The Weekenders | Back to School[house]

Our Weekenders series had to take a small hiatus, thanks to the straight-up madness of summer ’round here [we’re a real-estate co., and our busy season is no. joke.], but we’re getting back to it. If you’ve spent more than a full calendar year in Zion, you know that fall is like our Cinderella: she gets real good n’ pretty for too short a time before getting all squashy and sooty–but damn, does she look good dressed up. Fall is best because a.) the inversion’s reign of terror [shudder] is all but a distant memory, b.) the temps have finally begun to dip below 90 [if it hits below 80 we’re donning cardigans] and c.) the foliage is poppin’ off like a post-Pioneer Day firework show. Before our harvest clock strikes midnight, you’d do well to get yourself up to them thar hills and see our gorgeous countryside in her most flattering light.

WASHINGTON SCHOOLHOUSE HOTEL, PARK CITY, 45 MINUTES: The familiar drive up Parley’s Canyon gets seriously scenic this time of year. Get in the motorcoach, hop on I-80, point your wheels eastward, put the top down [or all windows–same basic, bird’s-nest hair effect], and go. Hop on off at Kimball Junction, and from there it’s just a short bebop through downtown Park City to your CrazySexyCool destination.

Check In: Washington Schoolhouse Hotel, 543 Park Ave. — You ought to be well-acquainted with this place by now [it’s quickly becoming our favorite PC haunt], and we love her dearly for being equal parts old world ornate and clean modern. This is still technically the off-season for Park City, so we’re betting you can book one of their 12 rooms for less than you could, say, mid-Sundance. And, at least until the Big Chill drops, their hillside private pool is still the physical manifestation of the phrase “serenity now”.

Eat Out: High West Distillery & Saloon, 703 Park Ave., Prime Steak House, 804 Main St. — Another of our Park City favorites, no doubt. We’re almost always down for brats and booze, and that’s precisely what we stuffed our gullets with at High West. And, for the record, patio dining with patriots is never a bad time. For supper, we mosied over to Prime Steak House for one of the best damn filets of our lives [and the views weren’t too shabby, neither].

Spend Pesos: Root’d, 596 Main St., The Expanding Heart, 505 Main St. — The darling thing about our sister-wife city is that the whole thing is so dern walkable. Each stop on our weekend getaway is within strolling distance, and these shut-up-and-take-my-money shops are no different. First up: a new acquaintance, Root’d. We nearly dropped dead at the sight of the handmade, one-of-a-kind dreamcatcher in the front window, and the shop’s wide array of antler-adorned and brass home decor had us ooh-ing and ahh-ing for over an hour. Second: an old favorite, The Expanding Heart. She’s a breeze of Nag Champa on Park City’s bustling Main Street, and we pay her a visit on nearly every trip east. Books on meditation, self-help, divination, and Kama Sutra line the walls, along with crystals, tarot cards, and baoding balls. Pop in here to get your numerology, tarot, or palm read. Chakra: c l e a n s e d.