I normally don’t post reviews of airport restaurants, but this one, just…wow!

I had a four-hour layover in Nashville on my way from Charlotte to Salt Lake City. It was about lunchtime when I landed in Nashville, so I meandered around the airport, looking for something good to eat. After passing up multiple “hot chicken” restaurants, I settled on “Acme Feed & Seed”. I ordered a beef brisket sandwich (which came with fries) and a house-made pineapple hard cider. The cider was good, but no better or worse than other pineapple ciders I’ve tried. The brisket sammich was better. Very good indeed.

But the fries! These were seriously the tastiest fries I’ve ever had! I really don’t know what they add to the seasoning, but it’s delicious. They tasted (among other things) like they’d been pickled. Some of the grains of salt were big enough that they would’ve looked right at home on a margarita glass. I wish my culinary descriptive abilities were better, but really, hands down the best fries I’ve ever had!

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I normally don’t post reviews of my own stupidity, but this time, just…wow!

I planned this trip thinking (for some reason) that Salt Lake City was at a significantly higher elevation than Denver. I was also thinking that the national parks and other groovy areas around Moab were higher than the area around Grand Junction, Colorado. Based on these thinkings, I was hoping the weather in Utah would be fairly cool at this time of year.

But it turns out that Salt Lake City is 1,000 feet LOWER than Denver. And Moab? I’ve spent time at Moab. I KNOW Moab! And I know Moab is a part of the same desert that Grand Junction is part of. In fact, Moab is downstream of Grand Junction – i.e., lower. So, the weather forecast for Utah is calling for higher temperatures than I would’ve have experienced had I stayed home in Charlotte. But it is a drier heat, which really does make a huge difference. A 100-degree day in Denver is far more comfy than a 90-degree day in Charlotte. Nevertheless, this heat will limit my hiking on this trip.

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As is my usual procedure, I reviewed the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives web site before leaving home. I was amazed at the number and variety of fantastic eateries in the Salt Lake area. I simply am not going to have enough time to try all the restaurants I’d like to try in the area. So, once I arrived and got checked in at my hotel, the eatin’ began! I started with dinner at Arempas: Venezuelan food. I have only had Venezuelan food once before. I don’t remember any details about it, I just remember that I loved it. Arempas did not let me down!

I ordered Cachapas with Carne Asada and a side order of fried plantains. Cachapas are served rather like pancakes, but they are made of corn. And they are WONDERFUL! Plantains are closely related to, and taste just like, bananas. So, these were awesome, too! Altogether, it was more than I could eat, so I’ll be having plantains for breakfast the next couple days.

That’s all for Day Zero. Tomorrow, the fun begins!