Great Salt Lake City

by littlesarahbigworld

My cousin Addie is about to be a senior in high school, and she’s shopping around for colleges in Utah. Having ruled out Weber State (she’s from Ogden, like me, and wanted to get away, also like me), she’s now faced with a choice between Utah State in Logan (meh), BYU in Provo (bleh), or…the University of Utah! My own alma mater!

In SALT!

LAKE!

CITY!!!

(Obviously I have a bias.)

And not just because I went to the U (as it’s commonly called), either. I mean, I went to summer camp up at Utah State for, like, five years in a row, and I loved it. I loved the campus, I loved the dorms. And while I would never personally go to BYU, being, you know, not Mormon, I appreciate that they have world class faculty and programs.

But the U of U has Salt Lake, and this city is leaps and bounds cooler than either Logan or Provo. So much so, in fact, that when I told family, friends, coworkers, etc. that my job this weekend was “to make Salt Lake look cooler than Provo or Logan,” they laughed. “That shouldn’t be too hard” was a common response.

But don’t take my word for it! (Reading Rainbow). Judge for yourselves. Here’s what we did, divided by neighborhood:

Sugar House

Perused piles of used books at Central Book Exchange, after stopping for coffee (me) and italian soda (Addie) at Sugar House Coffee.

Stopped by Sprague library to visit Kevin, on our way to Pib’s X-Change for cheap, chic, clean second-hand clothing.

9th & 9th

Joined by Mom, our mid-day chauffeur and meal ticket, who wanted lunch at 11:30 am, but settled for caffeine, from Coffee Garden. We returned to 9th & 9th the next morning, for free yoga at Centered City. But there are no pictures of that. I’m not perfect.

University

Walked from the top of campus (which is actually the East) down to President’s Circle, stopping at the Marriot Library. Then we ate lunch at The Pie.

Downtown

Rode TRAX, which it turns out will give you 17 golden dollar coins if you pay with a twenty for your ticket. Cool.

Made a surprise-impulse pit-stop at Caffe D’Bolla, where we sipped bubble teas and played Jenga. So…yes, this was our third coffee shop of the day, which was unintentional, but–if you think about it–definitely something Salt Lake has that Provo and Logan would never even dream of: more than one decent coffee place.

Shopping until dropping at The Gateway (it is, after all, back to school time). Also posing for pictures. Why not?

They grow so fast. I mean, I knew this girl when she was still listening to Bananas in Pajamas, and now she’s nearly as tall as me, taking AP courses and extra-curriculars and stressing out about making the final choice in a decision-making process that she started as a sophomore.

She’s a serious girl. A good kid. Someone who will undoubtedly review all of the information she’s been given, compare how each institution stacks up against her various criteria (campus life, academic programs, etc.), and make the right decision. I’m not too worried. YOU CAN SOLVE THIS PUZZLE, ADDIE.

If it were me, though, I’d choose Salt Lake. No contest.