72 Hours: Salt Lake City and Park City

Over the years I’ve really grown passionate over movies and films and Asian representation in media. When I lived in New York, I attended the Tribeca Film Festival every year and had opportunities to watch some great independent films and even hear Zac Efron speak about his recently released film. I knew that one day I wanted to attend the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and see these independent films first hand. So my best friend and I planned a #girlcation to Salt Lake City in late January with plans to watch movies, eat delicious food, and stay cozy in our pajamas. Everything that makes up the perfect relaxing trip! And after a hectic holiday season and a busy work schedule, this vacation was much needed. The Sundance Film Festival takes place for 2 weeks every Jaunary and is filled with expert panels and tons of creative films and documentaries. The Festival is usually located in Park City, but this year it expanded to Salt Lake City as well. This second location was so well received on my end because it allowed us to book a more affordable lodging option in SLC instead of an expensive Park City ski resort. We spent 72 hours in Salt Lake City and Park City exploring to our heart’s content!

Where to Stay

As I mentioned above, we chose to stay in Salt Lake City instead of Park City in order to save money. This ended up being a wise decision because all the films we watched were also located in SLC. This mainly resulted because the SLC film tickets were in less demand than the Park City ones- I’ll get into this later. We chose an Airbnb near Salt Lake City’s downtown and the airport. Coincidentally, the Airbnb location ended up being only an 8 minute drive from the theater where we watched all our films! While SLC was our base for the trip, we did make a half day journey out to Park City for snowshoeing and to check out the town. The Uber ride was about $30-40 one way- making it still more affordable than staying in Park City. Our Airbnb costed $250 total for 3 nights. Just for comparison- 1 night in Park City can range from $300-500.

What to Do

Liberty Park

It is nothing compared to New York’s Central Park, but I still had a nice stroll through Liberty Park, enjoying the winter peace and quiet. There were children playing on the playground, dogs chasing frisbees on the grass, and even a person walking a trapeze!

Park City Snowshoeing

One of the best experiences on our trip! While I had snowshoed before in Vail, my friend had not so we decided on a private tour guide to take us up the surrounding mountains of Park City. This ended up being a great choice because the guide provided tangible advice on how to traverse the snow filled hiking paths, pointed out wild animal tracks in the snow (who knew snowshoe hares were so big?), and even took photos of us in snowshoeing action. I loved experiencing the natural beauty Utah had to offer, while getting in a great workout! We booked our tour from Destination Sports and Adventures for $160 (2-4 people). The package included a private tour guide, transportation from anywhere in Park City, water and snacks, and snow shoe rentals.

Sundance Film Festival

After much deliberation (and luck) we managed to obtain tickets to 3 movies to watch during the festival. Honestly, we had wanted to see so many movies, but because of time restraint and the fact that it was SO HARD to get film tickets, we only had the opportunity to watch one film per day. Purchasing the tickets was so stressful because the tickets to the popular films would sell out in seconds. Because we were purchasing individual film tickets (instead of using a festival pass or a local Utah ID), we were in the last group to make film reservations and didn’t have the greatest film selections available. I was still satisfied with our choices though- they were films that I wouldn’t have thought of firsthand, but still were thought provoking, informative, and eye opening. The fims we watched were: The Glorias (a biopic on Gloria Steinam), Sylvie’s Love (a beautiful love story set in the 1950s about an African American couple), and Wendy (a different approach to the Peter Pan story). For Sylvie’s Love, we were able to participate in a Q&A with the director and it was interesting to hear the reason why the film was made and the concepts the director had wanted to convey. Sundance was a great once in a lifetime experience- it was amazing to be able to see the results of so many hardworking film directors and producers. The Festival only peaked my interest in films and I can’t wait to see what other film festivals are out there!

Temple Square

We started out our Sunday morning attend the Music and Spoken Word performance by the famous Tabernacle Choir at the Temple Square Conference Center. For 30 minutes, we were treated to a beautiful musical performance with voices and an orchestra. Tickets to the performance was free and the concert takes place every Sunday morning at 9:30am. I highly recommend making a stop here to hear the Choir sing because they are truly talented. We also took an hour guided tour around the Conference Center right after the performance. The tour took us to many behind the scene areas and we were able to view some of the gorgeous artwork placed around the Center. The highlight of the tour was definitely the rooftop garden where we were able to have a glance around downtown Salt Lake City.

Rebel House

No vacation is complete without a workout! All my friends judge me for taking time out on a trip to fit in a workout class, but I think its pretty cool to try out a workout that Houston doesn’t have or one that isn’t as accessible. In SLC, I took a 45 minute boxing class that was extremely similar to one of my favorite boxing class in New York, Rumble. The format of the class (5 rounds of strength and 5 rounds of boxing) was the same and even the teardrop shaped boxing bags was the same! The class costed $20 (although there is a first timers deal for two classes for $25 if you have time to do more than one class) and glove rentals are an additional $2. Prepare to sweat!

What to Eat

Banbury Cross Donuts

These donuts were highly rated on Yelp so I headed there right after I landed on Friday afternoon, but unfortunately many flavors were already sold out for the day. I ate the cinnamon donut and while it was so messy, it was delicious!

Koi D

One of my travel goals on every trip I take is to try bubble tea. I love drinking bubble tea and love trying new cafes. In SLC, we hit up Koi D to try its Royal Milk Tea. It was actually quite hard to find bubble tea in SLC- Koi D was the only one that was centrally located. It is mainly known for its rolled ice cream, but the drinks were pretty solid too.

Purgatory

A hidden find! We had wanted to eat at Curry Fried Chicken, however, it was closed on Sunday so we ended up at a bar called Purgatory. Although the service could use some work, the food was so yummy. Their cuisine is Asian fusion (one of my favorites!) and I thoroughly enjoyed the Kpop kimchi fries. the katsu rice burrito wrap, and the inventive drinks. There is also an outdoor patio portion with twinkling fairy lights so I imagine that when the weather gets warmer the bar is a lot of fun!

Eva Bakery

Everyone who knows me well knows that I love bread. All types of bread! For our Sunday breakfast we tried Eva Bakery for its freshly made flaky crust pastries. Located in downtown SLC, the bakery has a sit down area as well as a glass case in the front where customers can view their delicious pastries and order to go.

Blue Copper Coffee Room

Blue Copper was recommended to us by our Airbnb host and it was located only 5 minutes walk from where we were staying. It is your typical cafe with a strong hipster vibe and solid lattes. Slightly overpriced, but for the convenience we were willing to pay.

The Copper Onion

Copper Onion was highly recommended on Yelp and since it was located in downtown near my boxing studio, I decided to give it a try. The burger and famous cauliflower were delicious! I would pass on the fries next time though… Make sure to either make a reservation or arrive early because the restaurant gets packed.

Atticus Coffee and Teahouse

Our first stop in Park City was to warm up at the cute little cafe and bookshop, Atticus. It is the definition of cozy! There is a variety of innovative caffeinated drinks, like the white chocolate and vanilla latte called the White Rabbit, and some food options (we went with the vegan burrito). It was the perfect place to begin our Park City day.

No Name Saloon

We worked up quite the appetite snowshoeing so we stopped at the No Name Saloon for buffalo burgers and chips. I had never tried buffalo burgers before and thought the creative burger options (zesty avocado was my favorite!) at No Name sounded fun. Although I’ve since realized that buffalo is a little too tough for me, I still enjoyed experiencing this Park City institution.

Sweet Lake Biscuits and LImeade

I loved this brunch spot! If you’re looking for warm buttery biscuits (variations of biscuits like my breakfast pizza on biscuit dough) and refreshing drinks (strongly recommend the cucumber mint limeade) then this is the place for you. The prices are reasonable (my breakfast pizza was $9) and the portions are generous. What more can you wish for in brunch? I came here on a Monday morning and there was tons of tables available, but I’ve heard that on the weekends there can be quite the wait involved.

RubySnap Cookies

Every single cookie in this bakery looked too good to be true. There are so many different and unique flavors that we spent a really long time deciding. I went from telling myself I could only indulge in one cookie to buying three! Customers are allowed to sample cookies, which most likely contributed to my cravings. The best flavors at Rubysnap (in my opinion) was the cherry milk chocolate, the strawberry lemon, and the beet cream cheese. All flavors that don’t sound particularly appetizing on paper, but are definitley must eats!

I’m missing Utah already! My 72 hours in Salt Lake City and Park City were filled with everything I love: friends, movies, and food!