Tag: Sugarhouse

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Happening upon Hidden Hollow

I got trapped in a cliche this weekend. Imagine, stumbling on a little hidden wooded oasis in the middle of a vibrant gentrified social center. Even the name is earnestly unironic: Hidden Hollow. IT’S TOTALLY HIDDEN IT’S A HIDDEN HOLLOW

I KNOWWWWW

HiddenHollow-5 This little slice of heaven is next to the Petco/Bed Bath and Beyond/Whole Foods complex and surrounds the river. Huge trees! Bridges! Ducks! Many woodland species and associated informative plaques. HiddenHollow-3

Look, I come to this complex weekly. At least. I drive past it daily. I had no idea this was here. I mean honestly, be less obtuse Kristina. Just because there’s the gigantic Sugarhouse Park across 13th East from this spot why wouldn’t there also be a little slice of wooded heaven right here in between all these businesses.
HiddenHollow-1 Look at this historical plaque! You know I love this stuff. Did you know “Sugar House” was known as the Furniture Capitol of the West? NEITHER DID I AND I AM BIG ON BOTH FURNITURE AND THE WEST. HiddenHollow-2

Like, there are two restaurants in this little cluster of walkable hipness OF COURSE THERE ARE. Just downstairs from fabulous new construction condos and just to the left of thriving commercial and office space. Surely there’s parking for them someplace and some sort of street frontage, there has to be. Right? That I’ve driven past twice a day and just not noticed? Right?
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AND IT’S A TEA ROOM AND A VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT I COULDN’T MAKE THIS UP YOU GUYS

The moral of this story? There is literally cool stuff around every corner if you can just be bothered to slow down and look around. Also I need me some Vietnamese food.

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Game Night Games

I arrived, dressed in a sci-fi cartoon graphic tee and immediately knew my street cred had fizzled. Wearing a sci-fi tee and being engrossed in gaming culture are two very different things and I’ve only managed to be proficient at the former. The board game concept is nothing new of course, but there has been a hardy resurgence in recent years. Not only is getting together with other people to play games okay, it’s cool. And to play board games of the sci-fi/fantasy ilk? Ice cold and possibly with some manner of hazing ritual. Details unclear.GameNight-5

What I came in for was a cribbage board, and the minute the air conditioning whooshed by me as I opened the door I knew I was punching above my weight. Boxes filled an entire wall, alphabetized, and I arrived at the 3-D puzzles in the corner without having recognized anything. Cards Against Humanity was on the top shelf, in its unassuming black boxes, high above prying eyes. I imagine they keep plain brown paper bags behind the counter for those sales. What I came in for is a game with pegs and cards. Pegs and cards. Lord only knows where that sort of thing is kept. Past the figurines? What is a board mat? Do I need more than one? Why do they sell paint? I kept walking, pretending to be such a connoisseur that I had to inspect every shelf. Why am I not part of this world? Is the “and” in Dungeons and Dragons an ampersand? AN UNEXAMINED LIFE. Continue reading “Game Night Games”