Salt Lake City, Utah
April 30–May 2, 2022
April 30–May 2, 2022
Everyone kept telling me, “Salt Lake City is cooler than you’d think.” Still, I almost skipped it. I went and enjoyed it when I was thirteen, but, as an atheist adult, what could the Mormon City have to offer me? Well, as it turns out, the answer is excellent bars (Whiskey Street and Lake Effect being the two I visited), interesting street art, morning deliciousness from The People’s Coffee, an incredible off-leash dog park in a deep canyon (obviating the need for fences even though it’s right in the city), and a topnotch shop called Mercy Tattoo. I petulantly figured the best way to spend a few days in a town of Mormons was to drink whiskey and tequila and get a tattoo. I mean, right? I’ve long loved ravens and thought about getting a raven tattoo years ago when I went to Iceland—ravens are big in Icelandic culture because of the old Norse legends about Odin’s familiars, Huginn and Muninn—but, after seeing so many of them on this trip, the time felt right. I drew up a very rough sketch of a raven perched on a stack of books, and Mina Aoki turned it into a thing of beauty on my left forearm.
On my final day in the area, I drove down to Vineyard to have lunch with Jessi Blackham, a brand-new graduate of VCFA graphic design MFA program. She started her first semester in April 2020, so I had only ever met her on Zoom. You wouldn’t have known we were essentially strangers, with the great and voluminous conversations we had right off the bat. Turns out, she’s even more fabulous in real life! When I headed out, she gave me two gifts: a copy of the graphic novel she created as part of her MFA thesis, and a K-Pop air freshener made by one of her friends. (There were an array of singers available, but I got Wonho because Jessi said I needed the naked guy. Who am I to disagree? He smells like mouthwash.)
I then stopped at Swig to do some “dirty soda” research for my bestie Elizabeth and got the Watermelon Sugar. Verdict: wicked sugary, and the boba-like pearls could have been poppier, but not bad. Finally, I headed into the mountains, past the Sundance complex, and to the Aspen Grove trailhead up Mt. Timpanogos. Along the way, I met a friendly sixty-something man who knew the mountain well and shared plenty of insider info and pro tips. We hiked together for quite a while, until we both decided to turn around when the steep trail became too snowy to be located reliably. We parted ways about halfway down the trail, but he stopped by the van as I was taking off my hiking boots and socks and handed me a newly carved “Timp stick.” As he had told me on the trail, he makes them from water birch limbs to use as walking sticks. I was so touched that he had encouraged me to go ahead down the rest of the trail without him just so he could make me a Timp stick of my very own. We never even exchanged names, but his pleasant company and history lessons were a highlight of my trip.
On my final day in the area, I drove down to Vineyard to have lunch with Jessi Blackham, a brand-new graduate of VCFA graphic design MFA program. She started her first semester in April 2020, so I had only ever met her on Zoom. You wouldn’t have known we were essentially strangers, with the great and voluminous conversations we had right off the bat. Turns out, she’s even more fabulous in real life! When I headed out, she gave me two gifts: a copy of the graphic novel she created as part of her MFA thesis, and a K-Pop air freshener made by one of her friends. (There were an array of singers available, but I got Wonho because Jessi said I needed the naked guy. Who am I to disagree? He smells like mouthwash.)
I then stopped at Swig to do some “dirty soda” research for my bestie Elizabeth and got the Watermelon Sugar. Verdict: wicked sugary, and the boba-like pearls could have been poppier, but not bad. Finally, I headed into the mountains, past the Sundance complex, and to the Aspen Grove trailhead up Mt. Timpanogos. Along the way, I met a friendly sixty-something man who knew the mountain well and shared plenty of insider info and pro tips. We hiked together for quite a while, until we both decided to turn around when the steep trail became too snowy to be located reliably. We parted ways about halfway down the trail, but he stopped by the van as I was taking off my hiking boots and socks and handed me a newly carved “Timp stick.” As he had told me on the trail, he makes them from water birch limbs to use as walking sticks. I was so touched that he had encouraged me to go ahead down the rest of the trail without him just so he could make me a Timp stick of my very own. We never even exchanged names, but his pleasant company and history lessons were a highlight of my trip.
