Thursday Three and Chamber of Commerce Day

Its Thursday Three time again and this week Terry must be trying to decide where to take his summer vacation because he wants to know about our hometowns. As usual, the questions are followed by my answers. Terry- come & visit but plan on more than one hour!

1) If you only had one hour to show a visitor something interesting in your hometown, where would you go?

Ogden has a wonderfully restored Union Pacific Train Station at the end of Historic 25th Street. I'd take a visitor to the train station for their first visit. There's some old trains sitting outside that one can view and inside there's a miniature train store and the Union Grill restaurant. There's a nice display about the construction of the Union Pacific railroad and its completion at Promontory which is just a few miles up the road. There's a gem and mineral museum inside and a collection of antique cars too. But the real attraction of the station is the John Moses Browning memorial museum and in there, a gun enthusiast can really get lost for an hour or two. Although it has been relocated from its original location in Morgan to the museum, JMB's actual, original workshop is on display. There a number of prototype and first models of JMB's gun designs and displays of how far and wide his influence spread in the small arms industry. This is holy ground for anyone that loves firearms and its worth a look.

2) If you then had to find that friend a great place for a quick bite to eat, where would you go?

Well there is a fine eatery, The Union Grill that the BSU and I visit occasionally for an extended Friday lunch and a visitor would be mighty well served to have their one Ogden meal there. But if time allows, I'd walk my guest down Historic 25th Street about 3 blocks from the station to Roosters Brew Pub & Restaurant. This is another of our favorite Friday eateries and it has very relaxing dining indoors, or outdoors on a beautiful patio when the weather's nice. We once sat just a table away from Ogden's mayor, Mathew Godfrey while he schmoozed some out of town folks over lunch.

3) Now that you’ve entertained them and fed your friend, it’s time to send him on his way. You’re not sure which way he’s going, but he’s got a fast red convertible, and you want him to see something nice as he drives. What route from your home to someplace else, either to the north, south, east, or west would you recommend to him as the most scenic drive?

The most scenic road to travel out of Ogden? Highway 84 heading east towards Wyoming is probably the most scenic road to travel. Inside the first hour you pass through Weber Canyon, see Devil's Slide as you enter Morgan Valley, follow the river as it passes through low lying farmlands full of cattle, horses and sheep and enter an stark area of beautiful red rock canyons before arriving on the high desert plains that lead into Evanston. That road probably packs more of Utah's unique scenery into one short trip than any other, though there are many more scenic trips to take if you can manage more time.