Team Robison: This is the Place

On Tuesday, we visited This is the Place Heritage Park. My Grandma Groves is in town, and Aunt Christine wanted to take her to visit it while Makenna's off track from school. Makenna brought a friend named Ella and my sister-in-law Jess came along with Daniel. I'd never been to This is the Place, so I was interested to see what all they have. It's formed around the This is the Place monument commemorating Brigham Young's famous statement upon arriving in the Salt Lake valley. I didn't realize it, but the monument as well as several other monuments are free to visit.

You have to pay for admission to the pioneer village, which has about 50 buildings that are restorations or replicas of historical buildings from Utah's history. There was a school house, a social hall, tinsmith and cabinet maker, etc. Several of the buildings had people there explaining historical context or doing demonstrations. A few spots had crafts, and the kids got to put beads on an arrowhead necklace and stamp into leather. The pony rides were closed due to the lunch hour, but the kids did get to pet the ponies, and go in the pen and pet the baby goats. Surprisingly, Matthew even went in and petted the goats. He wanted nothing to do with the ponies. There was also a playground for young children with child size replica buildings and a wooden train to play on. To top it off, there was enough a train that was free to ride. We rode it twice and Matthew loved every minute. It's not a place I would go very often, but I would say its big enough to get your money's worth out of the visit.