Boating in Utah, Bear Lake

I was talking with a good friend many years ago about boating. This friend was a recent transplant to Utah from Oregon. He was shocked to hear me talk about boating.

“Who in Utah has ever really been boating? Utah is a desert!”

But Utahns love to boat! You’ll see boats next to many homes in Utah. And there really is a large choice of available lakes in Utah for boating, water sports and fishing.

So this is a short entry, hopefully in a longer series of entries about boating in Utah. Our first stop is Bear Lake.

Bear Lake is very beautiful. Coming over that mountain pass and catching that first sight of Bear Lake is an unforgettable experience.  The water is an amazing color of blue.

Bear Lake is twenty miles long and eight miles wide. It’s kind of a rectangle or oval. It’s big enough that no matter how many people are out on the lake, it never seems crowded.

The water activity season is relatively short. The elevation at Bear Lake is high, and the lake is surrounded by alpine mountains. We like to go in August, rent a boat for a couple hours, and do some water skiing and wakeboarding.

There are other activities in the areas, like ATV trails and caves to explore and camping.

Garden City and Laketown have lots of good entertainment, and the area is famous for raspberry shakes. People come to Bear Lake just for the ice cream.

Lagoon

People will tell you different things about Lagoon.

It’s an amusement park.
It’s got rides.
It’s a great place.
Some will even say that Lagoon is lame and that Lagoon is just a smaller version of Disneyland.
Okay, we’re all impressed that you’ve been to Disneyland.

But here in Utah, Lagoon is a tradition of fun that goes back to the 1800’s.
Here in Utah you’ll mostly hear people say: “Let’s go to Lagoon this year!”

Lagoon is an amusement park in Farmington Utah. Lagoon has been around for a long time. The original park was opened in 1886 and was moved in 1896 to its present location.

Just about every year a new ride is introduced in the park. For example, Lagoon has nine roller coasters.  

The oldest attraction in the park is the original carousel that was purchased and installed in 1906. But it was built in 1893.

You’ll find all kinds of rides at Lagoon.  There is an entire section of rides just for little children.

The water park, Lagoon-a-beach is large, and crowded. But there are lots of good water slides.

In the 50’s and 60’s all the big name singers and bands came to Lagoon.  The Beach Boys performed here many times when they were just starting out. Jimi Hendrix performed here. The Rolling Stones performed here.

I personally love the atmosphere at Lagoon. The food concessions and carnival games on the midway make just walking through Lagoon fun. They try to keep it the same year to year, only adding to the attractions while trying to preserve the traditions.

We went with our family in July this year, and we all had our “bounce back” passes validated, and so we’ll be able to go back for $11.00.

My wife and I will go there on a date.

The Oaks

There was never a more beautiful setting for a restaurant. The menu isn’t the most exciting you’ve ever seen, but a visit to The Oaks is an experience you’ll talk about for years.

Ogden is about half hour’s drive north from Salt Lake City, and Ogden Canyon can be accessed by taking the 12^th Street exit. 12^th Street goes right up Ogden Canyon.

The Oaks is set on the Ogden River there is lots of outside dining. The tables are set into cozy nooks with wonderful string lighting. The sound of the water rushing by is very soothing. The hummingbirds flit around from table to table. Because of the canyon setting, the temperatures are always cool and refreshing in the summer time. In the Autumn the Fall colors are spectacular.  

The Oaks is open year round and the inside dining is very lovely.

The menu is great. This isn’t fast food. There are sandwiches and soups and salads and burgers. Everything is great.

Farther up the canyon is Pineview Reservoir and two great ski resorts, Powder Mountain and Snow Basin. The towns of Huntsville and Eden offer other fun dining choices that will be discussed here later.

Don’t miss dining at The Oaks. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience.

Fishing Strawberry Reservoir

In June I had a few days off, so I took my family to Strawberry Reservoir for some fishing. Strawberry Reservoir is about half an hour’s drive south east of Heber City. It’s in a beautiful high mountain valley. Strawberry is famous for great fishing in Utah, but it’s also a place for people who really know their fishing, as we learned in June.

We’re definitely amateurs at fishing. But we’re trying to learn. We decided to try our luck with power bait at Strawberry. We were fishing near the lodge and boat ramp. There were fish jumping all over the place. Apparently they weren’t impressed with our power bait.

But it was a beautiful day of fishing. A forest fire was burning south of the reservoir, and that gave an eerie smokiness to the atmosphere. Ironically it was kind of beautiful. I know that the forest fire was a tragedy, but the sun shining through the smoke gave a red glow to the day.

So, we didn’t catch anything.

But we left with more resolve to learn more about fishing and to try it all again as soon as possible. As darkness fell my son and son-in-law went hunting for crawdads. They were able to fill a bucket with the little critters, and we boiled them and ate them, mostly to say that we ate something we caught at Strawberry.

We ended the day with a night around the campfire, quietly chatting and planning more fishing trips, and eating hot dogs and crawdads.

Salt Lake Archery Company

Archery and the archery deer hunt were like religion to my family. My father and grandfather bow hunted together, and my great-grandfather bow hunted before them.  I ended that tradition because I didn’t want to hunt. But in our family we love archery just the same.

Salt Lake Archery is located on 2200 South just above Highland Drive in Sugarhouse.  We go frequently to the range to shoot. My daughter especially loves archery and even talks of trying to hunt one day.

At Salt Lake Archery they have compound bows and traditional recurve and long bows. The pro shop is well stocked with supplies and accessories for both.

Expert advice and instruction is always available and there are leagues and clubs to join.

The range is affordable and there is always room to shoot.

Archery is growing in popularity due to movies like The Hunger Games and Brave. We see lots of teenage girls out learning to shoot, and that’s great! Archery is good for anyone, at any age. It’s a sport that is relaxing, quiet, and challenging at the same time. Progress is immediately measurable. It’s not difficult to learn, or expensive to set up. Compound bows are more expensive, and arrows can get pricey depending upon the materials involved.

But you could get set up with a recurve bow, arrows, and other accessories you might need for less than $200.00.

Downtown Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City has undergone dramatic changes in the last few years, yet remains very recognizable.  Salt Lake is beautiful and organized. The city is framed by some of the most beautiful mountain peaks in the Wasatch Range.

Most recently the new City Creek Center has altered the face of downtown Salt Lake City.  Where ZCMI and Crossroads Malls once stood, the City Creek Center now meanders from West Temple Street to State Street, just across the street from Temple Square.

I plan several blog posts about downtown Salt Lake City, and this one will obviously focus on the new City Creek Center. The City Creek center was completed and opened in March of 2012. Business has been brisk and people have come in droves. This is our first visit to City Creek Center, so we just did a walk through. We’ll get to know the shops and restaurants soon.

Temple Square, The Joseph Smith Memorial building and the LDS Church offices sit at the top of downtown, and the principle streets run south from Temple Square.

Temple Square

I’m doing an entry about Temple Square that is separate from my entry about Mormons because I believe that Temple Square is worth a visit no matter what you believe about Mormons.

The Mormon pioneers who settled Utah started work on Temple Square almost as soon as they got here.  They used Temple Square as a reference point for all other addresses in the city. It’s still that way today. North Temple Street runs from east to west on the North side of Temple Square. South Temple does the same on the south side of the block. West temple runs from north to south on the west side of the block. You’ll suppose now that I’m going to talk about East Temple Street, but there is no East Temple Street. Main Street runs from North to South on the east side of the block.

The Tabernacle should be a key part of your visit to Temple Square. The acoustics are famous and you will probably be given a demonstration. A sister missionary will go to the pulpit or stand near the organ and drop a straight pin. You’ll hear it clearly as it hits the floor.

There are two visitor centers, one on the north side, and one on the south side of the square, with displays on the history of Mormonism, and displays about Mormon beliefs. The north visitor’s center contains the famous statue of The Christus.

The building in the southwest corner of Temple Square is The Assembly Hall. This is a beautiful old building that is used for smaller meetings and concerts.

In front of the Assembly Hall is the Monument of the Seagulls. The early Mormon pioneers told of a summer when crickets started eating their crops. Disaster seemed certain. Then suddenly, seagulls came from the Great Salt Lake and began to eat the crickets. The crops were saved. The Seagull is now Utah’s state bird.

Temple square has many assorted statues, monuments and historical memorabilia.

Many people are surprised that tourists are not permitted to enter the Temple. This is because the temple is very sacred to Mormons. Members of the Church prepare themselves to serve in the temple.

Christmas time is an incredible time to visit Temple Square. Temple Square is light up with hundreds of thousands of lights during the holidays.

Sister missionaries are always waiting to give a tour of any of the buildings on Temple Square.