Happy Flashback Friday, friends! I’m so excited to finally share all the details from last spring’s Park City trip with all of you! In this blog post I’m going to be sharing what we did each day, where we ate, fun photos & more! Please note that this was a hosted press trip, but as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
During the first week of March of 2020 I had the pleasure of visiting Park City, Utah with some of my Chicago blogger buds! We were graciously hosted by Park City’s Tourism Board for four, fun-filled days! The other three bloggers on this trip with me were my dear friends: Lexi of Lex & The City, Kylie of Collectively Kylie and Laura of Sweetest Journey.
– Day 1 –
Traveling to Park City
To get to Park City, we flew from O’Hare to the Salt Lake City International Airport. It was only about a 3.5 hour flight (nonstop) so it was super easy! Once we touched down, we met up with our driver and drove through the snowy mountain landscape to get to Park City. Upon arrival at our home for the week, Park City Peaks Hotel, we dropped off our luggage, freshened up and got ready to explore!
Park City Provisions by Riverhorse
After settling in, we met up with our contact, Nicole, and headed to Park City Provisions by Riverhorse for lunch with Dan and Rachel from the Tourism Board and our talented photographers, Carla and Victor. Provisions is a cute one-stop shop featuring not only the cafe we ate at, but also a deli and a speciality market.
I started my lunch with Provision’s Green Energy Juice which was made with spinach, romaine, green apple, mint, cucumber and lemon. I also decided to order their Breakfast Burrito with house made sausage, promontory cheddar, scrambled eggs, crispy polenta bites, and chipotle creme on a spinach tortilla. (I’m not a spicy person, so I ordered mine without pico de gallo.) Everything was SO GOOD!
Exploring Main Street & Downtown Park City
After lunch, we walked around Main Street, snapped some photos and took in the sights! Some highlights from our downtown adventure included seeing a Banksy piece in person (!!!), stopping by the iconic Egyptian Theatre and visiting Atticus Tea + Coffee.
I was an art minor in college and think that Banksy is absolutely iconic, so it was SO cool to see a real Banksy piece in person! The piece pictured below is referred to as “Camera Man & Flower.”
The Egyptian Theatre exudes vintage charm and has such cool history. It’s the original home of the famous Sundance Film Festival! Naturally, we had to stop for a quick photo.
Atticus Tea + Coffee
Atticus was a very special stop for me on our first day. It wasn’t even a place we’d originally planned on stopping. Instead, it became a necessity after we got very chilly from walking around and taking photos! Everyone needed to warm up a little. I ordered their Matcha Chai Latte, which was AMAZING. While we were looking around and waiting for our drinks, I realized that the shop was named after Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. This book and character are very special to me because they remind of my late godfather, Paul, who was an English teacher. This unexpected stop provided a nice little nudge and feeling of peace for me during a super busy day.
While downtown, we were able to shoot SO MANY beautiful photos with Carla and Victor! I definitely recommend checking them out if you’re ever looking for a photographer in Park City.
Versante Hearth & Bar
After our downtown excursion, we headed back to the hotel for dinner at Versante Hearth & Bar. For shared appetizers, we ordered the Crispy Brussels Sprouts with bacon, and white truffle honey glaze as well as the wood-fired Shroom Pizza with wild + exotic mushrooms, mustard sauce, broccolini, mozzarella and parmesan.
For my entree, I went with the Shrimp Linguine which was made with gulf shrimp, cream, lemon, capers, tomato, basil and shaved parmesan. I also tried out two of their hand-crafted cocktails. I started with the Jack Mormon Mule which was made with Five Wives vodka, Aperol, rosemary syrup, cranberry and ginger beer. It was such a fun twist on your typical mule! The second cocktail I tried was the Old Town Fashioned which was made with High West double rye (This whiskey is made in Park City!), sweet vermouth, bitters and cherry. The brussels sprouts and linguine were probably my favorite parts of this meal!
After dinner we were all exhausted from traveling and the busy day we’d had, so it was time to head to bed!
– Day 2 –
McPolin Barn
Day two of our trip started with a visit to the famous McPolin Barn! You may recognize this spot from photos that you’ve seen of Park City in the past. It’s one of the most popular spots to take photos and in the warmer months a MASSIVE American flag hangs on the side of the barn.
Powder Restaurant at Waldorf Astoria Park City
After our mini photoshoot, we headed over to have brunch at Powder at Waldorf Astoria Park City. The Waldorf in Park City is nestled among the peaks of the Wasatch Mountains and was absolutely beautiful! The lobby has a massive roaring fireplace, vaulted ceilings and elegant, yet mildly rustic decor. It definitely has a cozy & elevated vibe!
For brunch, I ordered the Chia Seed Muesli with roasted almonds and vanilla-blueberry compote as well as a latte and a side of Crispy Potatoes.
After brunch, we headed up to Park City Mountain on a gondola for our private ski lessons!
Ski Lessons at Park City Mountain
Before actually hitting the slopes, we stopped by Aloha Ski & Snowboard to grab all the gear that we’d need for the afternoon. We each purchased our own goggles and gloves ahead of time, but they lent us snow pants, ski boots, skis and jackets.
For our ski lessons, we were split into pairs. Kylie and I were paired with a wonderful instructor named Steve! Steve was very kind and patient with us as we were both beginners. We didn’t do anything too too crazy, but he still pushed us to try picking up the speed or incorporating quicker turns during our practice runs to challenge ourselves. By the end of our lesson I felt pretty comfortable on my skis was already ready to go back on the mountain for some more! I absolutely LOVED skiing! It was definitely one of my favorite parts of this trip and I will absolutely go skiing again in the future.
Dinner at Yuta
After our ski lessons, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner at Yuta at The Lodge at Blue Sky. Yuta’s menu features sustainably-sourced seasonal heirloom ingredients and everything that we had was absolutely amazing! Our meal started with an Amuse Bouche featuring watermelon, seeds and cucumber as well as some freshly baked bread. My cocktail of choice for the evening was the Horse Thief which was made with Casa Migos reposado tequila, High West campfire whiskey, green chartreuse, ginger syrup, muddled blackberry and a chili lime rim.
The appetizers that we ordered as a table were both delicious! The Coal Roasted Beets came out in a perfectly shaped brick of thinly sliced beets along with marinated cucumbers, labneh and shallot citronette. The other appetizer we ordered was the Grilled Spanish Octopus with salsa verde, tomato pebre, aleppo aioli and potato crisps.
For my main dish I had the Braised Beef Short Rib with butternut squash risotto and mushroom stew. I’m not kidding when I say that there was literally nothing left on the plate once I was done. It was SO good! To finish off our meal, we got the Chocolate Mousse Torte with mountain huckleberry, gooseberry, red berry meringue and chocolate ice cream. This was the perfect meal to end fun day on the slopes!
– Day 3 –
Hiking with Park City Yoga Adventures
For our last full day in Park City, we grabbed a quick breakfast at our hotel before heading out. This was definitely one of most active day of the trip because we snowshoed and did yoga (with a twist). Our snowshoe hike and yoga class were lead by Drew, our Park City Yoga Adventures guide.
We started off with a peaceful, yet very active, snowshoe hike. During the hike we were able to take in the natural scenery and lots of sunshine. I was expecting to be chilly, but actually took my jacket off very quickly and just hiked in my snow pants and sweatshirt. Midway through the hike we took a quick break to enjoy some Tension Tamer tea and catch our breath. My favorite part of the hike besides the beautiful views was the crispy, crunchy sounds that our snowshoes made with every step we took. The hike was definitely tiring, but also such a cool experience and my first time snowshoeing!
SUP Yoga Inside of Homestead Crater
Once we finished our hike, we headed over to to Homestead Crater for SUP yoga. The crater is actually a 10,000 year-old hot spring inside of a cave. So yes, we got to do yoga on paddle boards, inside of a crater and I fell into the hot spring multiple times. (See photographic proof below.) It was AWESOME!
The whole SUP experience was so unique and I’d do it again in a heartbeat! The water is naturally heated so it’s actually pleasant when you fall in, even when it’s snowy outside. This was such an incredible, centering experience and I would highly recommend it if you’re ever in Park City!
Lunch at RIME Seafood & Steak
After our hike and yoga class we headed back to the hotel to change and get ready for the rest of our day. Our next stop was RIME Seafood & Steak at the St. Regis Deer Valley where we met back up with Dan. RIME’s seasonally inspired menu is built on sustainably caught seafood and locally sourced meats. To actually get up to the St. Regis, we had to take a lift up the side of mountain and the views were beautiful! Once we got up to RIME, the view from the dining room also absolutely took my breath away! Park City, is seriously SUCH a pretty place.
For our late lunch I ordered the Bavette Steak Frites with peppercorn sauce, and fries as well as the Anejo Old Fashioned with Casamigos anejo and Traeger smoked vanilla clove syrup. We also got White Chocolate Panna Cotta to share for dessert.
Après Ski at Stein Eriksen Lodge
After our lunch, we headed over to Stein Eriksen Lodge for a tour, après ski cocktails and a sleigh ride! The lodge is an authentic European ski lodge in the middle of Deer Valley and is surrounded by gorgeous views. It has a rustic, European cabin vibe and has won multiple awards over the last few years.
We had drinks and fondue (both cheese and chocolate) at the lodge’s Troll Hallen Lounge. The Cheese Fondue came with gruyere & emmenthaler cheeses, kirsch broccoli, potatoes and Volker’s bread. The Chocolate Fondue came with hot honeyed milk chocolate fondue sauce, bananas, strawberries, soft pretzel bites, passion apricot jellies, almond financier and mint marshmallows. The mint marshmallows were my personal favorite! When it came to cocktails I got a Moscow Mule made with alpine vodka, canton ginger liqueur, fresh lime, ginger and homemade ginger beer! This was one of the BEST classic mules I’ve ever had! The homemade ginger beer and ginger being directly in the drink definitely made a huge difference. Our group also got a round of bubbly, which I am always down for, before heading out for our sleigh ride.
Sunset Sleigh Ride
After drinks and fondue, we went on a horse-drawn sleigh ride around the Stein Eriksen property! Our horses were named Dylan and Kitty and they were so sweet! The sleigh ride was right before sunset, so when we returned the sky was bursting into stunning shades of pink. To put it simply, it was an absolutely magical evening!
Dinner at Windy Ridge Café
Later that night, we stopped by Windy Ridge Café for a light dinner. Windy Ridge is decorated with French country-style decor and has its own in-house bakery. I ordered the Kale Salad with shredded kale, toasted almonds, aged goat cheese, farm sprouts, avocado and honey thyme vinaigrette.
Nightcap at Old Town Cellars
After dinner we stopped by Old Town Cellars for some vino as a nightcap. We shared a bottle of wine and reminisced on the trip in the cozy setting. I also experienced a fun little “small world” coincidence at OTC. When they were ID-ing us at the door, the guy checking IDs recognized my hometown because he’s originally from Chicago’s North Shore as well! It was a fun little reminder as to just how small our world really is.
– Day 4 –
Breakfast at Washington School House
On our final day in Park City, we headed over to Washington School House for breakfast. We were also treated to a private tour of the historic landmark! Formerly a schoolhouse from the 1800s, the inside of the building was revamped and turned into 12 luxe, airy suites. The building is absolutely stunning and there are so many beautiful details every direction you turn. The hotel feels like an upscale home and hits the “boutique” feel right on the head. I absolutely loved all of the gold and white decor throughout the space!
For breakfast I got a latte and Avocado Toast with beet puree, house ricotta, pea shoots and pomegranate seeds on whole wheat ciabatta bread. After breakfast, we explored a bit and shot some photos on the property.
Heading Back to Chicago
After breakfast it was time to head back to Park City Peaks, grab our bags and go home to Chicago.
Experiencing Park City with this wonderful group of people was such a blast! I am so grateful to have had this amazing opportunity and want to say a massive thank you to Park City’s Tourism Board & The Zimmerman Agency for having me and making this trip possible! The memories made on this trip are ones that I’ll hold onto for the rest of my life.
As we all dream about where we’ll travel to next, I highly recommend adding Park City to your wanderlust wish list! It’s an absolutely beautiful destination with so much to offer. I loved Park City and you can bet that I’ll be back to visit again!
