It's That Time of Year Again--Field Trip Time!

For some strange reason, Utah likes to end the semester AFTER Christmas break. So, I like to give my final before the break and spend the two weeks after Christmas going on a field trip and working on some fun projects.

This past week I took my students on a field trip to the Grand America Hotel. I took my students last year as well. This year was awesome! We had a different tour guide, saw different areas, and no one got stuck in the stairwells! It was great!


We went to the pastry kitchen and sampled bread on one day, then chocolate mousse the next. (I had to take two groups on two different days.)

Check out the HUGE mixers and beaters!

We went to the spa, fitness center, and indoor pool.

All of the chandeliers in the pool area and everywhere, for that matter are either hand blown glass or crystal.

The indoor pool is actually on the second floor.

This was a cool vase in the spa lobby.

We also saw some of the rooms and a presidential suite. The tour guide was nice to change the presidential suites each day so I could see two different rooms. One of the rooms had a fireplace, and is the only room of the 750 with a fireplace. That is the room where Kobe Bryant likes to stay when he comes with the LA Lakers when they play the Jazz. Pretty cool. The other presidential suite had a guest book and had a note and signature from Billy Joel. My kids thought it was so cool! Okay, I did too! The other presidential suite was the one I went to last year, so there is only one of the three suites that I have yet to see. Maybe next year....

The view as you walk into the living area.

The view from the farthest corner. There is a kitchen area on the far right, and the bedroom and bathrooms (that's right, there are TWO!) are straight ahead.

The fireplace in the living room.

The fireplace on the other side of the wall in the bedroom. After all, if you're going to only have one fireplace in the hotel, you might as well have two in one suite.

On the second day, my students asked to see the million dollar mirror (because I told them to ask). And, of course, I forgot my camera at home with a dead battery. I took some pictures on my cell phone, along with half of the group, but I don't know how to get them from my cell phone to the blog.


Overall, the tour was a great success! The kids LOVED it!!!! I had some girls literally squealing when we walked into the grand ballroom and they saw the gigantic crystal chandeliers!


For more info on the hotel's history and historical items, go here to download the Art Tour.

For more pictures, go here.