts get back up). I found the requested product, took the escalator, checked out manually (the only option I saw), and discovered my discount card worked here too. Again, I saw folks silently restocking who were obviously not native born Americans. Hmmm.

(yes, 42)

I return to the hotel, bring Deborah her food, and we spend some time together, sharing about our day.

And that takes me full circle as Deborah has a vendor dinner and I started looking for music, drink, and a snack.

Thanks for reading!