the Grand America Hotel

One of the things that I love about living in Orem is that I am only 30 minutes away from Salt Lake City. Growing up, we lived an hour and a half away from Salt Lake so although we would take trips, they were few and far between. There is some awesome happenings in Salt Lake City, if you know when and where. Thanks to Instagram I was able to see that a few friends and family (cousins) were visiting the Grand America Hotel for the Grand America Holiday Attractions. Mike & I decided to go see what it was all about :)

The Grand America Gingerbread Display

Their website said: "Admire the intricately crafted gingerbread creation made by Executive Pastry Chef Jeffrey de Leon and his team displayed in the ballroom corridor throughout the holiday season."

It was very awesome. I called it "life-size" and Mike quickly corrected me. If it were life-size, it would be the size our our apartment at least and we could walk in it. Yes, yes. Not life-size, but pretty big all the same. ;-)

The Grand America Window Display & Holiday Stroll
Again, their site said: "Peruse the whimsical displays in our retail windows for a special surprise awaiting children once they complete their journey. This year’s theme, Celebrating the Language of the Holidays Around the World, honors the cultural diversity of holidays and festive celebrations around the globe."

So apparently they create different windows each year? I think that this is going to become a family tradition for us! They were so beautiful and so fun!

France & Kenya

Each window display held the name of a country, and the way that they say, "Merry Christmas." At the beginning of the stroll they had an employee there to greet you and to give you a passport. In the passport you would match the country with their form of holiday greeting. Then at the end they would stamp your passport at the toy shop (another adventure in and of itself) and then you could take it to their bakery and get a cookie. Very awesome. All of this? Free! So nobody can complain. :0)

Scotland & Austria

China & Germany

Italy & Greece

Norway & Spain

Switzerland & Mexico

America & Russia

I totally just named all of those countries by finding their names in the photos - you should try it too! But definitely take the trip to the Grand America in Salt Lake City because they are so much more fun and more detailed in person.

Plus you will get one of these:

We loved it there and we didn't want to leave after our holiday window stroll so we walked around a little bit more and checked the place out. Mike decided that it's a must to spend on of our anniversaries here. 

The countless Christmas Trees around the hotel were beautiful. We were going to take a picture and say, "We finally got our Christmas tree decorated." and pretend it was ours. Would you have believed us?

Mike browsed the books and the games in the Toy Shop "JouJou" while I checked out the Candy Organ - I think if I were a kid, I wouldn't want to leave this place! They had some awesome interactive activities and a little mystical forest type area where you could sit on mushrooms. :0) So fun to walk around and browse. 

We also decided we couldn't leave without seeing the courtyard. The lights were so pretty from indoors that we had to step outdoors to get the full effect.

I have no idea who took this next photo. It was on their website, but it shows how incredible the courtyard was. Kind of magical. Mike & I loved our first (of many to come) visit to the Grand America and I am very excited to go back!