When I say Salt Lake City, unless you live here, you probably don't think any of these things. But you should. Because Salt Lake is a weird, wonderful place. A smallish metro that has embraced its culture clash head on. Outside the city proper, the state is conservative and mostly religious.

Inside the city, it's a different world. The alternative thrives in these wide, charming streets, teeming with tattoo shops and hipster coffeehouses. Known as a foodie destination and a top ten gayest city in America, Salt Lake City's renaissance moment arrived decades ago and never left. It's a wealthy hub of liberal sensibilities, a safe space for the shunned and ostracized. And despite its religious roots, Salt Lake City is a place I feel at home in my own skin.

I remember why this metro is my brand of comfort every time I wander the streets during Craft Lake City. This DIY fest brings out all the weird, lovable, quirky people I adore and reminds me why I love this city and why, against all odds, I stay year after year.

1. Calling All Creatives

Want to get your brilliant on? This is the place. The city prides itself not just on ingenuity and a healthy thirst for the entrepreneurial but rewards hard work and hustle like nobody's business.

2. Where Weird is Normal

As a result of the heavily conservative influence of the rest of the state, Salt Lake has a fierce counter culture. Here bearded hipsters and man buns dot every corner, and tattoos are a dime a dozen. Dozens of bars are clustered close enough to tumble from one into another until last call, while bike taxis crowd the curbs every night of the week and twice on Sundays.

3. It's Charming as Hell

The devil is in the details and in Salt Lake City, there's plenty of his handiwork to be admired. Loving crafted local goods and food infuse every inch of the city with meticulous charm that's cute and exceptionally clever.

4. A Foodie's Fantasy

Be prepared to taste all the things ALL OF THEM. Salt Lake, once a destination where boring and bland went hand in hand, has experienced an explosion of taste. Every block is crammed with bites of ingenuity, all locally sourced and impecabbly crafted.

5. No Seriously. THE FOOD.

It bears repeating. The food in Salt Lake City is fantastic.Inventive and inspired, it fills this foodie mecca with a sense of daring, as if the next great culinary adventure is just around the corner.

While Salt Lake might never be a sprawling metropolis, I do hope this best-kept secret of the West stays mine to keep. It's really too perfect to share.

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