We are the Exploring Enthusiasts, and we hadn’t been on an airplane in over a year…what?! It’s amazing how COVID has rocked the world this past year. This spring we decided it was finally time to venture back to one of my favorite places- an airport! Now I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but I get excited about the energy and buzz alive in these transportation hubs. After masking up, we made our way through the Minneapolis airport rather quickly due to smaller crowds than usual. We flew Delta to Salt Lake City, so we were able to enjoy empty middle seats and movies (makes flights go by so fast) as we dreamed of exploring Park City!
Finally on an airplane again!
Salt Lake City
We arrived in Salt Lake City late morning on a Thursday. My eyes were actively looking for baggage claim signs when I was quickly distracted by mountains outside the window! Mountains are truly majestic in my world, so this eye candy already set the tone for a grand weekend in Utah! While in Salt Lake City, we thought we should at least check out one place. Adam found Sweet Lake Biscuits & Limeade, so we headed there for a late morning snack. We ate fresh-baked biscuits and drank fresh-squeezed limeades with the warm 60-degree sun beating down on us!
A glimpse of the mountains from the Salt Lake City airport.
Downtown Salt Lake City nestled in the mountains.
Sweet Lake Biscuits & Limeade in Salt Lake City
Enjoying fresh-squeezed limeade!
And fresh baked biscuits!
A glimpse of the mountains from the Salt Lake City airport.
Downtown Salt Lake City nestled in the mountains.
Sweet Lake Biscuits & Limeade in Salt Lake City
Enjoying fresh-squeezed limeade!
And fresh baked biscuits!
Airbnb PayDay Condo
After stalling at the restaurant for a bit, we snagged a couple Ubers to Park City for our noon check-in at our condo. The 40-minute Uber ride from Salt Lake City to Park City is only about $40 (during non-peak times). We found our PayDay Condo by Identity Properties on Airbnb and it was perfect for our purposes! It had the capacity to sleep 10 people, but there were only 8 in our group. It was maybe 200 ft from a city bus stop (Park City has a free bus system you can use), walking distance to the Silver Star chairlift, and we had a private hot tub on our deck! This is the address if you’re looking to stay in this exact condo: 1660 Three Kings Drive #206. Otherwise, we suggest any place that is close to a bus stop and you will be able to very easily navigate this small mountain town.
Checking out our Payday condo!
The themed decorations were quite appropriate!
Views of the mountain from the hot tub on our deck!
Checking out our Payday condo!
The themed decorations were quite appropriate!
Views of the mountain from the hot tub on our deck!
Wasatch Brew Pub
Even though we had the option to take the free bus, we opted to take a stroll for our first trip to downtown Park City. It’s a really vintage downtown strip filled with shops, restaurants, and bars. We had made igloo reservations ahead of time at Wasatch Brew Pub on the south end of town so that was our first stop. When we booked this igloo on the Wasatch deck, we originally envisioned a snow-covered experience, but this balmy afternoon turned our plastic igloo into a greenhouse. I didn’t mind the warmth at all, but a few of our group members had to take breaks from the igloo to get some fresh air. The igloo reservations at Wasatch Brew Pub are good for two hours, so we enjoyed local beer (Apricot Hefeweizen for a lighter option and Coffee Schwarzbier for a delicious malty seasonal) and tasty apps (try their loaded nachos or Polygamy Porter brownie) for this entire window!
Main Street of downtown Park City!
Wasatch Brew Pub
Our igloo (or greenhouse) for the afternoon!
The Polygamy Porter Brownie!
Main Street of downtown Park City!
Wasatch Brew Pub
Our igloo (or greenhouse) for the afternoon!
The Polygamy Porter Brownie!
Epic Pass
After our afternoon in an igloo, it was time to wander back to our condo for our ski rental delivery. I know this system was implemented due to COVID, but I sure hope it stays because this was the slickest ski rental process ever! We had set up a time for our rentals to get delivered to the condo and sure enough- one of the Epic employees delivered our goods the night before our ski day. He had us try on our gear and had some extra options in his van if we needed to try different sizes. We have an Epic Pass, so we got a discount on our rentals. Park City Mountain is one of the several Epic ski resorts. If you like downhill skiing or snowboarding and you haven’t heard of the Epic Pass, you should definitely look into it! We live about 10 minutes from Afton Alps, an Epic resort in Minnesota, so with our Epic Pass we can ski locally while also having access to big mountain resorts around the country!
Flanagan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant
After getting all our ski gear set for the next morning, we took the bus back downtown. This was the week of St. Patrick’s Day, so naturally we found an Irish Pub. Flanagan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant is located right in the middle of Main Street. We opted for the 21+ basement which was fun because we ended up getting to play some Irish trivia. We enjoyed Guinness, fish & chips, and other classic Irish fare here.
We took the free Park City bus downtown
Downtown Park City lit up at night!
Flanagan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant on Main Street
Heading down to the 21+ basement.
Discovered trivia happens on Thursday nights!
We took the free Park City bus downtown
Downtown Park City lit up at night!
Flanagan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant on Main Street
Heading down to the 21+ basement.
Discovered trivia happens on Thursday nights!
Park City Mountain
Our ski day finally arrived! We made sure to start our quarter mile walk to the Silver Star chairlift early so we would arrive with our clunky boots just in time for the 9 am start. We spent our first ski day on the “Park City” side, carving up the blues and greens including the 3.5-mile Homerun. Our favorite part about this side of the mountain was that you could literally ski right into town! How sweet is that?? That’s right, we lurched our way down the mashed potato snow right into Main Street. A couple of our friends weren’t skiing, so they kindly saved the other six of us a spot for lunch. We enjoyed this 60-degree day on the Harvest patio, a 150 ft walk from where we dropped off our skis. Harvest offered fresh smoothies, salads, and acai bowls – the perfect fresh options for this warm day.
Our condo conveniently had a map of the mountain as a wall hanging.
Silver Star Chairlift
Our crew of 6!
Taking in the mountains
At the base of the Town Lift
Harvest for lunch.
Enjoying the sun!
And some fresh eats!
Our condo conveniently had a map of the mountain as a wall hanging.
Silver Star Chairlift
Our crew of 6!
Taking in the mountains
At the base of the Town Lift.
Harvest for lunch.
Enjoying the sun!
And some fresh eats!
No Name Saloon Rooftop
After the warmest afternoon of skiing we’ve ever encountered, we returned to our condo to freshen up or hit our hot tub before heading back downtown. This Friday night we had to wait in line to get into No Name Saloon for about 30 minutes, but it was worth it! We were able to get a rooftop table surrounded by unique vintage decorations. We stayed plenty warm with heaters above our heads and hot toddies in our bellies. Most of our group went with the “World Famous Buffalo Burger” for dinner and it did not disappoint!
The line to get into No Name Saloon was worth the wait!
The unique decor of No Name Saloon.
Enjoying the rooftop!
Buffalo burgers and hot totties!
The line to get into No Name Saloon was worth the wait!
The unique decor of No Name Saloon.
Enjoying the rooftop!
Buffalo burgers and hot totties!
Canyons- Park City Ski Resort
We were very nervous as we listened to the rain hit our roof throughout the entire night, but we still made our trek to the chairlift right away the next morning. It was a pretty depressing sight waiting for the chairlift in the rain, but we knew there was hope because the chairs coming down the mountain had a layer of snow on them. A couple hundred feet into our ride, the rain turned to snow and we started our second ski day with the best snow we’ve ever had! A complete reversal of the weather! We took the Quicksilver Gondola over to the “Canyons” part of Park City Mountain. It was definitely a combo of the great runs and the fresh powder, but this was for sure our favorite area of the mountain! We ploughed through mounds of fresh powder, cruised through $10-15 million cabins, and weaved over and under bridges – it was truly spectacular!
Taking the Quicksilver Gondola over to Canyons.
Finally got high enough to enter the winter wonderland!
Winding our way through mansions!
Fresh powder all day!!
Taking the Quicksilver Gondola over to Canyons.
Finally got high enough to enter the winter wonderland!
Winding our way through mansions!
Fresh powder all day!!
Cloud Dine
The day before I had asked a local where the best spot to eat on the mountain was and he recommended Cloud Dine for the views. Due to COVID, you need to make reservations to eat inside at any of the chalets, so I woke up at 7 am to book us a time for lunch. We definitely didn’t get the views we were looking for due to the constant snowfall…but the chalet food was warm, above average, and just what we needed for some afternoon fuel!
Cloud Dine Chalet
No views on this snowy day, but we still found tasty warm food!
Cloud Dine Chalet
No views on this snowy day, but we still found tasty warm food!
High West Distillery
After heading back to our condo for some hot tub time, we took the bus downtown to visit Utah’s first legal distillery since 1870, High West Saloon. They only take walk-ins and by the time we arrived they weren’t taking anymore names for the rest of the night – clearly a popular place. We were lucky to get a table on the patio! Only drinks (no food) are allowed on the patio, so we enjoyed some local whiskey sitting on fake animal fur benches huddled under a heater.
Enjoying some hot tub time!
High West Distillery & Saloon
Enjoying some local whiskey on the patio!
Enjoying some hot tub time!
High West Distillery & Saloon
Enjoying some local whiskey on the patio!
Davanza’s Pizza & More
After enjoying whiskey flights and fun drinks like the “Dead Man’s Boots” cocktail, we were ready for some food. Right across the street from the High West Saloon on the north end of downtown is Davanza’s. This is a very laid-back pizza place with beer cans lining the walls. Once our bellies were full, we bussed back to our condo for a night filled with board games.
Davanza’s Pizza & More
Comforted by the walls lined with beer cans.
Davanza’s Pizza & More
Comforted by the walls lined with beer cans.
Five5eeds
My dad has been to Park City a couple times before and he highly recommended Five5eeds for breakfast. We weren’t planning to ski on Sunday morning, so we had time to enjoy a leisurely local breakfast. Five5eeds is an Australian-inspired restaurant with tasty food made from scratch. Most of us enjoyed their giant breakfast sandwich. My favorite thing on the menu was the Tim Tam Slam, basically an ice cream coffee drink, and Adam’s favorite was their homemade banana bread topped with an inch of espresso-infused frosting! After this delicious breakfast, our caffeine-filled selves were ready to peruse some of the downtown Park City shops. We each found some souvenirs and too quickly it was time to return to the Salt Lake City airport.
Five5eeds – a local breakfast spot.
Very tasty breakfast sandwich!
Tim Tam Slams!
Banana bread topped with espresso-infused frosting!
Five5eeds – a local breakfast spot.
Very tasty breakfast sandwich!
Tim Tam Slams!
Banana bread topped with espresso-infused frosting!
We had driven by Park City on our road trips to the west coast before, but we had a great time actually getting to explore it this time! It felt wonderful to be on an airplane again and to be reunited with some phenomenal friends. What a great way to wrap up the winter season 🙂
We’ll be back, Park City!