Salt Lake City, Utah

As we continued our trek westward, we stopped in Salt Lake City, Utah, towards the end of August 2011. Unfortunately we only stayed a couple of days, and had to squeeze in a visit to the Capitol, the Copper Mine, and Mormon Square all in the same day. First stop in the Beehive State was the State Capitol. (Most of the nicknames associated with Utah are related to the Mormons that first settled in this territory. Deseret, in The Book of Mormon is actually a honeybee. Early Mormon settlers have been described as having carried "swarms of bees" with them. This nickname commemorates the industry of the people of Utah.) Utah's Capitol building, constructed along the same lines as our nation's Capitol, has an interior dome reaching 165 feet above the rotunda floor, with a luxurious chandelier hanging down off of a 95-foot chain. The beautiful pathway circling the Capitol Hill Complex is lined with 100's of Yoshino cherry trees and connect major monuments around the complex. The inside of the capitol is beautifully adorned with murals, Corinthian columns, stain glass, and marble.