Postcard | What do we do in Salt Lake City?

(Salt Lake City, Utah) Friday afternoon, an hour before Gary Bettman’s press briefing formalizing the arrival of the NHL in Utah, we walk the streets of downtown, trying to understand the spirit of the place.

Here we are in front of Temple Square, where, imagine, we find a temple. It is actually the hub of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In front of the Tabernacle, three young ladies take advantage of the good weather and direct visitors if necessary. One wears a Ukrainian flag on the front of her shoulder; another, that of Samoa. That of the third is hidden, but she reveals it as soon as we mention coming from Montreal; it’s a fleurdelisé.

The young adult from Quebec immediately switches to French, explaining to us that it is at the heart of her mission, a rite of passage among Mormons. Single women aged 19 or over serve 18-month missions; those of single men aged 18 to 26 last 24 months. So the young lady in front of us is doing hers here in Salt Lake City.

We then identify ourselves as a journalist. She apologizes for refusing the interview; authorization from a superior would have been necessary.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be intrusive.”

– It’s correct, we are quite a bit more intrusive than you! »

She nevertheless leaves us with indications, in order to be able to enter the Tabernacle, an impressive building if ever there was one. “Door 15 will be open,” she said.

Religion or not, the grandeur of the place that awaits us, once we pass through gate 15, is striking.

No luck for the temple, however; it is undergoing large-scale renovations.

The city literally revolves around the temple. The streets form an almost perfect grid and are numbered according to Temple Square.

From this square, it is street 100, then 200, 300, and so on, with a cardinal point to specify which side we are on. Our hotel was on 400 South, four blocks south of the temple.

As in many societies, the coexistence of religions does not happen without clashes. Brian, a technician who worked at Bettman’s press briefing, didn’t particularly appreciate the mayor’s joke about “converting” people into hockey fans.

Read the article “Coyotes moving to Salt Lake City: First impression made good”

“It contributes to stereotypes,” laments this man firmly on the left, a native of neighboring Colorado. When you live here, whether you’re Mormon or not, you always get asked: How many children do you have? Do you have six wives? »

Walk in nature

Salt Lake City, however, is more than a city centered around a church.

With two hours to go before heading to the airport Saturday morning, City Creek Canyon Park is a great option. We discover an area that is much more inviting than the overly wide boulevards of the city center. Single-family houses follow one another, cats stroll in the lawn, almost everyone walks with their puppy.

This is also where the 37% of voters in the state who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 are hiding. At least that is what we can guess by noting the presence of a few “Black Lives Matter” flags. but also a “Make America Kind Again” poster. Around here, in any case, the people seem very nice.

Without being the most olé olé metropolis, we find a good number of microbreweries in Salt Lake, like everywhere else in former industrial premises.

Mormons are required to abstain from alcohol, but they make up 42 percent of Utah’s population, according to a recent article in Salt Lake Tribune. That leaves 58% of the population – and tourists – to try, for example, the excellent kölsch from Bewilder Brewing.

However, we reserve our final judgment; the real pleasure, we are told, is in Park City, the equivalent of Tremblant around here, about thirty minutes’ drive away. It will be for another time.