13 Years
Similar to two years ago when we were on our annual beach vacation in TopSail, NC, Justin and I started thinking why not go away for a vacation just the two of us to celebrate our anniversary. After a generous offer from our friends to stay in their home in Utah and my parents yes to watching the girls, Justin and I booked our Utah vacation.
With COVID, we purchased fully refundable tickets, and up until about two weeks prior to our departure, we were concerned the trip wasn’t going to happen due to the horrible air quality. Thankfully, things started looking up and the weather forecast couldn’t have been more perfect.
We took the 7:30 a.m. direct flight, which meant we arrived at 10:30 local time, giving us almost a full day! We were concerned about flying with COVID; however, we felt fairly safe with the masking requirements. The flight only served snacks and not a full meal which also minimized the time that passengers had their masks off.
We rented a car and were talked into upgrading to a Subara Outback which I am so grateful we did as the car barely had enough pick-up going up the mountains. I think the crazy high rental price kept me from renting something with even more horsepower.
We hiked, ate, and enjoyed quiet mornings without lunch packing or breakfast making for a party of five.
Hikes:
Heber Valley Overlook: We were looking for a local shorter hike since it was late in the afternoon as we did this the day we arrived. We also wanted a short hike to get us acclimated with the altitude. By the time we got in our car to drive the 10 minutes for the hike, it started raining and was windy! We waited it out a few, put on my awful orange raincoat, and explored for an hour.
Brighton Resort Trail to Lake Catherine: I didn’t anticipate the drive to the hike would be so terrifying. I was so glad once we made it to the parking lot. I felt myself moving my body in the car as a way to steer the car from the passenger seat.
The hike itself was amazing. Pure uphill for at least 30 minutes of a steep incline and then a steady incline the remainder of the ascent. We climbed over 140 flights of stairs on the way up and the entire descent, we clocked 3 sets of stairs. We passed some other hikers; however, overall, this was a quieter trail. We enjoyed lunch on a rock on the way down. A spectacular hike!
Phosphate Trail Loop: After the scary cliff driving yesterday coupled with wanting to be dressed in real clothes when we went to Park City later in the day, we decided to do a trail closer to home. At only 10 minutes away in Midway, it seemed like the perfect choice. It was a common trail for bikers and the first few minutes of the hike we were concerned, we were going to be spending the entire hike letting bikers pass by. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case and after us thinking we may have selected too easy of a trail, we enjoyed a beautiful peaceful challenging continuous 2.5 hour hike on the mountain with the sun shining bright. We started the hike wearing a winter hat and by the end of the hike, I was wearing a tank top and hoping my sun screen was working!
Bryce Canyon National Park: Queens Garden to Navajo Loop thru Wall Street and Upper Rim Trail: When we knew it was a possiblility we would be coming to Utah in September, I looked up hotels in Zion. Availability was limited; however, I found one. Not knowing the exact dates when we would be traveling I did not book it. When we finally did book our Utah trip, the Zion idea escaped my thoughts until two weeks prior to our departure, when I was beginning to think why not go to Zion, despite it being a 4.5 hour drive each way. I hit the jackpot when I found a room at Flannigan’s Inn in Springdale, which was less than a 10-minute walk to the entrance of Zion National Park. Once we had the room at Zion and would be making the drive, I thought it made sense to also go to Bryce Canyon National Park, which was about an hour and a half away from Zion.
We stopped at the Visitors Center to ask some questions about our hike. We forgo the free shuttle and instead walked the 1.2 miles to our starting point, which the park ranger said would be quicker than riding the shuttle. Since the park is a bowl known for its hoodoos, you actually can’t see the park until you literally walk right up to it. Walking up to it was breathtaking. Our hike was basically all downhill at first and we were beginning to wonder if we were going to gain any elevation. We did the latter half of the hike an not only did we gain elevation, but we climbed Wall Street, which was A LOT of stairs. A great workout, hike, and view. Amazing place!
Zion: Riverside Walk to the Narrows
Kayenta Trail to Emerald Pools (Upper, Middle, and Lower)
West Rim Trail thru Walters Wiggles to Scouts Lookout
We came up with our hiking route the night prior in our hotel room and we hiked 10 amazing challenging miles. We saw views and sights that were extraordinary, and I just truly couldn’t believe we were where we were. I felt so fortunate and blessed. Hiking I felt great knowing my body was in great shape and that health and fitness is a priority for me and it enables me to challenge myself. Seeing a beautiful view is amazing but there is nothing better than working for my view!
Had we planned more in advance, we would have had even more time so we could have rented boots and polls and done the narrows. We could have done that, but I was concerned if we went that route, we wouldn’t be able to complete any more hikes. We started our journey early, took the free shuttle to Stop 9, the last stop at Zion and did the Riverwalk to the Narrows. Although we weren’t doing The Narrows, I wanted to at least be able to see the beginning. If we ever go back, we will for sure do the Narrows! We did the Upper, Lower, and Middle Emerald Pools via the Kayenta path. Personally, I did not think the pools were as amazing as the views during the hike to get to the pools. The hike was great and challenging! Temperatures were rising quickly, the sun beating down on us, and I stripped down to my tank top. We brought some cheese, salami, and crackers with us that we had purchased at Hoodoos Market by our hotel, Flannigan’s Inn. We stopped a few times at the restrooms and for a water refill. We had a limited amount of time so we weren’t sure how far we would get with on the West Rim Trail to Walters Wiggles and Scouts Lookout, but we hustled, and we made it to the top in just shy of an hour. The top was extraordinary. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do Walter’s Wiggles due to my fear of heights, but I did and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We did not attempt Angels Landings. From where I was standing, the beginning didn’t look that scary, although I am sure it was. We were short on time if we wanted to not be driving home in any dark (which I didn’t) so we did not even attempt it. We truly were just happy that we made it to Scout’s Landing in an hour. We made the descent in 30 minutes. We logged 10 miles in the 5 hours we were in Zion. Another day in Zion would have been amazing but I am so happy we got to experience it.
Food:
Breakfast: In Midway, breakfast was always at home. We had gone to the local store Rally’s the first day and picked up some breakfast and lunch items. Breakfast alternated between sunny side up eggs and fruit and Greek yogurt and fruit. Our leisurely coffee was in the cards every morning and we enjoyed drinking our coffee and not having to make breakfast for anyone but ourselves!
Lola’s Kitchen: Lola’s was in Midway and it was an order at the counter place. Great vibe and quick; we were able to eat outside for lunch the day we arrived. Justin ordered a hot sandwich and fries, and I had the steak salad. The salad was okay…I was honestly expecting a little better, but it wasn’t bad. I would eat there again if I wanted something quick and that outdoor vibe. Lola’s was on the main strip in Midway, which was a 7-minute drive from Pat and Bill’s…always good to support the local places.
Midway Mercantile: This too was in Midway and it came recommended by Pat and Bill. We had dinner reservations and I’m glad as the place was busy! We started with the bacon wrapped dates. They were superb! I can still taste the bacon and goat cheese…yum, yum, yum! I ordered a green and ferro salad with salmon, dressing on the side. Good ingredients, yummy, but a salad with dressing on the side isn’t going to create an award-winning dinner experience for me. I wanted greens and protein though and Midway Mercantile certainly delivered. Justin got a pasta dish with pork tenderloin and bacon…it was very good. The balsamic reduction was probably a little too much for an entire dish…still good though!
Current Oyster and Fish: This was rated the 3rd restaurant out of over 900 in the Salt Lake City area. I had to give my credit card info to secure the reservation, so my expectations were very high. The drive to the restaurant in Salt Lake took us close to an hour and a half. In hindsight, we went the long way! We had a chance to see the city. I had thought we would walk around; however, the city is much more spread out than I was expecting and while we could have walked, it wouldn’t have been the city walking experience that I was looking for. Instead, we drove around, we saw The Capital, the Mormon Temple (which was under scaffolding), the Mormon Temple Office (which was a huge skyscraper) and many other signs for corporate banking. We arrived at the restaurant early so we did a brief walk before seeing if we could get seated slightly early. We were very hungry after eating a small wrap for lunch around noon and nothing since. We shared the crab cake, burrata, and caesar salad for appetizers. Burrata was good, the other two were okay. Justin ordered the shrimp and grits while I had the cod. They were very into presentation, which was good, but I expected the food to wow me. It was good, but not the wow factor. It was pricey too!
501 on Main: After our hike Saturday, we went back to Park City, where we were planning on spending the rest of our day. Park City was such a cute place and we enjoyed going into some of the shops and browsing. For lunch, we had a few lunch spots in mind…granted it was almost 3:00 so this was really going to be a combined lunch and dinner. A few of the places had waits so we put our names down and figured we would eat at whichever one was available first as our stomachs were growling. We ate outside at 501 Main where we were the only straight couple. I was beginning to think we picked the wrong place, but it turns out this was one of my favorite meals. We both ordered the bison burgers; mine with the beet and goat cheese side salad. The beet salad was amazing! A lot of people were ordering the larger version. We ordered our burgers medium, and they were more on the well side. I never eat the bun of a burger; however, this bun was a thin homemade ciabatta bun and it was superb. I know I was hungry, but I ate every last bite of both the salad and burger and was making my wow noises that I frequently make when I really enjoy a dish.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Shop: I stopped in here to see what goodies may be worth getting to bring back home for the girls. I found some chocolate covered oreos and while I was in there, I decided to get a small scoop of chocolate ice cream; it was delicious.
Distillery: This was one of the places we had our names on the wait list. We decided to go there for one drink. Justin ordered a whiskey; I ordered a hazy IPA. Cool spot.
Spotted Dog Café: This restaurant was part of the hotel. There were many other restaurants to choose from in Springdale; however, with this being the #3 rated restaurant out of 21 in Springdale, I went with this one. Reservations were limited a few weeks ago so I took the 8:15 time slot. With the drive and our days activities, turs out that was the perfect time. Justin was expecting a hole in the wall place as he hadn’t looked up any reviews on that place. It didn’t disappoint. I had blackened ahi tuna with a risotto cake and spaghetti squash. Justin had a garlic pasta dish with shrimp. We shared the spinach artichoke dip for appetizer. Delicious dinner and good service.
Hoodoos Market: The market right next to our lodge in Zion. We got our salami, cheese, and crackers here and we each got a scope of ice cream after our 10-mile hike…me the chocolate, Justin the huckleberry. While not as good as the chocolate ice cream in Park City, it was good and a well-deserved treat after our 10-mile hike.
Café Galleria: After hiking in Zion all day, we were famished by the time we got back to Midway. Since it was already 7:20 by the time we drove into Midway, we decided to go somewhere where we could eat outside. Like many other restaurants in the country right now, they didn’t have enough servers to seat all their tables. We each ordered a small salad to start…Justin the caeser and me the pear and goat cheese. We split the pesto chicken pizza. Both were very good and I would definitely recommend. For some reason we ordered dessert…perhaps it was because it was our anniversary, perhaps it was because we hiked 10 miles. Not sure, but I do know that when our server said dessert, I didn’t hesitate. We ordered the tira-mi-su, which historically I haven’t like but have grown to like more over the years. Justin had a few bites and I ended up eating mostly all of it myself. It was good; however, I do regret ordering dessert. A piece of chocolate at home likely would have done the trick.
Filler-Up Coffee Station: We visited here the morning we were leaving to get some coffee for Pat and Bill. Such a cute local place. The cashier offered me a sample of their ice cream to try. Holy sample…she practically gave me a size small! Justin and I also ordered a coffee. Kind of wish we had found this place sooner!
Red Iguana2: This place was very highly rated and has won a ton of awards and even been featured on Diners, Drives, and Drivethrus. Being only 15 minutes from the airport, this was our last meal before heading home. I had carnitas, Justin a burrito with salsa verde. It was good, but I don’t think either us had the dish that made all the hype.
The weather was amazing…we could not have asked for more perfect weather. The only bad weather was for about an hour the first day we got there just before our hike and on the ride home from Zion. The temperature in the car drop from high 80’s to high 50’s in the matter of minutes. The sky next to us looked ominous, the wind was blowing, and the tumbleweed was spinning in circles. It looked like mini twisters. We had thought about stopping, problem was the nearest town was 30 miles away. So we silently prayed and continued driving. Fortunately, the storm kept moving and away from us, though we were probably right next to it for close to 45 minutes.
As for driving, it was scary! Not into town, but just about everything else. Perhaps if we rented a car with a little more horsepower or perhaps if I lived in the area and was more accustomed to it, but seriously I was constantly praying almost every time we were in the car. We drove to Springdale through Zion…a 30 minute drive of amazingness and holy shit moments at the same time. Not having to drive the same way to go home to Midway from Springdale was a blessing.
The drive to Bryce Canyon took us through Provo, where Bringham Young is located. I’m glad I can see we saw some of the buildings of Bringham Young. It was early Sunday morning when we drove through and we saw a number of students dressed up on their way to church.
The people we encountered were a mix of locals and tourists. In some areas, everyone is masked up and in others Justin and I were unicorns wearing masks in public. It really is crazy the different mentalities that everyone has when it comes to COVID and mask wearing.
We had an amazing trip and I feel so fortunate to have experienced another vacation with Justin celebrating our anniversary. My parents watched the girls…they were in good hands albeit spoiled, but that is what grandparents do! We made the most out of our 6 days. I’m grateful for the experience, for Pat and Bill’s hospitality, for my parents taking care of the girls, for the financial means to do such trip, and my forever date who is my partner in this amazing journey called life.