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DestinationsOther |
Salt Lake CityINTRODUCTION Salt Lake City is the capital and largest city in the sparse western state of Utah. It is located in Salt Lake Valley with the Great Salt Lake located to its northwest and the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountain ranges on its eastern and western borders. Salt Lake City is known universally as the home of The Church of Latter-day Saints (The Mormon Church or the LSD) and the home of the very successful 2002 Winter Olympics. This information, correct as it is, doesn’t give the full and accurate picture of the real Salt Lake City which boasts a large Latino community, an impressive professional dance scene, and one of the more notable annual gay pride parades in the nation. Because Salt Lake is surrounded by rich natural resources and scenery it is also an excellent jumping-off point for a number of summer and winter activities such as skiing, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, camping, and fishing. The Salt Lake Valley is particularly good for skiing based on a combination of weather and terrain so there are several top-of-the-line ski resorts located within an hour of Salt Lake City. One of these resorts is Park City where the very famous Sundance Film Festival is held annually. HISTORY For thousands of years the Salt Lake Valley was a temporary settlement for the Ute, Shoshone, and Paiute tribes. The first settlement of people of European descent came on July 24, 1847. Brigham Young and many members of the Church of Latter-day Saints fled west out of United States Territory in the hopes of leaving behind the religious prejudice they had faced in their Midwestern homes. Mormon settlers designed an area in the west for statehood in 1849, but were denied. A year later a much smaller version of there plan was turned into the Utah Territory by the US Congress. With the connection of a railway system and the opening of several mines in the area Salt Lake became a much more diverse town and more than just the headquarters of the LSD church. However, the next part of the century saw constant bickering between the LSD church and the US government over the Mormon tradition of polygamy. The territory of Utah was only allowed to become an official state in 1896, after the LSD church officially renounced the practice of polygamy. The city was boosted into international recognition in 2002 when they hosted a very rare financially successful Winter Olympics. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO The liquor laws of Utah are their to gouge and frustrate you. You can buy Near Beer (3.2% alcohol) in stores and restaurants, “Full Strength” in bars and liquor stores, liquor only in state-owned stores (and its more expensive), and only one shot of liquor in a mixed drink (if the recipe calls for more you have to purchase a “side-car” of that liquor to mix in). ATTRACTIONS Temple Square? RESTARAUNTS LODGING 
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