Entries Tagged as 'Travel'

Travel: Silver Sage Inn, Moab, Utah

This post is included in the Carnival of Food and Travel #2.

Part of a series: (links to go live as they get posted)

Moab is an expensive town in which to stay. One- and two-star motels run over $100/night. That’s why I feel very fortunate to have found the Silver Sage Inn.

It’s not fancy or large. In fact, it looks like a converted long-term storage facility—a long-term storage facility that was converted in the 1970s.

Silver Sage Inn Room 1But what it is is clean and efficient. I can’t remember the last hotel room I was in where I felt completely comfortable that everything was clean. Nothing is new. That much is obvious, but when I pulled out the in-room coffee maker’s filter cup? Clean!

And one day, when I was walking out, I saw one of the cleaning staff taking a washcloth to a coffee machine in a newly vacated room. So I can first-hand eyeball witness that they do in fact clean very, very well.

All the drawers in the dresser? Clean! No dust, no lint, no nothing.

Silver Sage Inn Room 2Not all rooms have a microwave and a refrigerator so it helps to book well in advance. There is a set in the office though. These appliances help a lot because you’ll need provisions everyday when you visit the national parks.

Also, the Inn does not serve breakfast. And it does not have a swimming pool.

But it does have large storage sheds for your larger outdoor gear. There is also a barbeque grill and a reliable ice machine.

Another huge plus is that it is very, very quiet. When I first arrived, I was concerned that the seemingly flimsy walls were going to be totally sound transparent. After a long day of hiking in the sun, you just don’t want a noisy neighbor keeping you up. But on all four nights of our stay, we did not hear any conversations, alarms, TVs, etc. It was great.

Silver Sage Inn BathroomWe got the internet rate of $69.95/night. That’s good even on weekends. Even though the online booking is only good for a room with two double beds, I called the location directly, and they gave me the queen-sized room with the microwave and the refrigerator for the same price.

I’m very glad we stayed here.

Tags: Travel by Ms. SP
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Travel: Moab, Utah

Part of a series: (links to go live as they get posted)

This post is a part of the Carnival of Cities.

Moab, Utah, has a land area of about 3.6 square miles and a listed population of around 4780 people. Located within a five-minute drive from the entrance of Arches National Park, this little town fills up with visitors.

The central strip is Main Street, where everything happens. There are hotels, restaurants, and various tourist services. Although the town clearly caters to tourists, the boom isn’t big enough to warrant more than a handful of souvenir shops. Drive two miles down Main Street, and you’re out of town already. There is a nice mountain-town charm to Moab.

City Market is the big grocery store. The boyfriend and I stopped here every day of our trip. There’s an interesting little three-screened first-run movie theater as well.

Practically everything in Moab is a dollar or two above what you may expect to pay but given that they have to truck everything in, I don’t think the prices are unreasonable.

For dinner, we tried the following places:

Pasta Jay’s This is a very big restaurant that stays open late. There’s a screened-in outdoor seating area that’s pretty pleasant. The food is tasty but not out of this world. It’s a good place to people watch because it draws a nice cross-section of vacationers.

Mandarin Szechuan Don’t be fooled by the buffet sign. The buffet is for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is from the menu. This restaurant reminds me a lot of the places in Chinatowns so unless you’re used to that environment, it may disorient you.

Given the prices, I would not have expected the food to have been as rustic has it was. The family appears to be Szechuan so I would recommend sticking to those regional dishes if possible. My favorite Szechuan dish, eggplant with garlic sauce, was very good. It was prepared as I would expect in a family-run little Chinatown joint instead of the bigger formal restaurants though. Nicely spicy, there was lots of garlic and a lot of grease. Put this over rice (rustic or not), and it’s one of my favorite meals. I have no complaints about this one. The more standard Chinese fare was just not as good.

Like I said before, everything is a bit more expensive in Moab, but this restaurant nickels-and-dimes a bit too hard for my taste. No Chinese restaurant should ever charge extra for rice. (Or tea for that matter.) The service is also rather rudimentary, and if you’re not used to it, a bit on the rude side. I’m repeating myself, but these are things that I would expect from a Chinatown eatery but their existence in the middle of the Utahn mountains surprised me. I’m not sure they would do that well in terms of repeat business.

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Travel: Getting to Arches National Park, Utah

Part of a series: (links to go live as they get posted)

The usual jumping off point to visit the Canyonland’s area (Arches National Park and more) is Moab, Utah. Moab’s room rates, however, are very expensive. If cost is a concern, look up lodging options in Green River, fifty-seven miles away.

Moab also tends to book up quickly on the weekends. Try to plan ahead if possible. In addition to hotel rooms, there are also campgrounds and RV parks.

Salt Lake City to Moab, UtahThe quickest way to Moab is to fly into Salt Lake City. Then it’s about a four hour drive along Route 6 (in yellow). In this rare occasion though, I feel that the interstate is actually the more scenic drive. If you’re brave enough to take mountain driving at around 85 mph, as the Utahs do, the drive along US 15 and US 70 may take about six hours. US 15 runs down the middle of the state along a valley. There’s a mountain range on the right and a mountain range on the left. With every mile, the angle changes and the light changes.

The short trek over Route 60 (in orange) is stunning.

The shorter way is not horrid by any means. The road goes high into the mountains so depending on the time of year, snow may still be visible. Little patches of domesticity and even some ghost towns dot the drive. With the mountains right on top of you and so many twists and turns along the road, the view is just not as expansive.

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