Maren Solis

Retirement gets more interesting when affordability does not require giving up the things that make a town useful.…

By Maren Solis · Sep 25

Some staircases lead upstairs. This one was carved into a cliff because travelers once needed a way through…

By Maren Solis · Sep 25

A cheap meal stops feeling ordinary when the plate arrives looking like it could feed two people. That…

By Maren Solis · Sep 24

Most fossil hunts sound like they require a permit, a toolkit, and the patience of a museum curator.…

By Maren Solis · Sep 24

Fabric shopping has its own version of time travel: you look at one bolt, then somehow an hour…

By Maren Solis · Sep 23

A tuft-eared squirrel is a surprisingly good reason to remember a mountain town. Around the ponderosa forests of…

By Maren Solis · Sep 23

Antique shopping is basically archaeology with price tags and better lighting. Behind storefronts and along small-town commercial strips,…

By Maren Solis · Sep 22

A night out feels different when the sky becomes part of the entertainment. Lanterns rising after dark can…

By Maren Solis · Sep 22

A bakery worth driving for should make the miles feel like part of the reward, not the price…

By Maren Solis · Sep 21

Not every memorable drive needs speed, distance, or a famous finish line. Sometimes the road itself becomes the…

By Maren Solis · Sep 21

Some dinners feed you; others arrive with a storyline and dramatic lighting. In West Valley City, a burger…

By Maren Solis · Sep 20

Retirement gets very real when every monthly expense starts competing for the same fixed income. Housing matters, but…

By Maren Solis · Sep 20

The best fall drives are not always the ones everyone has pinned, posted, and packed into an itinerary.…

By Maren Solis · Sep 19

Longevity is the restaurant flex that cannot be faked. A dining room can chase trends for a season,…

By Maren Solis · Sep 19

Smoke should reach the parking lot before the menu ever reaches your hands. That is the first clue…

By Maren Solis · Sep 18

Pierogi have a talent for making an ordinary Tuesday feel more interesting than it had any right to…

By Maren Solis · Sep 18

Some places make a weekend easier by refusing to complicate it. Here, the formula is obvious: water for…

By Maren Solis · Sep 17

Where else can one weekend jump from river water to dinosaur bones still locked inside stone? The contrast…

By Maren Solis · Sep 17

Dessert is a perfectly respectable reason to rearrange an afternoon. South of Provo, a farm stop turns that…

By Maren Solis · Sep 16

Crab cakes in a mountain valley are already a conversation starter. Add jumbo lump crab, herb buttermilk sauce,…

By Maren Solis · Sep 16

A road trip gets more interesting when the best stop is the one you almost drove past. Beyond…

By Maren Solis · Sep 15

Treasure hunting gets dangerous the moment “I’m only browsing” becomes your opening lie. Give yourself 10,000 square feet…

By Maren Solis · Sep 15

Some art asks you to stand politely in a gallery. This one asks you to drive into the…

By Maren Solis · Sep 14

Country stores earn their keep by solving three problems at once: hunger, groceries, and the sudden need for…

By Maren Solis · Sep 14

Bargain hunting gets interesting when the shelves refuse to tell you what comes next. This warehouse-style stop mixes…

By Maren Solis · Sep 13

The ground can look perfectly ordinary right up until you discover there is an adventure hiding underneath it.…

By Maren Solis · Sep 13

Barbecue has a funny habit of becoming the destination, even when it was supposed to be a quick…

By Maren Solis · Sep 12

The smartest fall drive might be the one everyone else forgot to crowd. Instead of crawling behind brake…

By Maren Solis · Sep 12

Some grocery runs are errands. Others make you wonder why buying yogurt ever became so complicated. This farm…

By Maren Solis · Sep 11

A great burrito can rescue a weekday faster than carefully planned lunches will. No elaborate dining room is…

By Maren Solis · Sep 11

Some small cities make weekend planning easier simply by giving you several good reasons to stay put. Here,…

By Maren Solis · Sep 10

Some road trips hand you scenery. Others hand you a town that seems to have stopped answering the…

By Maren Solis · Sep 10

Some nights are more fun when the theater ceiling is the sky. Forget assigned seats, crowded aisles, and…

By Maren Solis · Sep 9

A shopping day works best when nobody needs a map, a spreadsheet, or three separate parking plans. Here,…

By Maren Solis · Sep 9

Crowds are useful for concerts, not always for campfires. When the goal is a quieter night outdoors, the…

By Maren Solis · Sep 8

Roadside attractions are at their best when your first reaction is, “Who decided to build that?” Here, the…

By Maren Solis · Sep 8

The strongest restaurant recommendations rarely start with advertising. They start with somebody leaning across a table and saying,…

By Maren Solis · Sep 7

A great scone does not need drama to become the thing you remember most. It just needs the…

By Maren Solis · Sep 7

Some weekend plans are better when the only agenda is seeing what catches your eye. Rows of small…

By Maren Solis · Sep 6