Who is This Strange Man in a Loin Cloth?

Thursday, April 2, 2009

A couple of days ago, James, Bethany and I ran away from home for a night. We didn't go far, just to Salt Lake City, but it was so fun to have a little mini-vacation! The whole thing was very spontaneous--I had to be in SLC on Wednesday morning for some primary auxiliary training, so we just figured, what the heck--let's go down Tuesday night. So we hopped on Priceline (Priceline is our friend!), got a hotel room at the Red Lion downtown, and packed some bags.

First stop was The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. When we pulled up to it, we had some serious misgivings at first (It looked like an old grocery store! Hmmmmmmm.) but we decided to go for it anyway. We had a great time looking at all the fish, jellies, sharks, rays, and other creatures of the sea!



Bethany loved it. She especially liked petting the starfish, because it actually moved a little after she touched it. She liked its rough bumpiness.



She also liked the BIG fish:





I'll say this for the aquarium: it may not be Sea World by a long shot, but it's still pretty cool and TOTALLY beats the National Aquarium in Washington D.C., which we visited a few years ago and had maybe two tanks with some fish and that was it. (I could have seen better fish at Pet Smart than were in the National Aquarium. Sad, huh?)

After the aquarium, we decided to take Bethany to the Mayan restaurant (hence the man in the loin cloth, above). We had a table right by the cliff divers and Bethany was entranced. The food left a lot to be desired--WOW SPICY! And everything had onions, which James is allergic to (not an exaggeration, we spoke to the chef prior to ordering and he basically told us we were hosed and to get the chicken strips). But it was a fun environment!



Now that I think about it--do I have a subconcious need for California with my pseudo-Sea World and pseudo-Disneyland? Hmmmmmm. Just a little introspection and self-analysis . . .someone get me on a plane, quick!

We then headed to our room at the Red Lion, and Bethany had a BALL. The coolest thing ever was the ice machine. She LOVED that! And she just loved exploring the room. When it came time for bed, however, she told me she did NOT want to be in her Pack-n-Play, she wanted her room at home. She looked me square in the face and said, "Go home now! Room!" But after being assured we would go home tomorrow, she went to sleep and slept like a log all night--hooray!

The next day, after I attended my auxiliary meetings (wonderful!), we took Bethany up to see the Christus statue. Bethany loved looking at the planets and stars, and loved the big statue of Jesus. And as we headed back down the ramp, she yelled, "Bye, Jesus!" We loved that. It was a short trip, but a good one, and a much-needed break and early birthday celebration for me!