The Slopes and the Famed Choir

May 27

Rick had skied Alta and Snow Bird many years ago and he was anxious to see them again. They’re about 45 minutes out of Salt Lake and it’s a pretty trip up the mountains. Thank heavens it’s decent weather.

 

Both areas still have tons of snow on the trails. We see this sign as we approach the lodge at Snow Bird. Yikes!

On this Thursday there is hardly anybody around…..we poke around both areas and they are very simple resorts….no frills….no shops…a couple of nice hotels….but apparently some of the best powder skiing in the world.

Lunch at the Cliff Lodge in a Mexican restaurant, the only thing open. The food is just fine, a taco salad and a grilled fish taco, but the waitress’ head must have been dreaming of skiing on the weekend, ‘cuz it certainly wasn’t on customer service.  The setting, though, is pretty cool.

 

We were hoping to be able to spend the entire day out and go directly to dinner in town and to the 8 p.m. Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal. Not enough to do here so go back to Tor and fiddle around a bit.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Had dinner at a touted restaurant, Market Street Grill, a very attractive place that also houses Market Street Oyster Bar. I, again, opt for an appetizer….seared ahi tuna….the flavor was very good, but oddly served refrigerated. Rick goes for the full blown dinner of clam chowder, calamari, fries and a veggie side. Only the fries were edible. Should have really complained.



The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has 360 unpaid volunteers who travel the world giving concerts and also have the longest running continual radio broadcast in the world. This broadcast is also open to the public every Sunday morning. We’re lucky that tonight’s rehearsal also features the full symphony and the Temple Bells, a group of about 30 wielding an extraordinary array of chimes.

The choir sings with one clear, simple voice, rather like a boys choir. The orchestra is quite good and we love the chimes. The rehearsal runs from 8 – 9:30 and visitors can come and go as they please.


Tomorrow; Sun Valley….another new destination for both of us.

Hilton Head Real Estate

After Rick's second massage, we know there is no golf in our near future, so we spend the day looking at property. Our main criteria is a fabulous view, so all the areas we visit have marshland or river lots. We stop first at Berkeley Hall where we have the good fortune of having the agent not only be a partner in the development, but most of all a former Walker Cup player. Duke is a pleasure to spend time with and we loved listening to his Q-School stories. He shows us this property and Belfair down the road. If we decide Hilton Head is the place, it will be easy to find a terrific piece of real estate.

For a lunch break we go to a place our "on island" friends have recommended... unbelievably it is in another RV park, which of course we check out. Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort & Marina is not nearly as nice as Hilton Head Island Motor Coach Resort where we are staying, but it has one terrific restaurant...the Sunset Grille.

The lunch menu features more dinner type entrees than we would normally want at lunch...but go for it!! Hugh (we gather the owner) smokes fish, meats and fowl on a deckside smoker oven. I must say the smoked salmon (not nova like...but chunks like you would usually grill) set on a bed of creamy southern grits topped with wilted spinach is spectacular. Rick chooses a fried oyster po' boy, loves it, but agrees I win this selection contest. Great food accompanied by a very good pouilly fuisse and a terrific view....highly recommended.

We visit one more location on Callawassie Island. It's different, but just as lovely. Far more natural settings and less manicured property....but the views!

We were planning on going out to dinner, but are exhausted, so we stop at Crazy Crab. Have a drink in the bar and order dinner to take back to Tor. One order of she-crab soup and a steamed seafood pot (lobster, crab, shrimp, oysters, baked potato and corn on the cob) is more than we can handle. The food isn't like the Sunset Grille...but a good way to end the day.

Searching for Real Estate

A good portion of our travels in the south are going to be devoted to looking at real estate. We've been idling looking at a next place to land for a couple of years, but are getting a bit more serious about it. We're now trying to whittle it down to a town and then a specific place. All we know is it will probably be somewhere between Wilmington, NC and Savannah.

We awoke yesterday to a terrible rain storm so the beach walk was shelved. Spent the morning getting organized and writing one of my newspaper columns. The afternoon clears and we head out to look at some property. Not sure if we want to live in such a tourist mecca as Hilton Head but we had a couple of hours so we went to take a look at Colleton River Plantation. It is quite nice...the homes huge, the golf courses manicured, the cubhouses picture perfect. But it is quiet...very, very quiet. Probably can't see us here.

Make a quick stop at the Tanger Outlets . There are two separate phases to this enormous outlet center. All the usual suspects are there. I'm only stopping because I remembered an Ellen Tracy outlet that I had been to years ago. Find absolutely nothing.

Had a terrific evening with old friends I hadn't seen in years. Bob and Eloise have recently moved to Hilton Head and are very happy here.