Summer Guide ’08 | Quick Fixes Part II: The staff of City Weekly solves the many quandries of summer so you don’t have to 

QUANDARY: The carbonation in beer, soda and other summer drinks is destroying your bones.

THE FIX: Sure, it gets hot in Salt Lake during the summer, but it’s nothing compared to the heat/humidity endured by our Latin American neighbors—which is why they drink horchata, possibly the most satisfying summer drink ever invented. For the uninitiated, horchata is a refreshing, milky rice drink found in most Mexican restaurants such as in a local favorite, the post-party destination of Molca Salsa. Despite the drink’s unusual description, there are few who can finish one without instantly wanting un mas por favor.
Molca Salsa, 2901 E. 3300 South, 487-3850

QUANDARY: You’ve got a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and you need ... a Broadway musical.

THE FIX: Just because many of Salt Lake City’s theaters go dark in the summer doesn’t mean you need to be stuck in your living room listening to the Cats original cast recording. The Utah Shakespearean Festival (Bard.org, 800-PLAYTIX) in Cedar City includes not only vintage Elizabethan genius, but Fiddler on the Roof (June 19–Aug. 30). Or, in nearby Ivins, the Tuacahn Center for the Arts (Tuacahn.org, 800-746-9882) presents Les Miserables (June 10-Oct. 18), The Sound of Music (June 9-Aug. 15), Big River (Aug. 27-Oct. 17), Disney’s High School Musical (July 9-Aug. 2). In Logan, meanwhile, Utah Festival Opera (UFOC.org, 800-262-0074) presents Sondheim’s Into the Woods (July 10–Aug. 8) and Gypsy (July 29 & Aug. 6), as well as 1776 (July 12–Aug. 9). Closer to home, Hale Centre Theatre (HaleCentreTheatre.org, 984-9000) serves up Big: The Musical (July 29–Sept. 20). At, at the Capitol Theatre: the 2006 Tony Award-winning The Drowsy Chaperone (June 25-29) (BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com, 323-6800).

QUANDARY: A lovely green lawn seems like an appealing idea; smothering it with chemical pesticides and weed-killers, not so much.

THE FIX: Utah lags behind the go-green curve in many ways, but there are still options for getting eco-friendly help with your landscaping. BioGreen Utah provides consultation and products based on proper environmentally safe soil management, with no animal waste or petroleum ingredients. The birds, your kids and future generations will thank you.
BioGreen Utah, 979-7195, BioGreen.com

QUANDARY: You love classical music, but you prefer to enjoy it while soaking wet.

THE FIX: Bill Dvorak Expeditions’ Classical Music White Water Rafting Tour isn’t just eight days of exploration and adventure on the Green River in late July. It’s also a chance to experience musicians from the Santa Fe Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and other celebrated orchestras as they explore the unique acoustics of the natural world. Add gourmet food and improvised classical jab sessions, and you’ve got a fascinating—if pricey, at more than $2,000 per person—combination of outdoor grit and refined sophistication.
800-824-3795, DvorakExpeditions.com

QUANDARY: Your ski muscles might atrophy during the three months of the year when we don’t have snow.

THE FIX: Summer doesn’t mean you have to have your poles surgically removed from your grip. Get off the waxed sticks and get onto wheels. Rollerskis can keep you in that crucial cross-country shape while cruising around town and providing an innovative way to reduce your gasoline bill. Wild Rose Mountain Sports sells V2’s line of smooth-riding road skis and Park City’s Torbjorn Sport an hook you up with PRO-SKI products.
Wild Rose Mountain Sports, 702 Third Ave., 533-8671, WildRoseSports.com; Torbjorn Sport, Park City, 435-645-8181, TorbjornSport.com.

QUANDARY: What to whistle on a glorious summer’s day.

THE FIX: Utah Opera Presents Highlights of Gilbert & Sullivan, featuring music from HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Gondoliers at the Deer Valley Music Festival on August 8. Go to the final dress rehearsal the day before for free. It’s a performance that’s likely to sow terminal whistling addictions into your brain.
Utah Opera Presents Highlights of Gilbert & Sullivan, Aug. 8, DeerValleyMusicFestival.com

QUANDARY: Knocking over your wine bottle at picnics.

THE FIX: Instead of sobering up, buy Steady Sticks. For the sloppy drinker accustomed to cursing as his beer soaks into the ground, Steady Sticks, steel spirals that can be pushed into the ground, offer the perfect bottle cradle. You can rest your wine glass or bottle—or your beer can—in one of these babies and know your precious booze will be safe to the last drop.
Spoons n’ Spice, multiple locations, 1-888-558-2436, SpoonsNSpice.com