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Beaver, UT → Salt Lake City, UT 199.0 mi (320.3 km) |
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SLC’s the place to be, everyone!
It may be April Fools’ Day today, but pranks and jokes are not in the air right now. It’s amazing to think that when I left Los Angeles just over a week ago, there were only 662 cases of COVID-19 in the county, and today, there are 3,528! Here in Utah, on the other hand, there are only 1,012 cases statewide, which is still up a lot from the 257 when I arrived! I was getting a little antsy in Beaver, so I took a trip north to see my other brother, Flatty, in Salt Lake City!
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Right away, I could tell things were different. For instance, an earthquake back on March 18th had knocked the trumpet right out of the hands of the iconic Angel Moroni statue on top of the Salt Lake Temple! Now he looks like he’s reliving the Disco era!
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But it sure was quiet downtown. The TRAX trains were running like normal, but many of the stations were empty, and it looks like service is going to be reduced in a couple of days!
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We walked through the outdoor section of the City Creek Center, which is normally a huge and bustling mall according to Flatty. In a regular year, it’ll get over a million visitors, but today, it was locked, shuttered, and completely empty!
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We took a stroll down South Temple to see what else had been affected by the closures. Even the Vivint Smart Home Arena, home of the Utah Jazz, was silent! It’s crazy to think that the NBA has only been shut down since March 13th! It feels like months and months have passed since the coronavirus started dismantling society piece by piece!
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At the end of the street, I pointed out a historical marker from the Daughters of Utah Pioneers! Since the Transcontinental Railroad had bypassed Salt Lake City on a much more northerly route, Brigham Young arranged for a connector rail, the Utah Central Railroad, to be built from Salt Lake City to Ogden to keep commerce flowing into the city!
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Today, this rail station is part of the Gateway, a hugely popular outdoor mall on most days. With lots of shops, restaurants, and a Megaplex theater, not to mention car-free roads most days, you can usually find bunches of people walking up and down the street here. Not today!
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A storm blew in, and the deactivated fire pits in the outdoor lounge area gave us no protection at all from the chilly west wind. Utah springs sure are unpredictable: sunny 60s in the morning and chilly 30s by afternoon! It was time to hustle back somewhere warmer.
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First, though, for the sake of history, we stopped by the Devereaeux House, Utah’s very first mansion. Its history is loaded with Williams! It was designed by William Paul for horticulturist and territorial librarian, William Staines in 1855, then expanded by Salt Lake mayor, William Jennings, in 1867! He named the house “Devereaux” after another family property back in Birmingham, England. Here, during turbulent relations with the federal government, he hosted such notable Williams as Secretary of War, William Seward, and General William Tecumseh Sherman!
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By now, the wind was whipping, and it was not going to be a good idea to stay out too long and join the ranks of the sick. It’s time to head home and get some soup and tea. Hopefully there will be more opportunity for adventure very soon!
Stay healthy, my friends!
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Total Ground Covered: 696.0 mi (1,120.1 km) |
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