Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Clark Planetarium

This may be a bit of a biased activity coming from me. I tend to like all things science and cosmology (not cosmetology, two very different things) happens to be my favorite science. However I think this is a quality museum that can be fun for the less nerdy even. Most people go here for IMAX movies or shows in the dome theater, but there is so much more. For example they do these night classes called night school where a local cosmologist or astronomer will come in and explain some sort of cosmic happening to the class. I went on a night where they were explaining how there are hundreds of collector dishes scattered all around the Great Basin desert to collect and analyze cosmic rays. This was really interesting to me since having had worked at Sevier Lake for an entire winter I drove past these things on a daily basis. There are also lots of exhibits around the building showing off various telescopes, meteorites and rockets. One thing I found disappointing was the poster of the Ares rockets, which lost funding in 2010. I thought maybe they had been refunded, but when I got home and looked, sure enough they were not.

In summary what we have is a place where you can see space stuff, rocks, dome theater documentaries and laser shows and stop in the gift shop to buy awesome nerd toys on your way out. What more could you want?



The planetarium is super fun in a nerdy way.  I love the laser light shows and the 3-D IMAX documentaries. I have learned a great deal about the planets and enjoy their to scale model of the solar system.  I have actually started to learn about the planets on my own because of the interest sparked at the Planetarium.  The best part is the giant pendulum that shows the movement of the Earth.  I enjoy walking around the gift shop and seeing the awesome ways to teach kids about science and movement.  Over all I give it a must visit at some point during your stay (or life) in Salt Lake.

Check out their website here

Tasty Thai

Jessica here!  Hole in the wall restaurants can be an adventure, for good or bad!  Tasty Thai was a very positive adventure in my opinion.  Found on the corner of 1300 South and 500 East in Salt Lake City it is a small stand alone building.  The looks are deceiving when you enter this small but open feeling building.  But here is where the positive adventure begins!  The staff is extremely friendly and very accommodating.  For example we went on an extremely cold night and my friend asked if they had hot chocolate.  They don't sell it but the waitress had her own personal hot chocolate and offered it to us.  She was the best waitress I've ever had.  The food!  Oh my goodness it was amazing!  I got the Lard-na (I think that's what it's called).  It was enough food for me to take home and have a full meal the next day.  Egg noodles, tofu, and veggies in a soy sauce broth.  Brandon and our other friends got curry, pad thai, and some sort of fried spicy pork and veggies.  The waitress was observant and continued to bring rice as we needed more.  We all sampled each others' dishes and I was a huge fan of them all.  Over all on the Jessica scale of happiness I left at about an 8.  The few things that keep it from being a 10 were that the food was a little slow to come.  With that said we were the only guests in the restaurant and I wonder if it took some time because it was freshly made.  All the plates were hot and not from sitting under a heat lamp.  The one other point I didn't like was the temperature was cool.  The building has a lot of glass windows and we were sat right next to the door.  No one came in but a few people left and it was cold!  But then again I tend to be cold blooded and am always cold!  I highly suggest Tasty Thai to anyone who likes Thai food!  The end.


I also quite enjoyed Tasty Thai. I ordered Pad Fred.. or Phed? Something to that effect. It was delicious. It was somewhat spicy, but not too bad. Our server was really nice. She brought us extra rice without us asking and I really appreciated that. My buddy's date also asked for hot chocolate, which they didn't have, so she poured her some from her thermos. Yeah, it's that kind of small-town next-door feel to it. On the con side I didn't really care much for the overall look and atmosphere of the place. I was thinking, based on its location right by Pioneer Park, that it would be pretty hip and trendy. It was more like just a large open room with some discount sale tables and chairs set up and a chalkboard with the specials scribbled onto it. If you're taking a date and your intentions are to impress her with aesthetics I don't suggest this place. However if you want some really good Thai food, I certainly suggest it.


Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Who are we and what are we doing here?

Hello fellow Salt Laker or travel enthusiast. I hope you have found your way here because you want to discover some fun and new places to visit in the Salt Lake Valley. In this blog you will read two reviews on a topic by two people with different likes and personalities. Sometimes the opinions may be similar and sometimes they may contrast, but regardless we hope you get some enjoyment and maybe discover a few activities around the valley to enjoy yourself.

But who are we?

I'll go first!  Hey!  I'm Jessica.  I'm new to blogging and am excited to share my experiences in and around beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah.  I try my hand at poetry from time to time and enjoy creative writing when I get the chance but have no formal training in writing.  This blog is my way of sharing the amazing opportunities that surround us here in the Salt Lake Valley.

Throughout my life I've lived in 16 different places (not houses cause I lost count of those), including 8 states and 1 foreign country.  I've seen my fair share of tiny towns (place number 10: Fontenelle, Wyoming, population 5) and big cities (place number 5: Las Vegas Nevada, population 590,000.) I've been in Salt Lake for a year and a half now but have visited family in the area my entire life.  I graduated with a degree in Recreation Management and therefore love playing and enjoying the attractions around me.  I'm the life of this blog while my co-conspirator is the heart beat.

Take it over Brandon!

Okay, hello friends!

My name is Brandon. I am a beginner blogger with some previous experience. I kept a personal blog during the last two years of college documenting various events in the life of a college student. It had some following, maybe 150 unique hits per month, but for the most part I simply kept it for my own enjoyment. I have no creative writing experience outside of that. However I do write sometimes, but when I do it is for technical reports that get published for mining companies. I find them interesting, but I would never recommend them to you. They're fairly dry, so if I happen to throw in the value of the resource at a location or suggestions for future research, that's why. In general I see the world as numbers and logic. I'm heavily left brained and art skills, outside of music, waved bye-bye to me long ago.

I am 26 and (mostly) from Utah. I grew up in Bountiful, just a few minutes outside of Salt Lake City. I went to college in Logan and graduated with a BS degree in geology. After spending 10 years hating on anything to do with Utah culture I moved to the east bench of Salt Lake City and took on the attitude of "When in Rome!" except I replaced Rome with Salt Lake. I currently work as a geologist for a mining and energy consulting firm. I spend most of my day in a cubicle crunching numbers or creating computer models of the subsurface. I have tried many of the little things Salt Lake has to offer. I enjoy the beautiful outdoors, the mountains and the fact that every time I visit some place else I'm always left thinking, "Wow, I miss the friendliness of Salt Lakers."

Here is a photo of us


No, we are not married. Yes, we are dating.