Utah Governor's Mansion

One of the coolest experiences I've ever had and definitely a highlight of the summer was getting a personal tour of the Utah Governor's mansion from no one other than the governor himself! Governor Spencer Cox is a good governor. He tries to be moderate and fair, looking at things from various angles. My parents both like him.

He was a missionary in Los Cabos when I lived there. I used to fee him and he is the missionary that baptized Armando. Apparently he had been trying to track me down too. Thanks to Facebook, we reconnected. And he invited us for a tour! We were originally going to have dinner at the mansion, but his schedule filled up. I was grateful he took time between appointments to give us the tour.

We got there a little early and the security guard told us we could walk around and make ourselves at home.

Side entrance

Front of the mansion.

It's truly a beautiful building and has quite a history.

The interior was even more beautiful.

Baylie got to play the Steinway in the mansion. How cool is that?!

This silver was on the USS Utah in Pearl Harbor. The ship was decommissioned before the bombing and the silver was saved. The children of Utah saved their pennies to pay for it. The Smithsonian has asked for it, but Utah doesn't want to give it away.

Indian baskets

Sitting at the governor's desk

More silver

In the kitchen

Back stairs

Cool table

Floor grates

So cool for my parents to have a photo with the governor.

And my kids. Hopefully one day they realize what an amazing opportunity this was.

Governor Cox was a terrific tour guide.

This hat rack was a gift from Teddy Roosevelt. It was one of the few things that survived the fire.

Bell system to call the servants back in the day.

Grammy and the kids loved riding in the elevator.

The rest of us took the stairs up to the third floor. The second floor is the private living quarters.

Gold cuppola. It fell during the fire but was able to be salvaged.

Original furniture in the upstairs bedroom.

Banquet room

Ready for his big speech.

I loved seeing Governor Cox help my mom down the stairs. So classy.

I was especially happy to see that despite his political aspirations, he was still the same good, humble person I knew as a missionary in Cabos.