A Merry Christmas Concert

We were able to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square with the "Kings Singers" Concert last Thursday night. I signed up for the free tickets back in November. Then it was just luck of the draw that we got them. We took some neighbors with us and wanted to go to dinner prior to the concert...which didn't start til 8. So we left Spanish Fork at 5 pm. It took an hour and 15 minutes to get downtown Salt Lake b/c of holiday traffic and snow. Usually we can get there in 50 minutes...especially in the carpool lane. Well, we had to leave the restaurant by 7:05 so we could get to the concert and in our seats by the required time of 7:30 (so they could start letting standby people in). We ate at "The Dodo" in The Gateway and it was delicious. But we all just ordered sandwiches so it could get to our table fast. After parking in our designated parking garage spot (as per the parking ticket provided with the tickets) we had to literally run (the girls all in high heeled boots) to the conference center 2 1/2 blocks away. It was still snowing and freezing. Then we had to stand in the LONG lines outside the doors to go through the metal detectors before entering the main building. We were lucky to get 6 seats together. It was a hectic evening up to that point. Then we enjoyed the concert (which will be broadcast on PBS in Dec. 2008). Last year's concert will be broadcast on PBS the week of Christmas this year. Anyway, it was very well done. Our only complaint was that it wasn't near loud enough. I like going to live concerts to literally FEEL the music. I couldn't feel it at all. We might as well have been watching it on TV...we could've at least turned up the volume. But all in all, it was beautiful. The program indicated that the restuarants and cafe's ON temple square would be open after the concert for desserts etc. So we decided to go to one afterwards. Well, we walked across temple square to The Lion House only to find it CLOSED. Then all the people following us to do the same thing, followed us over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg to the cafe's and restaurants there. They were indeed open as they were advertised to be, but by the time we waited the 10 minutes in line to even get into the buffet area, there were about 5 dessert plates left and none of them worth the wait or eating. So, not having gained a pound, we left and briskly walked the cold blocks to our car and drove the long traffic-filled drive home. Exhausted, we crashed into bed at midnight and vowed to just watch it on TV in the years to come. Happy Holidays everyone...avoid the chaos...just stay home, put a CD on the stereo and turn up the volume. Here's a little Christmas video with a few seconds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's performance to set the mood for a relaxing night at home. Peace be unto you all.