Carmen Gage Ackert

Salt Lake City snapshot: Utah's State Capitol

Sunday late afternoons in Salt Lake provide the rare opportunity of experiencing the city in its most serene state. It’s not unusual to find yourself practically alone in public places like the Utah State Capitol. The Capitol building...

Urban life meets country living at Wheeler Historic Farm

Imagine driving south on 900 E. about thirty minutes from the heart of Salt Lake City, Utah to 6351 S. and suddenly seeing a 76-acre farm appear virtually out of nowhere. Though you hardly expect to find this spot...

Salt Lake Area snapshot: Sundial Peak

Not too far up Big Cottonwood Canyon, you’ll find the Mill B North Fork Trailhead winding straight uphill from the main road into the Mount Olympus Wilderness. As you climb the switchbacks up hundreds of feet, you&rsquo...

9th and 9th: Salt Lake City's East Central neighborhood

As I was being toured around Salt Lake City by a relative of mine a few months after moving to the area, the quaint few blocks of the Craftsman-style homes and bohemian-like neighborhood of Salt Lake’s...

Explore the underwater world of the Living Planet Aquarium

Though thousands of years ago the Great Salt Lake was part of what was described as a vast inland sea, it did not host the vibrant underwater life found in the world’s tropical oceans. While Utahns are hundreds...

Salt Lake City Weekend Dining

If one were to drive around on Friday evenings in the Salt Lake City Area in search of a dining experience, you'd hardly suspect that the current economy is keeping Utahans huddled in their homes at night protecting their...

Family fun at the Fairmont Fest in Sugar House, Saturday May 2

For many of us, the neighborhood parks of our youth were magical places. Remember the anticipation you felt as you bounded from your parent’s car onto the cool, green expanse of grass where you could run, roll...

Thanksgiving Point's Tulip Festival heralds spring

The vibrancy of spring in the desert of Utah Valley is an unexpected surprise for this California native; the weather is fair and the air is fragrant, filled with birdsong. Everything’s coming up tulips (and daffodils) now, especially...

Utahns: Good neighbors, bad drivers

At the risk of angering any Utahn readership I might have with this post, I feel obliged to inform outsiders entering this state of the highlights and challenges they might encounter while here (hence, my “naked observations” topic...

A night at the Utah Symphony

Nothing restores the soul like an evening at the symphony; marveling at the visionary genius of composers both past and present embodied by a talented group of musicians who bring their creations to life.Last night was the opening...

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