A trio of landscapes from Death Valley.
It seems that I go to Las Vegas, travelling through the state of Nevada, so often that there wouldn’t be anything left for me to do or see. When it is taken into account that I was just there in November for my 30th birthday, one would wonder what the point is of going again so soon. Partially, I needed a getaway from work. It also turned out to be one of the less expensive options at this time of year, despite the terrible exchange rate at the moment. Lastly, even though we’ve had a much warmer winter than typical of Edmonton, the mid-twenty highs in Las Vegas were still a welcome change.
On this occasion, aside from a couple of shows, my friend and I avoided the Strip. This time we stayed downtown. About a block from Fremont Street, it was a completely different experience from the Strip. With many independent restaurants in the area, it was great to see another side of Las Vegas. My only qualm is that there is live music played every single night on Fremont, and it’s loud. The sound was manageable after the weekend, but, Saturday night, the music was so amplified that we could hear it loud and clear through the shower in our hotel room. The music was also relentless, being performed until at least 4 o’clock in the morning. Thank goodness for the earplugs that the Downtown Grand Hotel supplied to us.
Otherwise, this vacation was really relaxing. We sampled food from some new places, went to play games at the arcade and ventured all around Nevada. As usual, I’m sharing my photographs here in the hopes of inspiring others to branch outside of the familiar in Vegas and to travel, in general.
To read past posts about Vegas and Nevada, please check out the Travel category or do a search on my blog.
A mix of things seen on the trip.
Food
A bowl of the spicy eggplant with tofu.
Affordable meals, particularly at lunch time. We actually missed the lunch specials, but the prices are still good. My friend and I probably could have split one dish and it would have been enough to comfortably fill both of our stomachs.
This was a great find on the myVEGAs app. Redeemed for only 9,000 points, we received a voucher that gave us one free entree with purchase of another. The cocktail we each ordered was refreshing. The pasta was delicious, but very rich, and it was a struggle for me to finish my dish, although I still managed to do so. We were surprised that we didn’t know of the restaurant’s existence since we actually stayed in the Mirage hotel on our last holiday in Vegas.
A cute restaurant located in the Downtown Container Park, we were treated to a lovely, light meal. I had bought a Groupon that included a shared appetizer, two entrees, two desserts and a whole bottle of wine. It was indulgent, yet I didn’t feel overly stuffed, which is a good thing. The beef carpaccio was fresh and thinly sliced, and although there was some cilantro in the salsa verde that topped my salmon, it was a very tasty dish with the roasted Brussels sprouts and asparagus. As for dessert, the kitchen was out of everything that they would normally have had available, but they threw the chocolate dipped berries together for us.
The chocolate display at JinJu.
Again, I came across a Groupon for this store, which is also located at the Downtown Container Park. The voucher I purchased included their signature box of 64 assorted chocolates. All of the chocolates are beautifully crafted, looking like little works of art. At over $1 CDN per chocolate with the deal, these are not inexpensive, but the Groupon definitely helped.
On day three of our holiday, we planned to road trip across the border into California and further north in Nevada. Knowing we’d have to be up earlier than most places were open, we sought out any place where we’d be able to stock up on snacks for a full day of driving. Pink Box fit the bill. The Summerlin location is open 24 hours a day, so the doughnuts are made fresh throughout the day. Closer to cake style, they were fluffy. However, I did find that the glazes were very sugary, leaving my teeth feeling less than ideal.
A really fun restaurant with an enviable patio space, this was a charming and quirky getaway from the hustle and bustle of Fremont Street just a block down the road. Portion sizes were large and filling.
One of our last meals in Vegas was at Cafe 6. Off the strip at Palms Place, they specialize in burgers, and great ones at that. I ended up with the Smoke Out, which I’m guessing is a top choice at the restaurant since they use a photo of it in much of their advertising. I can safely say that the ads didn’t point me in the wrong direction.
Attractions
Although we stayed nearby, we really spent very little time on Fremont. We often went out of the area instead. I do love all the bright neon signs down the block. Old and new, they reminded me of our tour through the Neon Boneyard a couple trips back.
Graffiti Art – Downtown Las Vegas
Driving around downtown Las Vegas early in the morning, we attempted to find a bakery to pick up some breakfast before heading to Valley of Fire. The bakery happened to be closed, but we came across some fantastic graffiti art. If I knew of a walking tour, I would have signed us up as I’m curious about the stories behind some of the pieces. The pictures here don’t even account for everything within that area. Maybe next time we can explore more.
A park that consists of shipping containers made into storefronts and restaurant spaces, this was a fun Las Vegas destination. Most of the businesses create an outer circle around a play zone that caters to children. There’s a big screen on the one end where various music videos were projected as we ate dinner at The Perch.
We’d already been to Valley of Fire in November, but we only made it through about half of the park. This time, we checked out the Seven Sisters, the Petrified Log, Elephant Rock and Mouse’s Tank. The sunny day saw that the open valley heated up quickly, so even though we started early, it was scorching hot (to us) by noon.
From afar, Lake Mead looks nice enough, but, up close, it was kind of a sad sight. Other than the fact that you can see just how much the water in the lake has receded over the years, the lake is home to dozens, maybe hundreds of seagulls and very little vegetation. There’s no actual sand, and it seems unappealing to swim in the water. Granted, a lot of visitors to the beach didn’t seem to care.
For a wetlands park, we expected more water than we saw. Also, the park could do with a lot more signage. Whenever there was a fork in the road, we just made a decision and walked. Yet, we really had no clue where we were going or just how far away were getting from the parking lot. There was little wildlife to be seen, too. Perhaps it’s the sort of man made nature of the park that contributed to that sense. Otherwise, it was a quiet, peaceful place that might be better to wander through later in the spring or during the summer.
Aside from the questionable gas fill up at the Alien Brothel on the way to Death Valley in California, this was one of my favourite days on this trip. Within reasonable driving distance from Vegas, this national park is vast with varying landscapes throughout. Unbeknownst to us, we even happened upon a super bloom year (millions of wildflowers growing in the hottest, driest and lowest place in North America due to extreme rain in the fall), which hasn’t occurred in a decade.
The ghost town of Rhyolite is just a minute away from the Goldwell Open Air Museum that we had on our itinerary. I’m sure that some of the building were quite gorgeous in their day. It’s actually quite sad to see what’s become of this gold mining town.
What an oddity this open air museum is. Large scale pieces of art are scattered around a parcel of land in Goldwell, Nevada. If the art, the store, and the barn in the far distance wasn’t there, you’d assume it had been abandoned as well.
Goldfield, NV and the International Car Forest of the Last Church
The most northern location on our road trip, the International Car Forest is easy to miss. We stopped in the tiny town of Goldfield to ask for directions. Turns out the forest was simply a minute’s drive away, but somewhat hidden from the road. While wandering among all the cars that had been left behind and tagged by graffiti artists, I wondered what exactly has gone on in this place. It seemed a perfect location for middle-of-the-night raves, and is apparently the backdrop for a music video. I also questioned how exactly these cars were placed where they were and if anyone could drop their decrepit vehicle there. Needless to say, it’s an interesting vista for photographers, and it’s another random place, dotting the American landscape, for road trippers to see should they be inclined.
Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Botanical Cactus Garden
I really enjoy getting the behind the scenes look at various businesses. Whether it’s touring a brewery or a guitar factory, they’re often fascinating. Ethel M does things a bit differently with a self-guided viewing lane at their chocolate factory. Large glass windows allow you to peek into the factory at the assembly line, and there are plaques and videos that provide information along the way. While we went through during their suggested hours, the factory was actually very quiet that day. Most of the areas lay empty, save for a few maintenance workers checking out the equipment and some staff filling heart shaped boxes with chocolate. It’s still a neat concept though.
Equally as quiet was their botanical cactus garden, located just outside of the factory and store. It is not a particularly large garden, but they have plenty of variety when it comes to cacti, making for a somewhat educational visit through a colourful, dry desert space.
The Pinball Hall of Fame was one of my favourite places. From the outside, the building doesn’t look all that appealing, but once you enter the dimly lit warehouse space, you’re greeted by several rows of pinball machines that span decades. Far from the look, but don’t touch mentality of most museums, the Pinball Hall of Fame is part history, part arcade. You can read the index cards placed inside most of the machines to learn more about the origins of each, or you can play the games as the majority are still in great working condition. It took a few games to get the hang of the pinball machines, but it was a lot of fun. I was reminded of when I was a child playing arcade games at Fuddruckers back when Edmonton used to have one of those restaurants.
The Strip
As previously mentioned, my friend and I spent very little time on the Strip during this trip. The only reason we were there at all was to see comedienne Kathy Griffin‘s show at the Mirage and Canadian singing sensation, Celine Dion, at Caesars Palace. Otherwise, we likely would have skipped the area all together. However, since we were nearby, we made sure to stop at Sprinkles for our cupcake fix (peanut butter banana is still one of my favourite flavours). We also perused the stores in the Forum Shops at Caesars. Ted Baker had some beautiful pieces that were surprisingly less expensive than expected, but still not within my price range. Lastly, as a fan of the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, I was kind of excited to see some of the actual looks worn by the models being used as window displays. It’d be a dream to work for the VS Fashion Show (and try on a pair of wings). The amount of work that goes into it is insane and, although the clothes are small, the details of each outfit are intricate. It was very cool to see some of the outfits in person.
Fa(shion).Fi(lm).Fo(od).tography 