Day 0 (Wed) - Spreading my Wings
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For the last year, I wanted to undertake travelling by myself. Been feeling down for the last couple of months and yearned to take on this experiment for a while now. On my birthday, The Dear Hunter I was following was performing at Salt Lake City, Utah. Looking into what the city had to offer, and I needed a week vacation, I decided that’ll be my destination. This trip was a lot of firsts for me, first flight, first time outside of Canada, even Ontario. With all that, especially traveling on my own.
I headed out to the local airport, got all my paperwork ready and packed everything the day previous. Almost screwed up do to lack of experience, didn’t let them know the bag I packed was a carry-on; thought it was just going through it was the X-Ray check. So I had to go back to the clerk asking for my bag back, that was a little embarrassing. Kinda forgot the local airport has a reputation of having delays, so my flight had to be re-routed from San Francisco to Chicago as my connection.
Which Chicago International I found interesting, had a bit of a culture shock in the sense that I’m not sure if all International airports are like this, at least this one had a bit of a theme park vibe with some of the walkways and some of the underground pathways! By the time I got to the hotel it was 11pm MDT or 1am EST, so I needed to go to sleep like bad.
Day 1 (Thu) - Live Show & the Exploration of Wagyu
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Surprisingly, got up early despite the time change, with that, decided to take a walk, getting the lay of the land. Explored the City Creek Center, liked the concept of an outdoor mall and if it’s raining or snowing, a mechanical roof is employed.
Continued on my stroll, interacted with a bird feeder named Roger, had an amusing conversation about the birds and recommended a chili sauce a little outside of town, I didn’t ask if he was a U.S. Veteran, but if I had to give a description of his appearance he looked like how you’d visualize a Vietnam Vet in movies. After the chat, I asked about where to find a corner store for quick drinks and snacks. Liked the exchange, from what I’ve noticed seem decent under pressure and don’t often get in those scenarios.
Great eats and service
I went and tried a Wagyu Filet Mignon at the steakhouse at the hotel, since to hell with it, it was my birthday, and it was a revelation, almost cried by the end; I might have ruined steak for myself, even if I could, I wouldn’t close that Pandora’s box.
Treated myself to another thing, I wanted to tidy myself before the show, so I got my first barber shave and hair clean up at The Bureau Barber. It was a wonderful experience, enjoyed the fun interactions between the barbers. I’ll be sure to check them out if/when I go back to SLC again. After cleaning myself up, I went off to the show.
Welcome to the show
Speaking of the show, had an amazing time, I wasn’t familiar with the first two opening acts: Tanner Merritt and The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die were great, reviewed the discography after the show; they got themselves a new fan! The main act was fantastic, I’ve seen live shows digitally before, as an avid fan it was definitely a different energy compared to their studio release Antimai with some fan picks at the end.
Got to meet some great people from the Discord group. Got to know them well and intersected on other interests. Even during the show, I was taking a break between the opening acts, then someone came up to me; we started chatting discussing favourite works from the band, we hit it off well, and hung out with him for the rest of the show. After the show, I had got to meet & chat with Rob (Drummer for TDH), which was a treat, even asked to give him a hug to thank him and the band for their work. When I said that, he had mentioned something to me in the vain of “We do this music mostly for us, but are happy that other people have found interest in their work”, a sentiment I’ve been currently holding sense and as one of the motivators for my exploration into story telling.
Day 2 (Fri)
My sleep deprivation had finally caught up to me, so I mostly stayed in the hotel and started setting up activities for the next couple of days. Only other thing I tried out one of those online food delivery apps, it was different, didn’t like the drivers text me when the food was delivered, I found that weird. I did get to try a couple of things though it like some of the national eats like Chick-fil-A, which I liked a fair bit, tasted like a cleaner KFC, also nearly forgot the US’s reputation for super-sizing things cause the size for a medium fountain drink was larger than I expected!
Day 3 (Sat)
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SLC Bus Tour
Jumped on a couple of bus tours, one around the city from This Is The Place Heritage Park to the State Capitol Building. A very intriguing history in this place, a story of overcoming the odds and adversity of the pioneer days from religious persecution on the side of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (or commonly called Mormons, but they prefer LDS i.e. Latter-day Saints). Also created a sense of community through their bee hive symbolism all over the place.
The State Capitol was a beautiful marble built interior and stunning murals of this state’s history and farther emphasising the bee hive imagery. Some of the tidbits were interesting like one wall, with how the marble was carved, the finished product the center looked like a demonic face; funny enough across from the wall was where the treasury used to be; now it’s a bathroom hall! To top it off, we went to the Temple Square and listened to an organ recitals, can’t name the piece played but I appreciate the talent and skill involved in that world, so it was treat.
Great Salt Lake
In the afternoon, went on a bus trip to the Great Salt Lake. We went farther out of town, went and seen some decent landscapes, but when we got to the lake, lets just say if you didn’t think climate change was nothing to worry about, I noticed the reduced water levels, and remanence of what used to be a boat dock. They are restoration efforts being implemented, but from what I’ve asked about it, might be a good 2 or 3 decades when the efforts might bare fruit, there is already water rationing in place do to the reduced water.
Day 4 (Sun)
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Tabernacle Service feat. Piano Guys
I’m not actively religious, let me be exact, I’m a none practising Catholic, I still read bible verses but I don’t engage in my local Church. This morning service in the Latter Day Saints Temple might have changed that, like the recital from the day before, everyone’s performances were stellar, and the guest appearance from the Piano Guys were a nice touch. They are a duet piano and cello act, concept being what if a piano and cello had a conversation, after listening to some of their pieces after the fact, they’ve got themselves a new fan!
Day 5 (Mon)
For the most part I suck at concluding, because there’s not really much to speak here, just checked out of the hotel and headed out and back home in the evening. But getting home felt good, had a great time, went to a different country, took flown for the first time, seen one of my favorite bands live overall was a good 4 days.