Well…. I am almost completely packed up and ready to leave Utah. Ready at least in part, anyway. There’s parts of the state I didn’t see and people I didn’t meet or get to know nearly well enough. I am immensely happy for the time I had here and excited to begin the next chapter. In the frantic packing, shooting and editing I’ve done in the past week, I neglected my blog. And I’m now here to change that.
Earlier this week I headed out to The Great Saltair, which is on the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake. It’s the site of an amusement park that was built in the 1800s to be the Coney Island of the West. From the historical photos I’ve seen, it looked pretty damn cool. Unfortunately the original structure burned down, and what remains now is a concert venue. That and a whole bunch of lake. I went out there with one of the summer interns at the Deseret News, who replaced me at the paper. It was a nice little exploration, and despite the proximity to SLC, the area felt like it was a totally different place.
The Great Saltair – Images by T.J. Kirkpatrick
The rest of the week was filled with putting stuff into things, the usual packing routine. I got rid of a healthy amount of stuff, though, so my trek to Washington, D.C. will at least be a relatively light one.
Next up is an MMA (mixed martial arts) fight that I shot a couple weeks back in SLC. I’ve never been to a boxing match, much less a cage match, and it was an interesting show. I didn’t plan on shooting much action, so I went in fairly light in terms of gear. Definitely a crazy night, although I think the female fans were getting more into it that I was.
mma for blog – Images by T.J. Kirkpatrick
Finally, I spent several days visiting Sarah in New York, and we took a weekend trip down to Ocean Grove, N.J. The quiet little seaside town is known as “God’s Square Mile,” since it was founded as a Methodist meeting camp and built up from there in to a town. The place is steeped in history, and it was a nice break from the hustle of Manhattan. There’s a little slice of Americana in Ocean Grove, and it was enjoyable to stretch a bit and shoot it.
God’s Square Mile – Images by T.J. Kirkpatrick
I load up my car and head out of Utah tomorrow, insha’Allah. Wicked awesome road trip awaits….