Some adventures are planned, and some happen spontaneously.  This one was a bit of a combination.  Our family decided to spend the extended weekend in Mt. Pleasant (Sanpete County). The real treat this weekend turned out to be not the planned adventure but an inadvertent one.  Across the street from where we parked downtown was a workshop for a violin maker, Paul Hart Violins.  On a whim we walked in and this super nice older gentleman spent almost an hour talking to our kids about how he got into the business, answering questions, and telling stories.  My kids were enthralled and he had a lot of good down to earth advice about hard work and loving what you do for employment.  This little unexpected stop was the highlight of the weekend.

Next we went to a cool little pioneer home known as the Relic Home right on the main road of Mt. Pleasant.  They have an interesting little museum that has pictures of local founders and some oddities such as an old school butter turn, sausage press, and 3D picture viewer (think late 1800s here, that may not sound innovative these days but these things are sweet using mirrors through a viewfinder to create a 3D image).  Adjacent to the Relic Home is a black smith forge.  This was a fun stop but our youngest kids lost interest pretty quick.  I will say, we were super grateful that these volunteers were willing to take time out of their weekend to let us in. Especially because there is no cost to the tour and it was purely of their own good will that they opened up for us.

Last, but not least, we headed out to Spring City to the local favorite eatery, the Das Cafe. This is a peculiar little shop in part because of the odd hours.  It is basically only open for breakfast and lunch.  It is my understanding that two sisters from Germany opened this little place about 7 yrs ago. The food is unique and (I assume) authentic German in quality.  I have never been much of a sauerkraut fan, but the first time I realized that sauerkraut was made for meat was when I had a bratwurst smothered in it… and I liked it.  For the most part the kids enjoyed their meals as well, I even had one ask if he could like the plate when he was done.  This is a place worth checking out if you are in the area.

Mt. Pleasant (and all the surrounding towns) are very small.  We were surprised how many places are open only on the weekdays.  For example if you want to see the black smith you must aim for a Thursday.  I would imagine some of these places would get more traffic on the weekends, but we found if you reach out in advance sometimes people are willing to accommodate, but it does take some planning.  So make a few phone calls (or head up on a weekday) and enjoy this little known gem in Sanpete.

Side note, Mt. Pleasant is also the center of Utah.  I am not going to tell you where this is in town, I want you to go out and explore and find it too.

Categories: UncategorizedTags: activity, adventure, education, family, food, future, healthy, history, liesure, life, play, travel, utah