Driving Through Utah: Seeking Insight (South Salt Lake: restaurant, eat, buffet)

[irman]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

But the OP said they'll be staying in SLC "for a day." He didn't imply that they'd only be here overnight.

I stand corrected!

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by irman

I stand corrected!

I should hope so!

[chasfh]

Originally Posted by markg91359

i'm sorry to see that at least one person has answered your question about breaking our traffic safety laws. Please be courteous to us utahns. If you are going to use our freeway for your transportation purposes, please respect us enough to obey the speed laws that are in place. Speed limits exist for safety reasons. The other drivers, construction workers, and those operating emergency vehicles that are required to answer calls along the freeway are not safe when you violate our laws. Utah is more than just your playground to speed through as fast as you want on your way to another destination.

[chasfh]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

You'll be driving through Kanab, which is near the Utah-Arizona border. If you'll be coming from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, you can't very well get to Kanab without going through Page, Arizona. If you do go through Page, be sure not to miss Antelope Canyon (I'd suggest the lower canyon if you don't have time to see both). It's positively amazing. And as you leave Page for Kanab, be sure to stop to see the Glen Canyon Dam and Visitors Center just outside town. From the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, you can go more directly north to Kanab, bypassing Page entirely.

Kanab offers several pretty unique and fun things to do. One of my favorite things to do in the Kanab area is visit Best Friends Animal Santuary. Best Friends is the only national animal welfare organization focused exclusively on ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters, and this sanctuary is the nation's largest. If you're animal lovers, it's a must. Tours of the sanctuary are given throughout the day.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, just outside Kanab is worth a short visit. Also check out the "What to do in Kanab" link on Trip Advisor for other suggestions that may appeal to you. (You didn't mention what your interests are, so I won't go into things that you might find boring.)

You are going to have to be off I-15 for the first part of your drive from the Grand Canyon. The things I would suggest once you leave Kanab will depend entirely on how quickly you want to get to Salt Lake City. There's the fast way and then there's the incredibly beautiful way. Depending on your priorities, you can get back on I-15 at just north of St. George, further north at Cedar City, or even further north between Parowan and Beaver. I've traveled a lot, and to be perfectly honest, one of my favorite places in the world (yeah, the world) is Bryce Canyon. It's not far out of your way and I'd be willing to bet you'd like it at least as much as you do Grand Canyon.

At any rate, regardless of where you get into I-15, you may want to consider stopping at Cove Fort. It's roughly midway between St. George and Salt Lake City, and it's worth a visit. It was an old Fort set up by the Mormon Pioneers as a stagecoach way station and Pony Express station. I've been there a couple of times and have enjoyed it. It's also rated pretty highly on Trip Advisor. From that point on, you'll probably want to just stick to I-15. It will be about a two-and-a-half hour drive from there to Salt Lake.

Coverage on your cell phone will depend upon your provider. Pretty much any of the providers will get you service while you're on I-15. Verizon is good practically everywhere. I don't know for sure how it is now, but a few years ago, T-Mobile didn't cover much off of the I-15 corridor.

You'll find services (gas, restrooms, a bite to eat) at perhaps a half dozen locations between St. George and Salt Lake. Of course, the food will probably just be chain fast-food restaurants, but you shouldn't have to worry about ending up stranded somewhere.

About the speed limit... Much of the southern portion of I-15 already has a speed limit of 80 MPH. Personally, that's fast enough for me. If you're determined to get to Salt Lake City as quickly as possible, you would probably be okay going 5 MPH over the speed limit, but I wouldn't advise you to go any faster than that -- and not just because you'd end up getting a ticket.

Fantastic overview, thanks!

[chasfh]

Originally Posted by irman

Red cars get more speeding tickets (they say) on the average if you:

- Are way faster than the traffic already on the road.
- Sway in and out of lanes because you want to go faster than the prevailing traffic.
- "Tail-gate" for prolonged times.

Honestly, Utah has traffic laws, but like everywhere else, they are more considered "Philosophies", not necessarily "laws".

So keep your distance, one (1) car for every ten (10) miles of speed you are driving.
Drive smooth and steady, not speed up and then slow down to a crawl and then speed up again ...
Follow the traffic pattern, and drive on the right lane as much as you can.
Do not hold up traffic!
Please use your turn signal indicator!!!

I have no idea what you are driving (car), so when you want to pass, please pass and do not create an elephant race by passing at 2 miles an hour faster than the car you are passing!

IF, the weather turns sour (rain) for Pete's sake slow down!!!


Cell Coverage:
I have Verizon and I have cell coverage almost all the way with a few dead spots here and there. I never notice it because I do not use my phone while driving!!!

My GPS does not need cell coverage all the time. It only needs to "see" satellites, not phone towers!
Your trip is kind of straight through without hard to find off- and on-ramps.
"Do NOT get caught, holding your phone while driving" --- "We do not want to read about you in the newspaper"!


Gasoline:
Simple rule, keep your bottom half full. Fuel prices are almost all the same within a few pennies, plenty of places to fuel up. Many places even show the price per gallon! Some places still even supply $$$$ "Mormon GAS" (Non-Alcohol).


Food:
Most fueling stations have some kind of fast food chain available.


This trip will take you most of the day, so you will arrive a bit late and depending on the time of day, might run into going home traffic. Going north on I-15 (in the Salt Lake basin) is better in the in the afternoon then going south with only one place (around Point of the Mountain) a bit slower than normal. "Heavy", dense, traffic between 2:30 and 7:00 PM.
My GPS shows the parts of the road which have dense/slow traffic and often advise alternate roads.


What to do in Salt Lake?
Not much but ask your concierge in your hotel or motel.
You have been on the road almost all day, so rest up for your next leg of the trip!

Welcome to Utah. Come back another time and spend some time on the "must see" places! To see them all, it will take half a lifetime of vacations!

Great response, even the Driving 101 bits, so thanks!

• I used to have a red Eagle Talon once, so I get the red car/ticket thing. had three of them in that car, and haven't had one in the 20 years since.
• I'm not using the phone for calls while I'm driving. I'm using the phone's data connection for things like Spotify.
• What the hell is "Mormon gas"? C'mon, that's not a thing! Is it?
• Will I see much dense traffic on Labor Day? Because that's when I'm driving.

[chasfh]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

But the OP said they'll be staying in SLC "for a day." He didn't imply that they'd only be here overnight.

Right, we're there for a day, so we'll sight-see from 9am to about 4pm and then bug out for Idaho Falls.

Our plan is the Family Search Center, the Utah State Capitol, a stop by Smith's Ballpark for a look-see, and quite possibly the first-ever KFC restaurant. Not time for much more, if even this.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Not KFC! You can get that everywhere, greasy chicken. Go to the local burger place, Crown Burger. But not on Sunday as they close. Several branches around the valley. Their specialty is a burger topped with pastrami. It tastes WAY better than it sounds! Only in Utah.

[irman]

Originally Posted by chasfh

What the hell is "Mormon gas"? C'mon, that's not a thing! Is it?

Ghe ghe ghe ghe

I belong to a groupe of Recreational pilots and our planes require the "old Style" Super gasoline.

The "other" gasoline is the one that is alcohol laden. The "E" type ones.

Since the old style gasoline thus has no alcohol in it, "we" call it Mormon Gas. (Non-Alcohol...)




Funny side story. We were in Price Utah and looked for a gas station where we could buy the "Mormon Gas".
So some person told us where we could get it. Once we arrived at the gas station, we did not know which pump would have that gasoline, so we asked the Woman inside: "Which Pump is the Mormon Gas"?

She calmly said without blinking, "The one with the blue label" ...

[chasfh]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

Not KFC! You can get that everywhere, greasy chicken. Go to the local burger place, Crown Burger. But not on Sunday as they close. Several branches around the valley. Their specialty is a burger topped with pastrami. It tastes WAY better than it sounds! Only in Utah.

No no, we're not going for the chicken. It's the first ever KFC franchise in the country, in South Salt Lake. Just to see it. Just a thought, we may or may not even make it there depending on time.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by chasfh

Right, we're there for a day, so we'll sight-see from 9am to about 4pm and then bug out for Idaho Falls.

Our plan is the Family Search Center, the Utah State Capitol, a stop by Smith's Ballpark for a look-see, and quite possibly the first-ever KFC restaurant. Not time for much more, if even this.

Try to fit in a visit to the LDS Conference Center. It's a pretty memorable sight -- a 21,000 seat auditorium with a 7,000 pipe organ and a 4-acre roof wildflower meadow on the roof. The tour of the entire building takes about 50 minutes (and no, you can't just wander through the building yourself) but if you tell them at the outset that you only have time to see the auditorium and the roof, you'll have spent about 25 minutes on something more memorable than the first-ever KFC (the original building has been razed and today it looks just like any other KFC).

On your way out of Salt Lake, going north of I-15, take a fourteen-mile detour and stop by Antelope Island State Park. It's a quick, fun place to visit. There are over 600 bison on the island, plus hundred of species of birds, deer, antelope, bobcats and coyotes. You drive out over a seven mile causeway to get to the island and there's a nice visitors' center there just as you arrive on the island.