TDY Gouge - Utah

Hill AFB, UT - Peery Hotel (est. 1910) 1-800-331-0073 is a great place for C-130 guys to stay at if picking up a PDM bird or dropping in to Salt Lake for a night or two! Recommend only a couple of nights due to no swimming pool/bar/etc...but they offer the mil rate, always have great rooms, and just did a 3 million dollar renovation. It's a very historic place that offers free breakfast and is within walking distance (1 block) of a nice little microbrewery with good beer and food (Squatters), 2 blocks from a cool dance club, and close to the Delta Center during basketball season--the PDM guys have box seats that are usually available--check with the LT COL running the show! Airport Radison has free buffet breakfast, free drinks from 5-7 each night, USA Today for each room. 5 min drive to the guard base. This was a PDM input. Arrive early enough to drop your plane off at depot, catch a van ride to the airport for your rental cars, check into the fabulous Sheraton, downtown Salt Lake, across from the Salt Palace, and still have enough time to hit the slopes for some night skiing. Brighton provided 4 hours of night skiing, boots, poles, and skis for $30. We also scheduled our return flight, a double layover trip, on the following afternoon, allowing us time after skiing to hit the nightspots in Salt Lake. Believe it or not, there are some good ones. The Squatters Brewery is a good place to start, ask the help there about good clubs to hit after hours. Oh, and our fellow guests at the Sheraton that evening? The Chicago Bulls and the Judds. Nothing like hanging out with Elton Brand in the lobby while TDY. All in all, an excellent two day TDY! Radison Airport = Free Alcohol from 1700 to 1900 every nite. Food in restaurant is good to above average. Rates are Perdiem. Hey, just finished a JA/ATT to Salt Lake City, UT. We stayed at the Embassy Suites, 110 West 600 South St. (801) 359-7800, and they DEFINITELY deserve a lime-star rating. Free well, wine, and draft from 1700-1900 daily (yeah, even in Utah!). Complimentary cooked to order breakfast every morning, plus a USA Today. Rooms were awesome with fridge, microwave, and separate living room. They charged max per diem rate of $75, but we checked and they were $140 to the everyday bubba. Outstanding service, too. Also had dinner at a great restaurant. Rodizio Grill, 459 Trolley Square (801) 220-0500, is a Brazilian buffet like you've never seen. Some of the meats are pretty exotic (rattlesnake, alligator, swordfish) but they have the traditional top sirloin and other stuff. They bring it to your table on spits. Food bar was equally impressive. Expect to drop $20 for the buffet, including drinks, but it's well worth it. Great support from the 151st Air Refueling Wing! They really went out of their way and did all sorts of stuff to help us out. Besides, any unit that subscribes to Maxim for each of their crapper stalls deserves a kudos. Important note: DO NOT PLAN A TAKEOFF/LANDING AT ANYWHERE NEAR 1000. This is a surge period for Salt Lake International, which we thought we could work around. It took us almost an hour to taxi from the active to parking. And lastly, we'll second your site's recommendation to ski Brighton. Inexpensive rentals and all ranges of difficulty made for a great trip! Also, SEE OGDEN, UT.

Ogden, UT - Can't get into Hill? - Try Ogden (KOGD)... the folks at Great Western FBO (801) 294-3400 will roll out the red carpet (no kidding), give out hats and take you to a fantastic Ogden Marriott (801) 627-1190 (under the perdiem) just a short drive from the airport. There at the hotel you can hit the bar being a guest. Try the Tember Mine for dinner (5 star)and get a great steak for a fairly good price. The hotel also offers one of the best breakfast bars on this planet. All-in-all, a great TDY all because of the Ogden stop.