Temple Square

As soon as we knew we were moving to NYC, one of the things I started putting together was a bucket list of all of the sights, places, and experiences we wanted to see and have while there. Obviously, the sights in Utah are drastically different than in NYC, and don't have the same level of once-in-a-lifetime excitement. We weren't planning on being in NYC for that long (Ha!), so we wanted to get as much in as possible. If you go back and visit our earlier posts about the city, you can see that we crammed in as much sightseeing as possible on our days off. The longer we were there the more relaxed we became about visiting things (plus we'd already done a lot), and each post only covered one thing rather than twenty. We can see ourselves living here for the foreseeable future. It's nice not to have that nagging desire to move always in the back of your mind. Suffice it to say, life is much slower paced here, even the desire for sightseeing. So we've been here 3 1/2 months and haven't made an official bucket list yet, although, since crossing the Utah border I've had two destinations in mind that I want to see while we're here -- Temple Square and Zion National Park.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving (Nov 28th), we visited Temple Square. Brian visited just this last February, but it's been years since I've been here. I was so excited when we first got a glimpse of the Salt Lake City Temple as we exited from the freeway, and got even more so when we got close enough to see the lights. It took a little finagling to find parking...we may be used to city living, but not city driving. Eventually we figured how to access the parking garage under the City Creek Mall, and without too much more trouble (it was one day after they turned the lights on, so the parking garage was near to bursting) we found a spot for our car. 

After traversing the crowds in the Mall, we found ourselves across from Temple Square and the Joseph Smith Building. With the crowded streets, it felt like we were back in NYC for a moment...although a cheery NYC where no one was smoking, yelling, or dropping obscenities as fast as raindrops. It was a pleasant change.

It was chilly, but not uncomfortably so (at least for me; I love the cold). The grounds were just as crowded, if not more so, than the surrounding streets. 

I don't know what to say, other than the lights were gorgeous and the temple breathtaking. There was a feeling of excitement, wonder, and holiday spirit in the air. I'll let the pictures I took tell the tale, and although they don't quite do the lights justice, they can convey the beauty of our experience much better than I could in words. 

My favorite thing was the reflecting pool in front of the temple. I loved the floating lights and the beautiful nativity scene of Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus in the pool's center. It was such a touching sight, and its hard not to feel the significance of Christ's birth when you're standing in front of it.

I also loved this second nativity that sits next to the old tabernacle. Every so often a narrative of the Christmas story from the Bible plays while the different scenes light up.

Wise Men

Shepherds with their flocks.

This tree was my favorite. It was covered with gold and red lights, giving it this vibrant orange color. Just beautiful.

After spending about an hour outside, we were getting chilled, plus it was time for us to head to the Joseph Smith Building, where we were to meet our friend Matt. He was visiting Utah from NYC, and we were excited about the chance to see him. We were a bit early, so waited for him in the JSB's lobby. It's a beautiful space normally, but with all the Christmas decorations it was even more so. I loved the giant tree in the lobby's center. It was so tall that it appeared to touch the chandelier.

Nearby the lobby doors, there was a small display of nativities. This origami nativity was so pretty.

Not too long after we arrived, we saw Matt walk in the doors and went to greet him. It was good to see him. We headed up to the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Building, where we had dinner at The Roof Restaurant. It was a fun experience. The restaurant looks out over Temple Square, and we had an amazing view of the temple and surrounding Christmas lights from our table.

For those who don't know, there is a lookout at the top of the Joseph Smith Building that anyone can go enjoy without having to eat at one of the restaurants. It's definitely worth the elevator trip.

The food was really good. They have a buffet, and we ate so many different foods. They had prime rib, honey baked ham, lamb, chicken florentine, salmon, king crab, shrimp, and seared ahi tuna along with a wide variety of salads. It was all so good. I tried a small piece of everything (except the seafood, although I wish I would have tried the tuna). The lamb was good (it was Brian's favorite), but the chicken florentine and prime rib were my favorite. They also had this frog eye pasta salad with feta cheese, dill, olives, and few other savory ingredients that I can't remember now. It was so good that I had a second helping. I want to find the recipe for that one. For desert they had cherry cheesecake, pecan tarts, cream puffs, various flavors of mousse, and a variety of other melt in your mouth treats.  

All during dinner, we chatted with Matt, catching up on what we had missed in NYC these last few months. Good friends are the best, and we left NYC having made many lifelong friendships. All too soon, the meal was over and we had to part ways. Hopefully we'll get to see him again soon.

We had  such a fun evening, and it was a wonderful way to kick off the Christmas season.