Travels of THB: NCEA 2025 Wrap Up

OBSERVATIONS

Le Meridien:

THB knows you can't read this sign, it was posted outside the pool area and says, essentially, no poop in the pool. Over and over again, no poop in the pool.
It shares a pool, fitness center and a bar (all on the roof) with another hotel. One day, after working out, THB took the closest elevator down to the lobby to get coffees for DB and THB. OOOPS! THB was in the wrong lobby. The only recourse was to get back in the elevator and goo back to the rooftop. OOOPS! THB's key didn't work in the other hotel's elevators. THB at least was savvy enough to get his coffee in this other lobby. OOOPS! this hotel does not serve coffee in their lobby. THB is starting to feel very strange. Out the doors he goes, walks around the building to the lobby of Le Meriden, gets the coffee and heads back to his room
It turned out THB and DB were staying in a handicapped room, that is if you were blind or deaf.

To make sure a light goes on in the room

In case you need to locate your room (geo-caching?)

The hotel restaurant does not serve cereal: no cereals for kids, no granola for adults, no cereal for nobody.
The water in the bathtub never got above warmish. That appeared to be true for all the rooms in our "stack" yet the sink and shower both had hot water. DB talked to the desk several times and they made up some story and eventually they comp'd us for one night.
There were plenty of staff on hand for breakfast. Unfortunately the food was really slow and getting a check was an long uphill slog. One day a "manager' type showed up and I explained, in a friendly and cheerful way, of our struggles to put the bill on our room. A breakfast was comp'd.

Note how clean the shelves are? Maybe so someone who is blind doesn't knock anything over?

same for coffee table, except for the TV remote

THB is very glad we came to SLC, and hopes to see much more art in Detroit next year!!!!!!!!!!

Le Tour:

Bottom line: not enough local artists and venues to keep the tour in front of contemporary ceramics or gaining knowledge of SLC
THB knows you are in trouble in a city where the second stop on the city tour is the botanical garden. JOB (aka mom) said you didn't want to eat at a restaurant where the review went on and on about the décor. The tour also suffered from a lack of locals on the bus willing to talk about what was going down in SLC.
Of course, THB and DB cut short our time in SLC to get ready for Greece and Turkey (we leave on Monday, March 31) and it is possible we missed out something exciting.

THB and DB did buy a Laura Dirksen mug and

EW and JW gifted us another one. Here they are

with the large Dirksen from 2023 in the background

The good news: THB and DB kept to our agreement of not buying anything without agreeing on what we would have to get rid of first. The bad news: it is always a bit depressing when one of us doesn't jump up and down encouraging the other one to just say yes to the dress.

Kelly Connole: THB wanted this piece, there are thousands of crows (murders upon murders) now living in E-ville And this one could chase away the ones in the trees right outside the loft cawing all night long

(and shitting on the cars silly enough to be parked under the trees)

and all wheelchairs welcome

Le Backpak:

THB and DB visit REI and THB picks out a new backpack. Unbeknownst to THB, he was shopping in the pre-Kindergarten section of the store and the backpack looked like it was made on the 7 year olds' manufacturing line.