More Park City—downtown

Day 27: Juneteenth 2021

Today: more Park City, UT

Yesterday we found out that we won’t be getting to Alaska this summer. And we won’t be able to travel in Canada. Since the temperatures out here are continuing to be rather, er, WARM, we will be staying close to the camper today and planning on places we’d like to see in the Pacific NW and Northern California. This state park campground is full for the weekend and as I look out my window, I see Starvation Reservoir and three huskies, one small dog and one hound playing. The small dog is holding her own! A boat is parked next to us—I wonder if someone is sleeping on the boat? It’s been there both nights we’ve been here.

After visiting the Olympic Ski Center, we drove five miles to downtown, passing what are now condos/apartments, but what must’ve been athlete housing from the 2002 Olympics. Situated on a hillside, the views are stunning. No dorm housing, these.

The downtown area is where the Sundance Film Festival occurs each winter; skiing is king here now. Over 4M visitors annually to a town of about 8,000. We are actually visiting in the “off season”. This town got its start in the 1840s with the discovery of silver. The little museum of Park City had a molded translucent map of the Wasatch Mountains in the area with neon tubes illuminating the various mining company mines. Incredible to see the extent, both in depth and expanse horizontally, of the mines—they formed a large underground tract in the mountains. William Randolph Hearst’s family money was made by father George in silver mining in Park City. The Transcontinental Railroad came within 20 miles of Park City, so prospectors and laborers were able to “quickly” come to Park City to try to get rich. Silver mining continued until the 1950s when a drop in the price of silver put a halt to profitably mining for it here. 

Driving from the Ski Center to downtown, we were impressed with the number of bicycles—EVERYWHERE. One scene sticks in my mind: two young women, cycling on a bike path through a meadow, with the mountains close by for a background. It was a PC Chamber of Commerce moment, no picture taken, but embedded in my head! There was a rather large parking lot, filled with SUVs to capacity, for heading out on the bike trails. The youngest rider we estimated to be between 2-3; she must’ve had some battery-powered little (TINY) bicycle with wide flat tires for balance, and her mom could jog while she just rode along, no need to pedal!

Downtown is beautiful, mostly rebuilt after the fire of 1898 with 65 Main Street Victorian buildings listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Lots of places to spend LOTS of money. LOTS. I can’t get that window display of a half dozen silver and turquoise squash blossom necklaces….I can’t get it out of my head. I wish I’d taken a picture (let’s face it, I take pictures of everything else!)….

Welcome to Park City

Main Street is filled with both old and new buildings. One can imagine it filled with snow and bundled tourists in the winter.

Many of the restaurants and cafes had seasonal platforms with outdoor seating, complete with roll-down sun shades and hanging floral planters. I tend to like old and cute commercial districts and this had both going for it.

He seems to say: come and sit with me!

The Park City Museum was recommended to us. It was a nicely done small museum with interesting displays chronicling the history of PC.

The museum itself was made on the site of the former fire station and jail. Here are the original fire hoses, hanging from the rafters. (The only times I wish I was toting my “real camera” is when there is a glare source that’s unavoidable. Like here. But it’s still kind of cool.)

Below the fire hoses is the old fire engine. The door to the fire station is now a window onto Main Street.

Woe to you if you suffer claustrophobia and have been jailed for a heinous crime. The cells were very small, in the cellar of the fire station. I imagine they are very cold in winter. One was open to step inside. Very dismal. 

I found this display to be particularly interesting. Each day, the miners would check in and take their numbered tag with them into the mine. At the end of the shift, the tag board would be checked and if there was a missing tag, then an all-out search was conducted to find the missing miner. 

A replica of the old General Store on Main Street. An antique tins collector would have been salivating at this display!

Around the corner from the PC Museum was Dolly’s—a locally owned bookstore. I found THE BABYSITTER—it called my name—a memoir about a serial murderer, who is the babysitter of a pair of sisters! YIPES. I can’t wait to finish THE DOCTORS BLACKWELL and start this one!

It’s Saturday here and the neighbors are playing corn hole with the attendant rhythm of the bags on the board. The RoadHouse is heating up with the sun just having burned through the clouds. The huskies are still hanging out. Now is the time to look at the “after Seattle” part of the trip!

STAY TUNED….tomorrow we head to Idaho.