Salt Lake City to ELKO

What a beautiful and clean city Salt Lake City is!  Temple Square was most interesting but the Tabernacle was closed for a rehearsal so we were unable to go inside.  We did see a bride and groom. They had been married in the Temple (only Mormons are able to go inside.) They wear white robes for the wedding ceremony and then go underneath the ground, change into wedding attire and reappear outside another building to cheers and photos.  From there, I was told, they will have a lunch at a nearby restaurant and later in the evening, there will be a reception.  A guest at the wedding was filling us in on the Mormon wedding extravaganza.

 

We then drove to Elko, Nv passing the Great Salt Lake, the salt mines (Morton's was one) and then saw the Bonneville Salt Flats as we were approaching the Utah/Nevada border.  Stopped for lunch at a casino.

Mike asked a local where to go to dinner.  The choices are few but he steered us to The Star Hotel and Restaurant.  Built in the early 1900s for the Basques who arrived in the area to work, it is still going strong.  The steaks are supposed to be great but we opted to have just the side dishes with no entree.  Everyone starts with soup which was outstanding, delicious bread and salad , all served family style.  Then, the rest comes table side.  It includes green beans sautéed with garlic, BBQ beans and garbanzo beans, a very large plate of French fries which we both passed on and a plate of spaghetti.  Way too much food and no entree.  It was definitely a locals spot with a large bell ringing about 6:30 to let the hotel residents upstairs know that it was dinner time.  A real experience.

Tomorrow we head toward Lake Tahoe.