Salt Lake City Gatherings

This post could be titled "the road not taken" or converging at the "Crossroads of the West" or any number of other clever phrases. 

When I walked into the Salt Palace Convention Center Saturday morning, I was greeted with this sign for the Salt Lake City International Tattoo Convention. This explains the many elaborately tattooed people I've seen at the Radisson hotel. The other day I saw a man whose shaved head was covered with tattoos. Having just finished rereading Dan Brown's, "The Lost Symbol," I was tempted to ask to see the top of his head. As you can see in the photo, an arrow pointed to the tattoo convention and another arrow pointed to RootsTech. Guess which road I took? 

I followed the signs to RootsTech. The conference started Thursday with 6,700 people preregistered. Almost 2,000 youth have signed up for special classes on Saturday. Statistics announced on the first day - participants from 49 states (no one from Delaware) and 15 countries. The exhibits are free so hundreds are coming to the exhibit hall. Read more here. 

To add even more excitement - the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament is happening at the Energy Solutions Arena just down the street from the Radisson where I'm staying. Harvard is in the tournament. The basketball team, cheerleaders, and band are staying at the Radisson. Spirits were pretty high when the team beat New Mexico. Evidently it was quite an upset. Comments we've heard remind me of Mom's and Dad's comments about Northwestern whenever the university did well in sports. 

In this picture the band and cheerleaders lined up in front of the door into the hotel. We went in through a side door. A number of us assumed they were waiting for the basketball team to come through the lobby and out the door. There was a lot of hoopla and music for quite a while. I waited, thinking I'd get a picture of the team to send our grandson who is studying at Harvard. Periodically a cheerleader or band member would prance and dance down the middle of the column. Eventually they all went back into the hotel lobby (it was very cold outside). I don't know if the team just didn't come down or if the idea was for hotel guests to join in the revelry and dance in and out of the hotel door. If that was the case, no one got with the program! The students brought a lot of energy to the hotel (I'm saying that in the best way possible, not sarcastically). It's quite a surprise for the elevator doors to open and reveal someone carrying drums or another large instrument. 

More posts about my Salt Lake City trip
Salt Lake City Visits & Adventures
City Creek Center
Old & New
Tabernacle Concert & The Temple

Click on the "Utah" label to the right to see more pictures of Salt Lake City