Park City, Utah-Eden With an Attitude

by Camille Bounds Travel Editor

Be ready for a difference

If you are ready for adventure - if you are ready for serendipity - if your are ready to be entertained, fly, drive, and/or run to Park City, Utah. It has everything rolled up in one fine, classy package with something for everyone, summer or winter. For those of you that might say Park City where/who?--- think 2002 Winter Olympics, considered one of the most successful Winter Olympics in the history of the event.

Think summer and winter

Just don’t think winter---definitely think summer and among hundreds of other summer activities as well. The Utah Olympic Park is a venue of 389-acres that covers the area where the skiers competed in ski jumping, and the sliding sport competitions like bobsledding, skeleton and the luge. During the summer, visitors can take a bobsled ride (on wheels) careening down the actual 15-curve track with a former Olympic contender. (We had a Russian that decided to stay and assist in training others.) Trust me, this is more exciting than any roller coaster ride anywhere! There is freestyle aerial ski jumping into a 750,000-gallon pool, an amazing fete, and a sight that must be seen to really appreciate and understand.

Park City was a former silver mining town idyllically nestled into the mountainside and can be found in an easy 35-mile ride east of Salt Lake City’s International Airport. This delightful town has the charm of a relaxed village with a subtle tempo of really being completely with it. There are all the amenities, outdoor recreation and entertainment of a big city with the laid back feeling of choices of just how fast and how much one might want to participate. This is a spot on the planet that one might think is a great place to visit---but how do I get to live here?

Just think, no earthquakes, no floods, no hurricanes-all this and some of the most fantastic restaurants and entertainment anywhere. (What more can any one ask?)

Gourmet heaven

A visit to Jean Louis Restaurant at Gateway Center is a gourmet experience that matches The Four Seasons in Paris. The glorious menu offers mussels, in a unique wine sauce, which is to die for. Traditional Moroccan Tajine (spicy lamb sausage, lamb chop in a saffron, cumin and turmeric broth) gives lamb a new vision. Peruvian escabeche is marinated sea bass with a touch of Peruvian aji broth. A delightful soup sampler is offered. Master Chef Regis Perret is from Peru who immigrated to Paris, and, as they say, the rest to Park City’s advantage is history. Perret fell in love with the area and left the hustle bustle of the big city restaurant stress and settled in Park City to relax and run a restaurant (with his Peruvian/French/ Moroccan infusion) at his own pace. Perret is one chef who really enjoys life. Many more ultimate gourmet main courses are available with a decadent dessert menu and an extended, exciting, excellent wine list. This restaurant is perfection and service is flawless. If Zagat hasn’t found Jean Louis Restaurant and Chef Perret, they don’t know what they are missing. The gourmet worldwide bar has been raised.

Wahiso’s is an upscale beautiful Oriental restaurant. Their food is luscious and presented so artistically that the guest almost doesn’t want to disturb the picture presented. The idea of a soup sampler, (an order of little bowels of all the soups on the menu, usually three or four) seems to be catching on and is a delight. Wahiso’s Miso is delicate as is nourishing. Delightful wines are available to add to the lovely ambiance of a fine meal.

Lunch at the Windy Ridge Café is an adventure---their wraps and salads are tasty and filling. Their outdoor dining area is charming and comfortable.

If you are looking for breakfast or lunch, visit the Morning Ray Café---everything from a generous platter of lox and bagels to omelets and eggs as you like them. Great sandwiches, salads, freshly squeezed orange juice and a superb coffee makes this place a real winner. The Morning Ray Café becomes the La Luna Park City’s only Sonoran Mexican restaurant in the mid-afternoon and evening.

Park City offers more than a hundred restaurants that surely must offer good food or else they could not survive the competition.

Then there are the glorious spas.

There are spas galore available to be rejuvenated after a day of skiing in winter or horseback riding, biking, swimming or hiking or flying down a bobsled in summer.

Marc Raymond Wellness Luxury Spa and Salon covers it all with class and can be located in the Chateaux Resort Complex. For appointments call 435/647-0500. For more info, visit www.marcraymondsalonspa.com

Papillon the spa at Westgate Park City offers a relaxing atmosphere and well-trained therapists. Call 435/655-22266 for more info visit papillon-parkcity@wgresorts.con

The Mountain Body Spa offers green tea facials, as well as ancient stone and massage therapies. They have their own fine line of herbal spa and body products made in Park City. They can be ordered by calling 1-800-417-2365 or you can order on line at www.mountainbody.com

If you happen to be in Salt Lake City going to or from Park City, Utah, or have a few hours before your flight, be sure to visit the Grand Spa located on the third floor of the superb Grand America Hotel. This is a spa with all the panache that can possibly be offered. They cover every aspect and service available. Their therapists are certified and well trained. I will go into more detail about this spa and hotel in my next article on Salt Lake City.

All the spas mentioned above will be in my book in detail “All About Spas of the World” upon publication

Let them entertain you

Park City Resorts offers accommodations, biking, hiking, biking, fly fishing, boating, hot-air balloon rides, music concerts and art festivals and more.

The Deer Park Resort offers concerts in a beautiful natural amphitheater with the Utah Symphony or artists like Kenny G or a jazz festival while enjoying quail or filet-of-beef in a gourmet picnic basket with all the trimmings from the Royal Street Café.

Where to stay

The Snowflower condominiums in Park City is located within a hop, skip and a jump from the ski lift and a free bus ride downtown. They include jacuzzis, blenders, VCR/DVD players and cable TV. They are available in two and three bedroom comfortable configurations. A complete onsite fitness center is available to guests.

For reservations and information call 800-852-3104 or visit http:/www.snowflowerparkcity.com/. For more info on condos and accommodation’s visit www.parkcityinfo.com

Park City is a definite destination that no one should miss winter or summer. Prices range by season and accommodation location. Very kid and dog friendly.

HOW TO GET THERE

By air: Southwest Airlines and Delta to Salt Lake City from Los Angeles. Pick up All Resort Express provides a limo or shuttle for a short ride to Park City. Call 1-800-457-9457 for reservations.

Once in Park City easy-free transportation is available if you don’t rent a car.

AAA has detailed maps for campers and automobiles.

The Park City Chamber & Visitors Bureau is one of the most accommodating and friendly in any area in the U.S.A. Craig McCarthy, their communications manager, is the most “can do” person you will ever meet. You have a challenge, he and his staff will solve it - guaranteed. Call them at 435/640-3890 or e-mail him at craig@parkcityinfo.com.

Camille Bounds is the travel editor for the Inland Empire Business Journal and the Western Division of Sunrise Publications.