I am a strong believer in buying local. Whether it is local art, locally grown food, or any locally owned business, I believe in supporting the economy where I live. I also believe that purveying the local pearls cuts down on the need for preservatives in my food, and pollution in my air. Well, Utah Vacation Homes is Utah born and bred. I assumed that people calling would know that we are sitting here in the shadows cast by the great, snow-covered mountains they will come to ski. I was wrong.

I think I am the farthest thing from local that we have here, I came to Utah 33 years ago, (really? AAAGH!!!), for college. As much as I cling to my urbane, New England roots, I am a local. I even sound like a local. Hmmm.

So, to clarify, for those of you who are used to national call centers and anonymous voices on numerous lines: we live here. When you drive to your vacation home, you will pass within 3 miles of us. We are here.

When we tell you to go to The Cotton Bottom for the best Garlic Burger on the planet, we know. When I tell you that “in my opinion” Le Caille is pompous and pricey, well, I was married there, so I know, (it was a beautiful wedding). When I say that Bambara is great, IF they don’t seat you near the kitchen, well, it is true, (-and they did, and I was not happy).

Yes, in fact, if you add together all of the years of combined skiing experience in this office, well, we have something like 167 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE ON THESE SLOPES!!! And of course, we have 231 years of experience eating in these restaurants, playing in these parks, hiking and biking and golfing and….well, there is very little that we have NOT done here.

So please, go local!!

As the fall semester started, the Labor Day weekend seemed to be a farewell to summer time. For several weeks my friends and I had planned a trip to Park City for the long weekend. However, finding a place that could hold our large group of 16 was not easy. Golden Bear Retreat was our best choice and it met all of our needs, game room with pool table, large dining area, BBQ grill, hot tub and areas to hang out.

A convenient Park City location, Golden Bear is just 5 minutes from Park City’s Main Street and 10 minutes from Tanger Outlets Mall. It is a 5,000 square ft home with fully-equipped kitchen, fine dining room, BBQ, deck, private outdoor hot tub, game room and comfortable bedrooms. The views of Park City mountains from our rooms were fantastic. We were able to completely relax and escape from our daily routines as we sat around the hot tub drinking ice cold beer and chatting with friends under the sunset. It was a perfect stay in paradise for our long weekend and was a great place to stay with friends and family. We loved this great place and would gladly stay there again in a minute.

Check-out our video of our vacation on You Tube.

labor-day-@-Golden-bear-retreat