See The Stars in Ogden

Brad Pitt?! Angelina Jolie?! Julia Roberts?! George Clooney?!

Wrong kind of stars. We're talking about those little points of light in the sky here. We're talking about the Ott Planetarium at Weber State University.

Many people in Utah think there is just the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City, and while it is the most well known in Utah, it isn't the only one. The Ott Planetarium, on the campus of Weber State, offers a great selection of star shows and shows about clouds, the aurora, the Hubble Telescope and more.

It has a smaller theater (it holds just 60 people) than the Clark Planetarium, but by no means does this diminish the educational and entertainment factor. At $2.00 per show for adults and $1.00 per show for kids, it's hard to find a better planetarium value anywhere in the United States.

During the summer, the Ott Planetarium offers the public the "Summer Series," of shows every other Saturday from noon until 4:00 p.m. for FREE. Seating is limited. The planetarium also takes science to the parks in June and July. The "Science in the Parks" program gets kids involved in the "coolness" of science through the 5 different parts of the program- Hear It, See It, Fly It, Feel It, and Build It. These programs run weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and are FREE to kids of all ages.

When you visit the Ott Planetarium, don't forget to visit the Museum of Natural Science, located in the same building- the Lind Lecture Hall. For my money, this is one of the greatest little planetariums in the country.

Place: Ott Planetarium
Location: Lind Lecture Hall- Room 203, Weber State University, 1551 Edvalson Street, Ogden
Phone: 801.626.6871 (live Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.)
Hours: Varies with season and available shows, see website for more information
Cost: Summer Series shows are FREE (see above, or see website), regular public shows are $2.00 for adults and $1.00 for students (Kindergarten to University), children under 5 are FREE.


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Distance from:
Salt Lake City: 33.8 miles
Ogden (downtown): 3.4 miles
Provo: 75.4 miles
Logan: 50.8 miles

A "Jurassic Park" Where the Dinosaurs Won't Eat You

If you like dinosaurs, then Utah is an amazing state to be in. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but in my own search of museums in the state that are in whole, or in part, dedicated to dinosaurs, I have found twelve. TWELVE! That is more dinosaur museums than I've found in any other state.

Most people are familiar with Dinosaur National Monument that is located in Utah and Colorado, out near Vernal, Utah. But, are you familiar with any of the other dinosaur museums? There may be one closer to you than you realize.

One that is very unique and really geared towards both adults and children is Ogden's George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park. I remember the first time I took my kids to the park. They were enthralled with the dinosaurs that we found around every bend in the winding paths, and I was just as interested as they were. They nearly jumped out of their shoes when, after having just found a dinosaur, it roared loudly at them.

The Eccles Dinosaur Park has quite a few attractions that make it so much fun to visit. There are more than 100 life-sized statues of dinosaurs throughout the park, including predators, marine animals and flying reptiles, that are brought to life through attention to detail, robotics and sound systems.

Quite a few of the dinosaurs in the park were indigenous to Utah. Remember the Velociraptor from the "Jurassic Park" movies? Wuss! The park has a replica of the Utahraptor, a ferocious dinosaur discovered in 1993 in Grand County, that would have eaten Velociraptor's lunch.

Through movies and books we've become familiar with many types of dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops. What makes the Eccles Dinosaur Park so fascinating is that it also has replicas of truly weird species of dinosaurs from other parts of the world such as South America and Asia.

Before, or after you are done wandering the park, head into the Elizabeth Dee Shaw Stewart Museum. The museum contains many of the recent dinosaur fossil finds from around Utah and around the world. Full skeletons of dinosaurs are on display and you can watch people working in the lab to prepare more dinosaur bones and teeth for display.

Take the kids and go on over to the Geode Mine where they can dig for gems, pan for gold and crack geodes with the geode splitter. They can even keep the gems they find when they go digging.

The park also has an education center that my kids loved. They got to see exhibits and color dinosaurs pages to take home with them. There is a fun, dinosaur themed playground for the little ones and picnic tables scattered around the east side of the park.

Eccles Dinosaur Park is one of those places I've mentioned before that offer family memberships. A basic family membership will cost $60.

Spend a day with the dinosaurs (other than Barney). If your kids are anything like mine they'll enjoy the day and then exhaustedly fall asleep that night with smiles on their faces.

Place: Ogden's George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park
Location: 1544 East Park Boulevard, Ogden (located at the mouth of Ogden Canyon)
Phone: 801.393.3466
Hours: Memorial Day to Labor Day, Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Off-season, Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Cost: Children 1 and Under: Free! 2 to 12 Years Old: $5.00; Students with ID: $6.00; Adults: $7.00; Senior Citizens 62+: $6.00


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Distance from:
Salt Lake City: 44.1 miles
Ogden (downtown): 3.6 miles
Provo: 85.8 miles
Logan: 49.3 miles

Museum of Natural Science- Oh, That's What That Was

Years ago, I attended Weber State University. Back in those days it was known as Weber State College. I lived in a dorm on campus, hung out at the Union with my friends, slept in the library daily from 10:30 a.m to 11:15 a.m., went down to the pond late at night (and got chased away by security), and, oh, yeah, went to classes.

One of my favorite classes was chemistry. In fact I took two chemistry classes while I was there. Both of the classes were taught in the Lind Lecture Hall. Now most lecture halls on campus (and many other campuses I've been to) are pretty sterile places. They are rooms, tiered like a theater or sporting arena, filled with tables and chairs, and other than the lectures that take place inside, there is usually nothing exciting or memorable about them. The Lind Lecture Hall was different. At the time, I didn't realize it was a museum, I just thought it was a cool place to hang out until class started.

The Lind Lecture Hall is the home of the Museum of Natural Science at Weber State. It features exhibits on exploration, native cultures, geoscience (all about the earth), the animal world, the plant world and, finally, the physical world (or the things human have created).

The Lecture Hall is round and so the pathway through the museum takes you in a circle. Start anywhere, learn something neat, and move on until you are back where you started. The dinosaur skeleton is always a hit with kids. The rainfall of Utah map gives you a better idea were our water comes from and how it is stored for our use. There are skeletons from all parts of the animal world. The exhibit on exploration tells us about the early explorers of the Americas, including Fathers Dominguez and Escalante and Lewis and Clark.

You wouldn't think that all this information along with some really outstanding exhibits could be packed into the center of a university lecture hall. But it is. And when I was going to school, all I thought it was, was a cool place to hang out before class started. Who knew? Apparently not me.

Place: Museum of Natural Science
Location: Lind Lecture Hall, Weber State University, Ogden, UT (on campus, follow Edvalson Street up the hill to the northeast corner of campus)
Phone: 801.626.6653
Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday
Cost: FREE


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Distance from:
Salt Lake City: 33.8 miles
Ogden (downtown): 3.4 miles
Provo: 75.4 miles
Logan: 50.8 miles

Free Event of the Day- May 7, 2008

Do you like good music? How about good jazz music? The standards and boogie-woogie?

On Wednesday, May 7, 2008, local musicians C.J. Santoro and the East Street band, will be playing the old standards, boogie-woogie, and more at the Union Station in Ogden. Join the crowd for some great oldies starting at 7:30 p.m. Admission is FREE.

Place: Union Station- Jazz at the Station
Location: 2501 Wall Avenue, Ogden, UT
Phone: 801.393.9890
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: FREE


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Distance from:
Salt Lake City: 37.2 miles
Ogden (downtown): 0.5 miles
Provo: 78.8 miles
Logan: 47.6 miles

Free Ride- Try the New FrontRunner

Take a train ride from Salt Lake to Ogden, from Ogden to Salt Lake, or jump on somewhere in between- and do it for free.

This week marks the beginning of service for the FrontRunner commuter rail service along the Wasatch Front and to kick it off, UTA is giving free rides on the train, today through Wednesday (April 28-30, 2008).

These double-decker trains travel between Ogden and Salt Lake making five stops along the way in Roy, Clearfield, Layton, Farmington and Woods Cross. The train travels up to 80 miles per hour, and including all the stops, takes about an hour to make the trip.

Place: Salt Lake City, Woods Cross, Farmington, Layton, Clearfield, Roy, Ogden
Location: FrontRunner Stations
Hours: Trains start running at 4:25 a.m in Salt Lake and 5:08 a.m. in Ogden- service runs until midnight. Trains run every 30 minutes until 6:00 p.m. and then every 60 minutes until midnight.
Cost: Free (April 28 - 30, 2008)