My mom's first move was to drive to the grocery store for breakfast supplies―a good money-saving approach when you have a kitchen. A lifelong brand loyalist, my mom was thrilled to find Tab on the shelves; the soda is no longer stocked in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we both live. I couldn't say Tab is a good start to a healthy day, but I wasn't going to argue with Mom.
Next we hit Main Street. A landscape painter, my mother was thrilled with the number of galleries in town. We admired abstract sculptures and colorful oil paintings at Coda Gallery and Phoenix Gallery. The nonprofit Kimball Art Center had two exhibits showing, one of locally inspired landscapes and the other of colorful pop art.
Park City is high―more than 6,500 feet in elevation―and the business district runs along a hillside. I was wearing out, so we stopped for drinks at Le Bar Bohême. Because of Utah's strict liquor laws, we had to become club members before we could order a glass of wine on the patio.
Refreshed, we popped into Mountain Body, a skin-care spa and store, and my mom got a free hand-moisturizing treatment. I sampled lavender-tangerine lotion, vanilla body butter, and piña colada cream, and we both came out smelling like a tropical bouquet.
Shops are open late in town, and there was lots to look at, so we just kept browsing. As the sun faded and the sky warmed to a deep blue, the balcony of second-story Wahso restaurant drew us in. Once inside, I glanced at the menu and told my mom to turn around. "It looks great, but it's too pricey," I said.
The restaurant's manager heard me and leaned over. "Do you know about the 'locals' special?' " he asked. "Two entrées for the price of one." The coupon was in the local paper, The Park Record, which we'd picked up. We were sold and sat down to one of the best meals of my life, with a grilled pork chop for Mom and scallops and a sake cocktail for me. It was a splurge, but even after a tip based on the pre-discount tab, Mom agreed it was worth it.
THE TAB
$400 BUDGET
Day 1
The Lodge at the Mountain Village
2 nights
$194.22
Grocery store
Breakfast fixings and Tab for Mom
$10.46
Downtown Park City
Art gallery browsing
Free
Le Bar Bohême
Wine and soda plus temporary club membership
$16.72
Wahso
Splurge dinner, with locals' discount coupon plus tip
$51.91
