These people know how — and where — to live.
Driving into northern Utah, you notice something different almost immediately. The rural, hilly landscape isn’t much different from Idaho’s yet. But the humble farmhouses are suddenly newly built mansions. This state’s industriousness is apparent from the start.
Utah is called the Beehive State because early Mormon pioneers, led by Brigham Young, who were fleeing persecution in the Midwest used the beehive as a symbol of relentless hard work, community cooperation, and unity toward a common divine purpose. In the harshest desert environment, they would band together to build something beautiful.
Because of its collectivist connotations, I’m not too big on the beehive metaphor. (Woodrow Wilson once expressed his desire to transform American society into a “perfected, co-ordinated beehive.”) Despite being some of the most communal people in the nation, however, Mormons are also deeply capitalistic. They place a heavy emphasis on individual agency and self-reliance, so as to free themselves to serve others. Work is a spiritual discipline. Private property is a sacred responsibility to steward God’s creation.
So everywhere you look, Utahns are enterprising. One of them filled a market niche 16 years ago. Like any mother of five, Nicole Tanner needed the occasional caffeine fix. But, as part of their strict health code, Mormons are instructed not to consume “hot drinks,” such as coffee and tea. (Yes, even when they’re iced.) Thus, she started a chain of drive-through “dirty soda” shops, selling caffeinated concoctions based on modified soft drinks to the Mormon masses. Today, even non-Mormons like me love to take a swig at Swig.
Get a sense of what kind of beverages I’m talking about. The Texas Tab is the most popular choice, a down-to-earth coffee substitute to gett’r done. The Endless Summer has a bit more pep in its step. I tried them both, of course.
Drive through Utah’s urban corridor to get down south. The highway is lined with sprawling oil refineries, liberating the state from California’s gas price tyranny. Salt Lake City is worth a stop to visit the Mormon capital of the world, featuring the church’s largest temple. It’s undergoing major renovations, and they won’t let you inside if you’re not a member, anyway. Still, the exterior alone is mesmerizing.
The temple is just one piece of an enormous complex. There’s the gorgeous Joseph Smith Memorial Building, dedicated to the man who founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The domed Tabernacle was the largest assembly hall in the country when it was completed in 1867. It has been replaced operationally by the LDS Conference Center, which is large enough to accommodate 21,000 members plus a Boeing 747.
As we learned in Logan, the people of Utah built cities around their temples. Street numbers tell you exactly how far away you are from the center of spiritual life. Other parts of town are also centered on the state’s unofficial religion. Nearly every public high school in Utah has an off-site seminary across the street, so students can study Mormon teachings in their “released time.”
You may be tempted to visit the Great Salt Lake itself. Don’t — it’s not great at all. The lake is 20 minutes out from the city, it’s dominated by insects, and it smells like a dead ocean. See how happy I am?
Driving further south, you notice that almost every town in Utah is marked by a giant letter or two on the side of an adjacent mountain. There are more than 90 of these whitewashed or concrete geoglyphs across the state, representing local universities, high schools, or towns. “FG,” for example, is for the town of Fountain Green.
Take a moment to visit the temple in Manti — completed in 1888 as the fifth temple built by the LDS Church — which overlooks the town from a hill.
The towns get smaller as you go along, and more patriotic. A couple that we drove through had an American flag posted on every telephone pole. Their temples are more humble, but still beautiful.
Eventually, you leave civilization behind for the Red Rocks. Our stop for the night was Torrey, the entry point to Capitol Reef National Park. Here is the sort of thing you see from the road.
The Skyview Hotel in Torrey is a special place with special lodgings. I’ve heard about “living in a bubble,” but we took that to a whole other level.
All I have left for you is a Utah sunset. These Mormons sure do know how — and where — to live.
This is an installment in a cross-country road-trip adventure.