Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Cedar City, Utah

We moved on to Cedar City, another cool place that has managed to keep the downtown active and prosperous even with the presence of a Walmart on the outskirts.  I'm sure being a college town helps.

We are parked at the Elks lodge which has a large parking area with a view.  This is the scene right out our front window.  I hope I'm not jinxing us, but I think we finally drove away from the smoke.

And 1/2 block away, down that dirt track, is a veterans memorial park with separate memorials for each of the wars from WW I to the present.  To me they had as much impact as those in D.C. even though they were on a much smaller scale.  (Alright, maybe not the Korean Memorial, because the one in Washington just blew me away with all those life-sized figures and the photographic images in the granite wall, but that's another story.)

Here's the one for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars - a single solder representing all the local participants listed on the wall behind.
All of the memorials listed names - some for just Cedar City residents and some for the whole county.

I'll just show two and you can see the rest when you come.  This one is for WW I, which is actually called the Great War on the plaque.
It's quite an impressive park for a city of 30,000 people and a lovely tribute to those who serve.

And beyond the memorials, is the prettiest city hiking path I think I've ever seen.  It begins along Coal Creek.

Then goes through another pretty park.

And turns back east to follow the creek up Cedar Canyon.

They encourage you to exercise even more, but I just said, "Yeah, sure."

And after about 1 1/2 miles, and just past this dam, the trail ends, making it a nice 3 mile round trip.

The Elks is also just a block east of Main Street with its mixture of cute and practical shops.  This particular lady needs to move along - she's scaring the customers.  

I've never seen a system quite like this, but if you follow the directions on the sign, the cars just screech to a stop.

I was disappointed there were no cars coming when we used the flag.  I wanted to try a flag twirler routine.

5 comments:

  1. We'll keep this place in mind, we like the Elks and its always great to hear from someone about their stay.
    Loved the memorials and the trail, hope this fits in our schedule next spring when heading north.

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  2. Cedar City was always a city to and from other places we were visiting. We did stay overnight one time when a blizzard shut down the freeway on our way to LV - I see that we have to add it to our "explore' list.

    I agree about the Korean Memorial in DC ... it is exceptionally well done and very moving.

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  3. With my luck I'd take a flag to cross the street and be run over by a blind driver. Yes, don't stand to close to me in a thunderstorm.

    Amazing how a small town built all those beautiful memorials. Really nice.

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  4. Utah is a very lovely place to reside and to travel. It's serenity and beauty are the top reasons why tourists can't seem to get enough with it.

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  5. I flew over Cedar City a couple times. Will make a point of stopping next time.
    Looks like your heading south. Let's get together for sure this winter.

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