Downtown Salt Lake City is livelier than it used to be. City Creek Center, a 23-acre mall-and-housing redevelopment project (retractable roof, trout pond, completed in 2013) is a big part of that, as is the Greenbike sharing program, also begun in 2013. A loosening of liquor laws hasn’t hurt, either. As I found on a three-night visit in November with my wife and daughter, there are at least seven craft breweries downtown. Granted, this might not be enough to deter you from that snowboarding/skiing vacation up the hill in Park City. But after the slopes, you could allow yourself a downtown overnight and a few hours of playtime — and you might be pleasantly surprised. The tab: $417 (excluding taxes and fees) for three nights at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center; $61 for light dinners at Squatters Pub; $9.95 per adult for admission to the Leonardo museum. Round-trip airfare from Los Angeles International Airport about $188, including taxes and fees.

The bed

Hilton Salt Lake City Center (255 South West Temple; 801- 328-2000, www.lat.ms/1SKLU1i). There are no surprises in this big, boxy building (except perhaps the tasty steaks at Spencer’s restaurant). But in hotels, predictability isn’t such a bad thing. These rooms are an easy walk to the Salt Palace Convention Center, City Creek Center and the historic buildings of Temple Square. That includes the domed Mormon Tabernacle, a 19th-century marvel (updated in the 2000s) in which the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (www.mormontabernaclechoir.org) performs and rehearses. Most Thursday nights from 8 to 9:30, you can wander into the Tabernacle (as I did) and eavesdrop on the rehearsing choir, the orchestra, the organ and the exhortations of conductor Mack Wilberg as he troubleshoots his way through a score. On the night I visited, the oak pews held perhaps 200 listeners in a space that seats 3,500.

The meal

Squatters Pub Brewery (147 W. Broadway; 801-363-2739, www.squatters.com) was among the first of the city’s downtown craft breweries when it opened in 1989. Our greeter led us through the raucous main room to a patio-adjacent backroom that has one glass wall and several colorful contemporary artworks. The menu includes plenty of pizzas and burgers. Most main dishes are $9.99-$22.99. (And yes, with my Caesar salad and top sirloin, I did order the Polygamy Porter.)

The find

The Leonardo (209 E. 500 South; 801-531-9800, www.theleonardo.org) is a museum of science, technology and creativity, full of gee-whiz hands-on features. Born in 2011, it occupies a building that was once the city’s main public library. I loved the area devoted to perception and witnessed half a dozen transfixed teenagers in one of the rooms devoted to exploring the properties of water. A great space. But there was a second find too: Ken Sanders Rare Books (www.kensandersbooks.com) on South 200 East is a tempting den of counterculture with a big inventory of Western history inside — and outside, a defiant mural of labor leader Joe Hill, who was executed by a Salt Lake City firing squad in 1915.

Lesson learned

Greater Salt Lake’s TRAX light-rail system (www.rideuta.com) took a great leap forward in 2013 when its green line reached Salt Lake City International Airport. Now you can ride the 6 miles from the airport to downtown in 20 minutes for $2.50 per person.