A little city tour – and some musical enjoyment

This might be a weird combo post. I have two things I'd like to share with you, dearest Internet, and neither of them are ridiculously exciting or mind-boggling. I know, right? Well, one of them might be a little mind-boggling, but I'll leave that up to your discretion.

First things first…

I've mapped out a running route that takes me through several historic sites of Downtown SLC. Wait!! I realize saying something like "historic sites" just dropped my "exciting post scale" down to level snooze. Well for your in-for-ma-tion I LIKE historic sights but secondly, I think it's pretty damn cool I get to run by all of these things for my daily exercise. Yeah! That's right! Not only do I get exercise on my running route but I get to reminisce about the great city in which I live and gain a better appreciation for its history. Go ahead – top that! I dare you!

Now that I've gotten my threatenings and fist shakings out of the way – I'd like to tell you of the sites I pass during my 5 mile run (that's the mind boggling part). Alright alright, I don't run the 5 mile route every single time. There's a smaller 3.5 mile route I will take on those "man… I really would rather lay here for a time and watch some TV… but I sure did eat a good deal of CRAP at work today so I SHOULD go do something with my jiggly self" days. Yes, that exact thought really does go through my head… jiggly self and all. Not the point – the POINT is – I learn and run at the same time… sometimes. And here we go…

I pass the following historic sites and places, in this order, on my route:

• The State Capitol Building (on Capitol Hill, I know right?)


• City Creek (I run "that loop" ya know… the Bonneville Street/City Creek thing…)


• Picturesque Aves Housing


• The Govna's Mansion (South Temple between F'n H street (snicker… F'n))


• The Cathedral of the Madeleine (South Temple between C and D street (I think))


• The Church Office Building (State and North Temple)


• The Salt Lake Temple (Middle of the City – duh)


• The Conference Center (North Temple and Main)


• My House (sure it's historic! West of the Capitol on Center Street)

Eh? Pretty awesome, yes? Doesn't get much more historical than that. Well here it is all mapped out for you viewing pleasure:

http://www.geodistance.com/?id=33088

And now for the smooth transition…

This brings me to my activity last night at one of the above historical sites; The Cathedral of the Madeleine. I've actually had the pleasure of attending several services at the Madeleine, a cathedral tour, Ash Wednesday, and as of last night, hearing the Utah Chamber Artists perform in honor of the Cathedral's 100th Anniversary this year. It was our little FHE activity for my Ward. Yes, like running, attending some Ward functions is also a mental debate; "should I? I should.. but do I wanna? Meh… I COULD go… hmmm." Most especially if you're a new little Wardy and don't know anyone yet. And YES – to KNOW people you have to GO to stuff. Eye roll. I am aware. THAT'S why I did go to this little bit of "stuff" – that and I'm a music appreciator. One who appreciates music.

The performance last night was stunning. Choristers of the Utah Chamber Artists were joined by a full orchestra as well as some incredible solo artists (piano, guitar, and trombone). The music was a mixture of gospel, folk, and one of my favorite performances, some sassy Spanish influenced guitar solos. I was surprised at how much I liked the trombone performances as well – particularly in its more "gospel" tones versus the usual "jazzy" genre it's more classically associated with. Love the jazzy trombone (and lets nerd out for a moment and remember that one Commander Riker of Star Trek the Next Generation played the trombone - he made trombones sexy), but it was interesting to see it played in a genre that I wouldn't regularly associate it with. Bra-vo!

This performance was part of the Madeleine Festival of the Arts and Humanities all leading up to the celebration on August 15, 2009 which is the Cathedral's "official" 100th year mark. I have included the link to the Madeleines website below and of course, you can check out all the centennial celebration events on that page… or if you've never been inside the Madeleine (seriously, why not?) you can partake of their 350 degree panorama tour they also have on that website.

https://saltlakecathedral.org/

So go ahead – take a tour of the city via my amazing jogging route if you feel so inclined and then take the time to stop and check out some of these "historic sites" at your leisure. Running by them isn't quite the same thing as truly experiencing them.

Now how's that for connecting two random posts?

-------------------------------------------------------- Update May 6th

SOMEONE asked me who Commander Riker was. Oh come on now! I've included him below (and if someone can name the ST:TNG character in the pic with him - maybe I'll send you a Trekkie surprise of some sort! Go ahead! Try it!)