Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Trying to Drink in Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City is known for it's Mormon and Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints (LDS) influence, so when I went there I had to learn a bit about the church and break the social norms and have a drink.

My first stop for the was afternoon was the The Museum of Church History and Art.  I have to admit that being raised Catholic much of what I saw was similar to what I might have seen growing up, but with the subtle differences that separate the religions. 

The museum is quite large, spacious and the staff was friendly.  The museum was self guided, but you could also talk to any of the staff there to get more information. The information wasn't too heavy, a good level for a casual visitor.  You could go and spend a half hour there or two hours if you're more dedicated.  There are also several different displays to learn more about the history and the current state of the church.  It was a good museum to stop at if you're in Salt Lake City and want to learn some local history.

After the museum my group immersed ourselves in the Salt Lake City anti drinking culture at an Olive Garden.  My group was a mix of men and woman and only 4 of us ordered drinks.  Two guys ordered drinks and were no asked for ID.  The a woman ordered got "carded." They would not serve her a drink because she had an Australian Drivers License, but no Passport.  I then ordered my drink and was "carded" and served with no issue.

If we were anywhere else I would chalk it up to a female waitress giving preference to guys.  However, we were in Salt Lake City, a city known for strict and sometimes strange drinking laws.  Of course it may have been an anomaly, but it did feel a little suspicious to our whole group.