The Absolutely Horrible No Good Night Followed By Delightful Breakfast

     I know you can't judge a whole city by one night's stay. I know that. But some nights just stand out so intensely that you just can't help it. 

     We left South Dakota, made a pit stop in Wyoming, and were headed towards Zion National Park. It takes over 14 hours to get there, so we decided to stop in Salt Lake City for the night at a hotel to break up the trip. Since we stopped at the Devil's Tower, we were still on the road for over 11 hours, which Kevin decided to drive the entire time. He complains I stop too much. I's true. 

     We arrived to the city, and it's gorgeous. We had spent hours driving through flat lands, so seeing the silhouettes of hills in the dark (it was well past midnight), then the city lights of downtown was really exciting. But then, as the GPS led us closer to our hotel, as the grogginess began to take hold, the excitement faded into anxiousness and disappointment. It was a seedy neighborhood full of crazy drivers trying to get to the closest fast food joint for post-bar munchies. Homeless camps everywhere.

     We finally get to the hotel, the Econolodge Downtown, and there's a man who is obviously shouting at the concierge. Kevin tries to go check in, exhausted, but is waiting for over 15 minutes. Eventually, he stepped out of the small lobby and just stood outside. The angry man stormed out, started shouting at a couple of rough looking men standing around outside. Then, these three ragged, grown men, all pile into the front of a small, packed pick up truck. One of them sat on another's lap in the passenger seat. 

    After a few more minutes, Kevin walked back to the car and asks me to come in with my wallet. I walked in to the run down lobby and the concierge informs me that every single customer must have a current ID, which they scan and keep on file. She goes into detail about the rules of the hotel, how we are not allowed to have any guests without informing the front desk, and also having their ID scanned. She confirms with us that our daughter is the only other person who will be in the room, and no one else is coming. If we had anyone come to our room, we would be heavily fined. Red flags everyyywhere. But Kevin already put a large deposit down with his card on file when he booked the room, and we couldn't cancel. I gently asked Kevin if he checked the reviews for this place. He had not. 

     We got to the room. Good lord. Kevin passed out minutes after getting Lily in bed. She was long gone, having been slumped over in the car, snoring. I was way too nervous to sleep. I started looking around, trying to keep an eye out to make sure there weren't bed bugs or cockroaches. I didn't find any, thankfully, despite there being a two inch gap under the front door. There were holes punched into the bathroom door and wall, the shampoo bottles were used, and a lamp had been ripped out of the wall. The hotel didn't even try to fix it. Along with the lamp, the smoke detector had also been pulled out of the ceiling, leaving it's wires hanging freely. 

     I lied down next to Lily, also exhausted, and after an hour or so, managed to get some sleep. but around 4:45 AM, there was a pounding at the door. I jumped up, super alarmed, and couldn't find my glasses.  I did that counter productive whisper shout to Kevin. You know, the one where you basically whisper as loud as possible. He didn't budge, so I tip toed up to the peep hole and saw the fuzzy shape of a woman wearing black. The concierge was a woman wearing black, so I open up the door just a crack, ready to explain to her that we had no guests in our room. 

     She did not work at the hotel. Standing at the door was a young woman in her very early 20s, perfect hair, fresh makeup, and dressed like she's just about to go out. At 4:30 in the morning. 

    We both looked at each other equally confused. She looked down at her phone, then back at me, and asked " Uhh is Jonathan here?". Not as far as I was aware. She got back into the passenger seat of this big, black SUV, and left me with so many questions. 

    The next morning, we started the day touching as little of the hotel room as possible, while I told Kevin what happened. We needed something good to happen today, and my mom instincts kicked in, so I was super determined to cheer everyone up. I looked up a popular breakfast spot, because I actually read reviews (ahem, Kevin), and we headed over to the Park Cafe. It's right across the street from a huge, lovely park, and the weather was perfect for sitting outside. 

     Kevin and I have both worked at restaurants and were so impressed by this place. It looks like a converted house and is right at the edge of a super charming little neighborhood. It was nice enough to sit outside and we got seated quickly. The servers all worked together in perfect unison and anticipated our every need. Even Lily's, and it's not often you find a restaurant that is kind to children. For example, after they took our order, we collected our menus and went to hand them to the server, but she insisted we keep one so Lily could have a more even coloring surface for her kids menu. 

     

The B's & G's

     I googled the best dishes already, but no one had to tell me the biscuits and gravy were amazing for me to order them. I've yet to have them anywhere and not like them. But man, look at that picture. That plate, loaded with deliciousness, for under $10. I'm drooling just thinking about it. And our coffee and water cups were never empty. I might be in love with this place. 

     I can't think about Salt Lake without initially cringing. I've got some strong feelings about that city even though I was only there for one night. The Park Cafe might draw me back for what will hopefully be a better experience, but I need some more time first.