The Salt Lake

My Sweet Pea's image of Salt Lake City was always the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She wasn't fully aware there was an actual salt lake and although SLC was never really on the itinerary, it's a fabulous place to wind up. 

To see the lake properly, you need to go to Antelope Island (above). The views are incredible - I just keep being overwhelmed every place we go.  

But, if you're a (real) man, you'll want/need to go to the largest open pit copper mine in the world...The Kennecott Copper Mine, about 25 miles south of town. The pit is 3/4 mile deep and 2 1/2 miles across at the top.  

They've been digging this hole since 1903 and it's so big it can be seen from outer space. The scale of it is incomprehensible.

The largest shovels hold 98 tons in a single pass, the dump trucks hold up to 320 tons and each of the eight tires cost $20,000. Whoa...

 

And then of course there's Temple Square which, essentially, is  "Mormon Central"; a 39 acre campus somewhat analogous to Vatican City, but not really. 

When you walk through the gate you are greeted by a number of Elders and "Missionary Sisters" whose sole job is to answer questions and show you around. The dominant building is, of course, the Temple (which is off limits to non-members) but, you'll also find the Tabernacle, the Conference center (the largest in the U.S. seating 22,000) the Family History Library (the genealogy place), and a host of other buildings.

And then of course, there's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; 360 choir members and a 110 piece orchestra. We had the opportunity to hear them sing live in the Tabernacle on Sunday morning before we pulled out, it was fabulous.

The choir is excellent and the acoustics are such that you can hear a pin drop from one end to the other (without the use of a microphone). 

They do a live radio and TV Broadcast from there  every Sunday ("Music and the Spoken Word") which they claim is the longest running broadcast of its kind in the world. This was what we attended. At the end of the taping, the choir sat down, the speaker welcomed visitors, then... choir, orchestra and conductor stood, turned to us and sang softly and acapella, "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again". Every member was smiling sincerely and making use of every appropriate crescendo as they made eye contact with the 2500 member audience. They needed no music. 

My Sweet Pea had tears.