My Fair Lady - Boise Part 2 + Salt Lake Travel Day
On Thursday morning I woke up early because my body is still semi-east coast time.
Knowing this would happen, I'd planned a trip to Goldy's Breakfast Bistro.
This wasn't a restaurant on my Foodie Finds list because their menu is pretty basic, but someone else in the group (I'm now up to an even 30 members) recommended it, and I thought, why not take someone else's suggestion for a change.
I was fortunate to get there before it got slam-packed, and was able to sit in an upper floor overlooking the dining room.
It was a pretty cool view!
You could clearly see the griddle and register from here too. Employees did not look like they were pretending to smile; they legit seemed to be enjoying their day every time I looked :) And the food was coming out quickly, efficiently, and beautifully plated.
I hadn't planned to get a drink, but they had their own specialty mimosa made with orange, guava, mango, and cranberry juices, so I got it. And it was GIGANTIC. Whoops! Happy mistake, heehee.
I glugged that and enjoyed people-watching until my food came, Andalusian eggs; Two "poached" eggs over house-made marinara, chopped ham and chorizo, peppers, and asparagus. Fresh and relatively healthy, and the eggs (although not truly poached as advertised) were perfectly runny, adding richness to the stew of veggies. In fact it was a lot like a rough-chopped shakshuka.
My meal came with "choice of bread".
I asked the server: "Does that include the muffins and biscuits?"
"Yes!" he replied.
"Are your muffins made in-house?" I inquired.
"Yes, all of them!" he replied proudly.
Well!
In that case my "choice of bread" became a house-made bread pudding muffin, which I can't WAIT to eat later!
Because why get plain toast when you could have THIS
Everything was delicious, I'm glad someone recommended this great breakfast spot!
In fact the person who had recommended Goldy's had also insisted, INSISTED, that I pick up their house-made seasoning blend. I normally travel with an assortment of spices and seasonings on tour anyway, and right now I only have salt and pepper. Into my take-home bag went my leftovers, the muffin, and Goldy's Seasoning.
Afterward I walked off my meal (well, the giant mimosa really!) by strolling to the Idaho State Capitol.
We've had so little time to explore here because of rehearsals, I wanted to see at least one iconic spot.
It was a cold crisp day, and a clear blue sky, with the capitol building looking nice and imposing.
A half hour walk back to the hotel, where I promptly got back into pajamas and spent the rest of my day goofing off online and packing for the bus ride to Salt Lake.
Our evening show went well. My little solo in "I'm An Ordinary Man" was better than it has been all week, and I'm convinced it's because I kept my hand on the cup mute and pulled it partway out before playing the solo. Hopefully the new cup mute (arriving in a few days in Salt Lake) will be a good solution for this issue. And if not maybe I could try just not sucking :p
After the show was our first load out. Joel and I are new so we had to figure out where our stuff would fit in the band road case. My instrument and case are fairly large, so there was kind of no other place for me to put it than this shelf, and stuff my mute bag on top. The trumpet and French horn then put their shared mute bag at the base of the trombone. They both say they'll carry their instruments with them often, so I'm hoping to be able to throw a few small-yet-heavy items into the band box as well, like my black boots and my umbrella. We will see what everyone's space needs are.
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After a lousy sleep due to anxiousness about the travel day and my upcoming Disney overnight rehearsal, had a good breakfast and some computer time before the bus call at 8:30am. And off we went.
The scenery started out with rolling, hilly mountains brushed with a fuzz of dead brown grasses and tough high-mountain shrubs. I munched on my bread pudding muffin and contemplated the strange world we live in, where a trombonist from Florida can be on a charter bus in the vast punishing wilds of Idaho, eating a carefully crafted pastry that would make kings and queens and Depression-era ancestors green with envy.
At one point, staring out the window and thinking of nothing special, I saw a herd of sheep (pretty sure they were sheep and not goats) running. I wasn't fast enough to catch their short sprint, but if you look carefully you can see one in the middle doing an energetic jump-and-kick as the herd moves down the mountain.
As we crossed into Utah the Rockies appeared, imposing and jagged and snow-capped.
I felt intimidated by them even this far away. A similar feeling to looking at the vast, dark, monstrously beautiful ocean, and knowing that here is a place that could snuff out your life as though you never existed in the first place. Made me feel as tiny and insignificant as an ant. And yet, they are wondrous and beautiful and inviting all the same.
Anyway, fiveish hours later we were in Salt Lake and pulling up to the hotel.
She's a ritzy one, folks! Very modern, very clean.
Per my normal tour routine, I had a look at the hotel fridge to make sure it was working, then hoofed it to the nearest grocery which this week is a fabulous chain called Harmon's. And in fact, I instantly remembered visiting this exact grocery while traveling with the circus years ago. I hope to take a walk down to our train yard and feel the nostalgia.
But before that, groceries. I got my normal things, and ogled at the fancy goodies that I couldn't afford.
My, look at that marbling...and that price tag!
A Buddha's hand citrus, which has not been purchased because it is rudely flipping off anyone who comes near!
I can't resist buying a few local and/or unique items, as usual.
This week I chose maple brown butter pretzels (they also had garlic parm, dill pickle, and Mexican street corn flavors);
V Chocolates truffles which are made right here in Salt Lake City;
Caffe Ibis cinnamon hazelnut coffee, which is also Utah-local;
and Harmon Grocery's own challah rolls, which they make in-house.
Back at the hotel I put everything away and started unpacking, and noticed that it was still very cold in my room and the thermostat would not get above 65 no matter what I did. Called maintenance and they were there super fast, and within minutes it was nice and toasty, and soon after that I was all unpacked and ready for a week-plus here in SLC.
It's been a while since I've seen this setup! Cooking at the desk this week!
I was tempted to crash for the night, but it was still early and I had promised myself gelato!
I walked a few blocks to Capo Gelateria Italiana, which was actually recommended to us by a company manager over on Hadestown. The gelato shop is attached to an authentic pizzeria, and both were HOPPING at 8pm on a Friday night. In fact it was standing room only inside, so I ate my treat outside even though it was cold. The last thing I need is to catch covid or the flu from some rando in a gelato shop.
Capo makes their gelato in-house the traditional way, and it was incredible.
I got the stracciatella, which the server told me is made with caramelized vanilla and dark chocolate shavings; and the pistachio, which had the most vibrant pistachio flavor I've ever had from anything other than an actual pistachio. The nut pieces inside were somehow still crunchy too! The pistachio was good, but the stracciatella was sublime. I don't know what "caramelized" means in this context--like what they did to get that flavor--but it was far more complex and smoky and rich than your usual vanilla. Very, very glad I got to enjoy that.
In fact, I went to bed feeling very spoiled indeed.
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Tomorrow (Saturday) we somehow have a day off(!) followed by a two-show Sunday, followed by ANOTHER day off on Monday!
I'm extremely excited. I've been here before with the circus, but our show schedule was always tight and there wasn't a lot of time to explore. Plus, we are here in SLC for more than a week!
Because of the wonky scheduling, and because I plan to do a lot while we're in this city, I've decided to post today instead of on Monday.
Tomorrow I want to eat at a local vegan restaurant, then visit the natural history museum, and that will certainly involve a lot of pictures!
Knowing this would happen, I'd planned a trip to Goldy's Breakfast Bistro.
This wasn't a restaurant on my Foodie Finds list because their menu is pretty basic, but someone else in the group (I'm now up to an even 30 members) recommended it, and I thought, why not take someone else's suggestion for a change.
I was fortunate to get there before it got slam-packed, and was able to sit in an upper floor overlooking the dining room.
It was a pretty cool view!
You could clearly see the griddle and register from here too. Employees did not look like they were pretending to smile; they legit seemed to be enjoying their day every time I looked :) And the food was coming out quickly, efficiently, and beautifully plated.
I hadn't planned to get a drink, but they had their own specialty mimosa made with orange, guava, mango, and cranberry juices, so I got it. And it was GIGANTIC. Whoops! Happy mistake, heehee.
I glugged that and enjoyed people-watching until my food came, Andalusian eggs; Two "poached" eggs over house-made marinara, chopped ham and chorizo, peppers, and asparagus. Fresh and relatively healthy, and the eggs (although not truly poached as advertised) were perfectly runny, adding richness to the stew of veggies. In fact it was a lot like a rough-chopped shakshuka.
My meal came with "choice of bread".
I asked the server: "Does that include the muffins and biscuits?"
"Yes!" he replied.
"Are your muffins made in-house?" I inquired.
"Yes, all of them!" he replied proudly.
Well!
In that case my "choice of bread" became a house-made bread pudding muffin, which I can't WAIT to eat later!
Because why get plain toast when you could have THIS
Everything was delicious, I'm glad someone recommended this great breakfast spot!
In fact the person who had recommended Goldy's had also insisted, INSISTED, that I pick up their house-made seasoning blend. I normally travel with an assortment of spices and seasonings on tour anyway, and right now I only have salt and pepper. Into my take-home bag went my leftovers, the muffin, and Goldy's Seasoning.
Afterward I walked off my meal (well, the giant mimosa really!) by strolling to the Idaho State Capitol.
We've had so little time to explore here because of rehearsals, I wanted to see at least one iconic spot.
It was a cold crisp day, and a clear blue sky, with the capitol building looking nice and imposing.
A half hour walk back to the hotel, where I promptly got back into pajamas and spent the rest of my day goofing off online and packing for the bus ride to Salt Lake.
Our evening show went well. My little solo in "I'm An Ordinary Man" was better than it has been all week, and I'm convinced it's because I kept my hand on the cup mute and pulled it partway out before playing the solo. Hopefully the new cup mute (arriving in a few days in Salt Lake) will be a good solution for this issue. And if not maybe I could try just not sucking :p
After the show was our first load out. Joel and I are new so we had to figure out where our stuff would fit in the band road case. My instrument and case are fairly large, so there was kind of no other place for me to put it than this shelf, and stuff my mute bag on top. The trumpet and French horn then put their shared mute bag at the base of the trombone. They both say they'll carry their instruments with them often, so I'm hoping to be able to throw a few small-yet-heavy items into the band box as well, like my black boots and my umbrella. We will see what everyone's space needs are.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
After a lousy sleep due to anxiousness about the travel day and my upcoming Disney overnight rehearsal, had a good breakfast and some computer time before the bus call at 8:30am. And off we went.
The scenery started out with rolling, hilly mountains brushed with a fuzz of dead brown grasses and tough high-mountain shrubs. I munched on my bread pudding muffin and contemplated the strange world we live in, where a trombonist from Florida can be on a charter bus in the vast punishing wilds of Idaho, eating a carefully crafted pastry that would make kings and queens and Depression-era ancestors green with envy.
At one point, staring out the window and thinking of nothing special, I saw a herd of sheep (pretty sure they were sheep and not goats) running. I wasn't fast enough to catch their short sprint, but if you look carefully you can see one in the middle doing an energetic jump-and-kick as the herd moves down the mountain.
Click to viewAs we crossed into Utah the Rockies appeared, imposing and jagged and snow-capped.
I felt intimidated by them even this far away. A similar feeling to looking at the vast, dark, monstrously beautiful ocean, and knowing that here is a place that could snuff out your life as though you never existed in the first place. Made me feel as tiny and insignificant as an ant. And yet, they are wondrous and beautiful and inviting all the same.
Anyway, fiveish hours later we were in Salt Lake and pulling up to the hotel.
She's a ritzy one, folks! Very modern, very clean.
Per my normal tour routine, I had a look at the hotel fridge to make sure it was working, then hoofed it to the nearest grocery which this week is a fabulous chain called Harmon's. And in fact, I instantly remembered visiting this exact grocery while traveling with the circus years ago. I hope to take a walk down to our train yard and feel the nostalgia.
But before that, groceries. I got my normal things, and ogled at the fancy goodies that I couldn't afford.
My, look at that marbling...and that price tag!
A Buddha's hand citrus, which has not been purchased because it is rudely flipping off anyone who comes near!
I can't resist buying a few local and/or unique items, as usual.
This week I chose maple brown butter pretzels (they also had garlic parm, dill pickle, and Mexican street corn flavors);
V Chocolates truffles which are made right here in Salt Lake City;
Caffe Ibis cinnamon hazelnut coffee, which is also Utah-local;
and Harmon Grocery's own challah rolls, which they make in-house.
Back at the hotel I put everything away and started unpacking, and noticed that it was still very cold in my room and the thermostat would not get above 65 no matter what I did. Called maintenance and they were there super fast, and within minutes it was nice and toasty, and soon after that I was all unpacked and ready for a week-plus here in SLC.
It's been a while since I've seen this setup! Cooking at the desk this week!
I was tempted to crash for the night, but it was still early and I had promised myself gelato!
I walked a few blocks to Capo Gelateria Italiana, which was actually recommended to us by a company manager over on Hadestown. The gelato shop is attached to an authentic pizzeria, and both were HOPPING at 8pm on a Friday night. In fact it was standing room only inside, so I ate my treat outside even though it was cold. The last thing I need is to catch covid or the flu from some rando in a gelato shop.
Capo makes their gelato in-house the traditional way, and it was incredible.
I got the stracciatella, which the server told me is made with caramelized vanilla and dark chocolate shavings; and the pistachio, which had the most vibrant pistachio flavor I've ever had from anything other than an actual pistachio. The nut pieces inside were somehow still crunchy too! The pistachio was good, but the stracciatella was sublime. I don't know what "caramelized" means in this context--like what they did to get that flavor--but it was far more complex and smoky and rich than your usual vanilla. Very, very glad I got to enjoy that.
In fact, I went to bed feeling very spoiled indeed.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow (Saturday) we somehow have a day off(!) followed by a two-show Sunday, followed by ANOTHER day off on Monday!
I'm extremely excited. I've been here before with the circus, but our show schedule was always tight and there wasn't a lot of time to explore. Plus, we are here in SLC for more than a week!
Because of the wonky scheduling, and because I plan to do a lot while we're in this city, I've decided to post today instead of on Monday.
Tomorrow I want to eat at a local vegan restaurant, then visit the natural history museum, and that will certainly involve a lot of pictures!