St George

It's always so nice to have an escape from everyday life and get some new perspective and see new new vistas.  We welcomed a trip to St George this past weekend!  A little business tied in along with some much needed down for both of us.

We chose to stay at the  Green Gate Village Historic Inn.  

A charming little B&B. The artist Eric Dowdle painted this rendition of it:

We stayed in the Tolley Cabin, a small two room cabin moved from the Nephi area. 

 The above photo shows the home before it was moved and the family who lived there.  I read about this family and have had a hard time getting them and some of my own ancestors off my mind.  They had 13 children, 10 of whom survived to adulthood.  After the last child was born (if I remember correctly)  the mother had an insect bite that infected her leg such that she had to have it amputated from the knee down.  The boys would sleep out on the screened porch in the winter and in the summer they would find themselves sleeping under an apple tree.  As we relaxed in the our small little room I couldn't help but wonder how people survived back then.  I know my own grandfather lived in a similar sized home with a family about this size, too.  It's quite remarkable to me.  We are truly blessed today. 

We stayed in the far room of the home pictured above.  

I did lots of stitching and  Mark enjoyed some time on his bike.   

We love eating at Benja's for Thai.

I like poking around in some of the little shops ... and there is a real bookstore in St. George - Barnes and Noble!  We sound like we live deprived lives in our little valley!  Not so - but we love exploring!

It's always a treat to attend the St George Temple.  It was the first temple to be completed here in Utah.  One of our friends had recently done a replica of the original table the Celestial Room.  The base was kept, the table top redone.  Another good reason to make a visit.  It was exquisite.

That same friend has built a table that is a very close replica 

of the desk in the Oval Office in the White House.  

Yep, Mark was drooling over the gorgeous wood grain.

 I think he said the Oval Office original has leather around the outside - he chose to do marble.

 And instead of the Presidential Seal, he had the boat five of his 

ancestors came to America on, carved to put on the front.

(Me and my facts, don't quote me, it could have been five families...)

It was a treat to visit their home.  We really have a lot pretty remarkable people in our lives!
They have two special needs daughters and we attended the roadshow for the
special needs mutual one night.  Very, very touching.

The Inn Keeper told us that the little home we stayed in may be one of the most painted buildings 

in Utah.  I'll have to keep my eye out for it now.  This one was hanging in our room.

We enjoyed every breakfast served to us as well as the quiet grounds.
(Breakfast was served in the building with the lights on.)

Spring is certainly on its way!

This is the famed green gate for which the Inn is named after:

 What's the history behind our name "Green Gate" Village?  In 1877, Brigham Young ordered white paint for the newly finished LDS Temple. When the shipment finally arrived by wagon, everyone was disappointed to learn that the paint was green, not white.  Unable to return it, Bro. Brigham gave the green paint to local St. George residents to gild their gates and fences. Only one of those green gates still remains from a 137 years ago and is currently on display in our formal garden.  Other gates surrounding the Village are patterned after this treasured original.

It's back to real life again!

We felt lucky to have some time on the road together with no distractions. 

We live in such a gorgeous state xo

Spring Is Here...Mostly

We spent Spring Break enjoying things we love to do:  

 Eating at our favorite places! Dinner at the Red Iguana in Salt Lake.

 Molly approves of the delicious fare!

 Playing in Salt Lake - We spent two nights at the Plaza Inn and 

explored the new City Center  a little bit more.

 If Emily is involved...so is shopping!

 Cuddling baby Owen.

 Enjoying Rodizio's together and listening to Emily's Brazilian stories.

 A little time on the green

 A Brazilian concert

 

Lunch at a new local hot spot! 

Herm's Inn.  Put this one on your list, folks!  They

are open for breakfast and lunch.  They did a beautiful

job with the remodel!  What a great vision! 

It made us happy to be there :)

 Easter Dinner

 Celebrating 75 beautiful years with Mark's Mom! We sure love this grand lady!

Getting ready for an open house next weekend for Black Sheep Woolens! More info on my business blog.  Hope you are enjoying whatever Spring Weather you are having!  Cache Valley is beginning to burst with green and sweet flowers everywhere!

A Visit to Delta

Every once in awhile Mark will cover a shift in the ER at the hospital in Delta.  I decided to come along for the ride this time - I had never been to Delta before and I thought it sounded like an adventure and a quiet weekend to get some handwork done and to study for a final I have next week.

He wasn't kidding when he told me there was not much to do there and it was kind of out in the middle of nowhere.  But I have to say...I sure do LOVE small towns!  LOVE them!!

  The sun certainly knows how to put on a show here...my cell phone barely captured the 

magnificent sunset tonight.  The colors were beautiful and it seemed to last forever!

Last night we enjoyed dinner at a nice little Mexican Restaurant - sorry no photos but the people's interaction

was just as great as our meal was.  Everyone knows everyone here and going out is such a social experience. It's so much fun to people watch!

 Tonight Mark said we had to go to Rancher's Motel/Cafe.  It is pretty much the only sit-down 

restaurant in town and it is where everyone in town suggests you go for dinner.

Look at that tiny little moon in the sky.

As we were walking in this van caught our eye.  Hey, isn't this the guy that was in the news not too long ago? The one who had like 500 reptiles in his house in West Valley?

Mark is very intrigued with this sign and decides he would like one for each of
our cars...maybe it would help keep the RIF-raf away :)

So we are seated, make our selections from the menu and enjoy looking around the cafe. Don't you just love them? Our waitress brought us some warm rolls from the oven - the kind of rolls that are so soft and fluffy but also quite weighty in your hand...oh the love of homemade bread - and two containers full of homemade jam.  "Snap" went the camera.  "Uh  - are you taking photos of your food?" She asks. I humbly answer yes and she throws her laugh out into the room!  "Oh, that's awesome!" she says and starts to tell us about a cruise she just recently took with her mother and how she loves taking pictures of her food, too. Then she goes on to tell us about how she has these little toy animals that look just like her cat and dog.  She takes them everywhere with her and  loves to include them in her photos when she travels. We really got a kick out of her stories.  She got in trouble for posing them in a photo when she was in Greece.  The officials told absolutely  no toys in any photo.  Well I almost got thrown in jail one day myself when I snapped a photo in a fancy deli owned by the mafia in Providence RI - (well not exactly but I did run for my life when I got the look and the guy signaled someone in the back!)

Here comes dinner.  Special of the night - Ribs.  We got the last two portions and boy did they ever pile on the meat.  Best $9.99 dinner we have ever seen....and it included a trip to the salad bar!

Well, before we knew it, this cute lady and our new friend, with her awesome tie-dye shirt, on delivered her two little toy animals to our table....and of course I posed them in a photo.

Meet Blitz and Blue

Yes, she just happened to have them in her purse!  We got chatting with her again and asked her about the van out front with the reptile rescue signs on it.  Sure enough, the owner was there (sitting at the bar when we walked in) and they had just recently moved to Delta.  You can read about it here. She told us several crazy stories that he had shared with her earlier and we looked at each other in disbelief.  These small towns are awesome!

 And if they have homemade pie on the premises...you can bet we usually save a little room for it!

Cococut Cream Pie - a slice divided for two! Thanks cute server lady!  You were a delight!

Are you smiling yet? Don't you just love small towns?

Earlier in the day this little place with the flowers painted on the building caught my eye.

Turns out it is a bakery called, "Eat Dessert First"

We had take out from their earlier in the day - two yummy sandwiches

A Rueben and a French Dip.

I love this window and the paint peeling off the bricks.  If you look closely at the chalkboard inside it says:

"Grandma always said, Eat Dessert First!" and there is a cute photo of the owners Grandma!

So right before dinner we snagged up a box of yummy treats and took them over to the hospital so all those cute nurses could eat dessert first.  (We also brought home a yummy piece of carrot cake for us ;)

Delta is a sweet little place....out in the middle of nowhere.