On our first date, we went to Trolley Square to eat at EIBO's restaurant (now defunct) and play pool at the Wooden Dog (which soon thereafter was turned into a Pottery Barn), and headed over to Ninth & Ninth and sipped drinks at the Coffee Garden (which still exists across the street from its funky original site).
We announced our engagement to her parents at the Mint Restaurant in Midvale (which, last I checked, had become a Mexican restaurant). Our wedding-rehearsal lunch was at Ferrantelli's (another departed Trolley Square restaurant), and we got our wedding-day lunch from one of our favorite places, the Park Ivy at Ninth & Ninth (a site that now sell bicycles).
Our curse extends beyond Utah: On our honeymoon, we caught a Seattle Mariners game at the Kingdome, 2 1/2 years before the building was demolished to make way for Qwest Field.
Last week we learned another "special" place is gone. Squirrel Brothers Ice Cream on 400 South put up a "closing" message under its Snelgrove's double-cone sign. Nine years ago, when my wife and I were expecting our first child, we would go to Squirrel Brothers for a treat after our weekly birthing classes.
I wonder what killed the old place. (I've called, but nobody answers the phone.) Maybe it was the crappy economy, or Dreyer's Ice Cream's decision to discontinue the Snelgrove brand, or competition from the Baskin-Robbins across the street.
Or maybe it's part of a larger problem in Salt Lake City: A lack of respect for permanence.
Rome's architecture is sculpted in marble. New York's skyline is built from steel. Salt Lake City's profile is written on an Etch-a-Sketch.
Think about the places that aren't there anymore, and you start sounding like your grandpa: "I remember swimming at the Deseret Gym, then eating in the Tiffin Room. At night, we'd go dancing at the Terrace Ballroom - while the kids would see a movie at Crossroads Mall or a show at the Zephyr Club."
The funny thing is that while we're watching our past crumble away, we get excited when a piece of ready-made nostalgia - like the Road Island Diner that recently opened in Oakley - is plopped into our laps. There are still good old places left. Enjoy them while you can.
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SEAN P. MEANS also writes the Culture Vulture in daily blog form at blogs.sltrib .com/vulture. Send tips, contributions and comments to vulture@sltrib.com.
