Yesterday was Rusty and my first wedding anniversary. We had a fun filled weekend in sunny Salt Lake City. The good weather was much appreciated; although we wished we had known it would be a couple weeks ago so we could have planned to celebrate farther than 15 minutes from home.
Friday night we went to Hollywood Connection & Ritz theater in West Valley City. We ate a snack at the 50's diner located inside the fun center. We enjoyed the golden 70's classic rock, which was funny aside from that the ambiance was a couple decades prior and the other diners were all under the age of 16. Then we walked over to the movie theater, bought tickets for Push (very different than expected), and played a round of miniature golf while waiting for the movie to start. The Hollywood Connection fun center has a lot to do and has reasonable prices; however, it hasn't been kept up. Expect ketchup on the walls of the diner, a measly arcade, a roller skating rink (which I couldn't get Rusty interested in), laser tag, and some small rides, including a great carousel.
After the movie we checked into the hotel: Hilton Salt Lake City. Turns out that the great deal I found on the hotel had a minor flaw: double beds.
See, the way Hotwire works is you set your limits on dates, location, number of stars, and price. The Hotwire databases finds hotels that match your criteria but you don't actually find out what you're getting until you have made the nonrefundable purchase. The site tells you what hotels to compare the deal to so you at least have an idea if you're getting a nice place or a rat hole. The reason you get a deal is that the hotels involved would rather get even half the price of a room than nothing. I was blinded by the $62/night at a four star hotel in downtown SLC. I made the purchase, found out the hotel was the , and patted myself on the back. I went to the hotel web site to take a closer look. My pride was crushed when I realized there was nothing said about the beds on my receipt from Hotwire. "What if we have a room with double beds?" I asked Rusty. "Then we'll have to cuddle," was his reply. Well, we had to cuddle and now our backs are sore. Otherwise, the hotel was very nice, the staff very friendly, and it was in a great location. Now I'm wondering what the sleeping arrangements for our Austin hotel in March will be like (2.5 stars and only $29/night!).
The next day, we drove to Sugarhouse via Redwood Road (yeah, we had lots of problems this time and later finding 2100) to eat at the Salt Lake Pizza & Pasta. As a connoisseur of pizza, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be as one of the best pizza parlors in Salt Lake but it had atmosphere. Then we stumbled along until we found the canyon we drove up on our honeymoon (to Brighton). We decided to go to Snowbird instead. The weather was sunny and fair but snow was falling halfway up the mountain. I've never seen people ski before so we sat and watched (neither of us are winter sports people), then continued on our drive.
We headed back to the hotel to drop off the car. We walked the few blocks from the Gateway Mall (I wonder how many Gateway malls and shopping centers there are in the country) and watched (well I snoozed) a show at the Clark Planetarium. Afterwards was dinner at a new restaurant, Tucanos Brazilian Grill, which had an odd setup and diners should really go there with an empty stomach. Our poor stomachs were still full so our options were tiny. We were pleased to see Rusty's sister and her husband dining at the table right next to us.
We rolled our way back to the hotel and napped until it was time to go to the symphony. Rusty played trombone in high school and college so he has a great appreciation for music and the arts. He offered information on the composers presented and identified instruments that have always been a mystery to me.
Over all it was a fun celebration and we hope to take it easier for Anniversary 2010; maybe just eat at a spanking nice restaurant.
Being married is more fulfilling than I ever imagined. Whenever I find myself thinking that I'm just fine on my own, I can't help but recognize that Rusty has helped me to become a better person. I'm learning to express my feelings (period!), I enjoy his companionship like no one else, and he picks me up when I'm down (which seems to be a lot more lately). I feel blessed to have him as my companion.
Friday night we went to Hollywood Connection & Ritz theater in West Valley City. We ate a snack at the 50's diner located inside the fun center. We enjoyed the golden 70's classic rock, which was funny aside from that the ambiance was a couple decades prior and the other diners were all under the age of 16. Then we walked over to the movie theater, bought tickets for Push (very different than expected), and played a round of miniature golf while waiting for the movie to start. The Hollywood Connection fun center has a lot to do and has reasonable prices; however, it hasn't been kept up. Expect ketchup on the walls of the diner, a measly arcade, a roller skating rink (which I couldn't get Rusty interested in), laser tag, and some small rides, including a great carousel.
After the movie we checked into the hotel: Hilton Salt Lake City. Turns out that the great deal I found on the hotel had a minor flaw: double beds.
See, the way Hotwire works is you set your limits on dates, location, number of stars, and price. The Hotwire databases finds hotels that match your criteria but you don't actually find out what you're getting until you have made the nonrefundable purchase. The site tells you what hotels to compare the deal to so you at least have an idea if you're getting a nice place or a rat hole. The reason you get a deal is that the hotels involved would rather get even half the price of a room than nothing. I was blinded by the $62/night at a four star hotel in downtown SLC. I made the purchase, found out the hotel was the , and patted myself on the back. I went to the hotel web site to take a closer look. My pride was crushed when I realized there was nothing said about the beds on my receipt from Hotwire. "What if we have a room with double beds?" I asked Rusty. "Then we'll have to cuddle," was his reply. Well, we had to cuddle and now our backs are sore. Otherwise, the hotel was very nice, the staff very friendly, and it was in a great location. Now I'm wondering what the sleeping arrangements for our Austin hotel in March will be like (2.5 stars and only $29/night!).
The next day, we drove to Sugarhouse via Redwood Road (yeah, we had lots of problems this time and later finding 2100) to eat at the Salt Lake Pizza & Pasta. As a connoisseur of pizza, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be as one of the best pizza parlors in Salt Lake but it had atmosphere. Then we stumbled along until we found the canyon we drove up on our honeymoon (to Brighton). We decided to go to Snowbird instead. The weather was sunny and fair but snow was falling halfway up the mountain. I've never seen people ski before so we sat and watched (neither of us are winter sports people), then continued on our drive.
We headed back to the hotel to drop off the car. We walked the few blocks from the Gateway Mall (I wonder how many Gateway malls and shopping centers there are in the country) and watched (well I snoozed) a show at the Clark Planetarium. Afterwards was dinner at a new restaurant, Tucanos Brazilian Grill, which had an odd setup and diners should really go there with an empty stomach. Our poor stomachs were still full so our options were tiny. We were pleased to see Rusty's sister and her husband dining at the table right next to us.
We rolled our way back to the hotel and napped until it was time to go to the symphony. Rusty played trombone in high school and college so he has a great appreciation for music and the arts. He offered information on the composers presented and identified instruments that have always been a mystery to me.
Over all it was a fun celebration and we hope to take it easier for Anniversary 2010; maybe just eat at a spanking nice restaurant.
Being married is more fulfilling than I ever imagined. Whenever I find myself thinking that I'm just fine on my own, I can't help but recognize that Rusty has helped me to become a better person. I'm learning to express my feelings (period!), I enjoy his companionship like no one else, and he picks me up when I'm down (which seems to be a lot more lately). I feel blessed to have him as my companion.
