5 June - Ogden's Union Station Area and Dinner with Cyndi Schwandt

5 June
Today we headed to downtown Ogden Utah and the Union Station area, which includes the nearby 25th Street district.

The Union Station was the old train station which has been remodeled and preserved.  Inside the old depot you can almost hear all the people who passed through the halls and boarded the trains over the years.

Impressive heavy truss construction has stood the test of time.

The floor has held up well

Our first stop inside the station was the  Utah State Railroad Museum.  The railroad played an integral part in the growth of the west.  The creators of this museum did an outstanding job recreating various portions of the landscape and the railroad tracks passing through.  The details were amazing.

Doreen in a dining car

Tickets, please!

The actual safe where the golden spike of 1869 was stored for years.

a control console used to switch tracks and monitor track status.

Hanging around on the back of a train car!

One of the many outside displays

After the train museum we headed to the Browning Firearms Museum.  This was incredible.  A massive collection of Browning firearms and displays documenting the history of Browning.

Described the connection with the Browning family and Ogden UT.  The Browning Firearms Company was a real family operation over the years.

A recreation of the workshop where the Browning  firearms were developed

The infamous Browning Machine Gun, but an enlarged model for training.

Various Browning machine guns including the water cooled models (the large round jacket around the barrel.

The infamous M1918 B.A.R - Browning Automatic Rifle saw use from World War I up to 1970.  This bad boy weighed in about 16 lbs.  Try lugging that around all day, along with ammo and all your other gear!  

Look at the intricate engraving on this 1911.

I believe this is the same shotgun Dan has in his basement, from Grandpa Schellhase!

A broad view of the entrance to the Browning Museum.

From the firearms museum we headed downstairs to the Car Museum.  There were many old beautiful cars mostly from the early 1900's.  Hudsons, Lincolns, Packards, Pierce Arrows, etc

A nice 1926 Lincoln used in several movies 

An unbelievable 1929 Packard.  The story goes that prior to World War II a Sailor drove this car from Hollywood to Houston and put it in storage and he never returned.  The car was sold at an auction!  Wow!

The final museum is the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.  It contained many items such as saddles, chaps, spurs, lassos, and other western items.

A wide assortment of saddles on display with their ornate stitching.

I think I need a set of these chaps!

A uniform from the mounted Salt Lake Police Palomino Posse.

 After finishing the museums, we headed down 25th street which is a historic district that has been beautifully restored and rejuvenated to capture the history of the area.  It is full of shops, bars, restaurants and antiques.

Ornate entrance to the old Roosevelt Hotel.

Doreen homed in on the Lighthouse Lounge and of course we had to go inside and check it out.  She had a tasty margarita and I sampled a local porter beer.  Very nice

A beautiful old wood bar area

We were preparing to cross the street when the Chief of Police approached from behind.  He was also headed across the street to a Mexican restaurant for lunch.  We had a nice talk with him as he asked us where we were from, etc,  Turns out he is also an Iraq war veteran and a 33 year Army Guard retiree.  He gave us his card and with a smile said if we had any issues while we were visiting Ogden to give him a call.  Ah, a "get out of jail free card"!! LOL  

So we also headed into the Mexican restaurant for lunch.  It was really good!  The Chief was sitting a few tables away having lunch with another gentleman in a light blue business suit.  So I went over and gave the Chief one of my coins and thanked him for his lengthy military service along with his service as a law enforcement officer.  He sincerely thanked me for the coin and then proceeded to introduce the other gentleman to us as the Mayor of Ogden UT!!  

 Back to the campground to take a break, clean up the truck, dump the tanks and then we headed into Salt Lake City to have dinner with Cyndi Schwandt, Doreen's cousin.  Cyndi's dad and Doreen's mother were brother and sister.  When we identified the malfunctioning warranty part for my RV network setup we had the company ship it to Cyndi's PO box and it arrived so it all worked out well.

Doreen and Cyndi Schwandt outside the restaurant.

After dinner we headed an hour north back to the campground and documented the day in the blog.

Tomorrow we will take in the Hill Aviation Museum and one final trip to the Hill AFB Commissary to restock before heading further west.