Viva-ing Las Vegas: The Neon Museum

 

This weekend we went to a delightful little corner of Las Vegas:  The Neon Museum, aka the Neon Boneyard (because it's where neon signs go for their final resting place).  Apparently, this place was also made famous by this season's finale for The Amazing Race?  Sweet!

The Museum is basically a giant collection of old signage from all around Las Vegas - going back around 80 years - all artfully arranged in a big junkyard.  So, it's awesome.
The only way to visit is by guided tour, which I at first thought was sort of annoying, but as it turns out, our guide was fantastic and the anecdotes and unique history of Vegas she provided were so fascinating and so much fun to listen to.  There is so much nostalgia with all those old (now defunct) hotels and casinos!

One of my favorites was the sign from Vegas' Moulin Rouge.  They have rearranged the letters of it, though, so that it says "in love" - how precious is that?!  The tour guide said people get married in front of it all the time.  Awwww!

Another fun part was this HUMONGOUS skull from the old pirate show in front of Treasure Island.  The tour guide said if we wanted to see it's face, to go to Google Maps satellite view and zoom in...
So I did, of course:

We chose to go on a night tour to see everything lit up, but I actually think a day tour would be just as much fun and you would be able to see more details of all the signs and probably catch quite a few things you couldn't see in the dark!  Also, it's like half the price :)

The Neon Museum is on Las Vegas Boulevard, just north of the Strip and not far at all from Fremont Street area, so it would be super easy to make a stop by here even if you were just on the regular Vegas vacation down on the Strip!

Viva-ing In Las Vegas: The High Roller

We've spent the last few months watching a gigantic ferris wheeler sloooooowly being built down on the Strip, hoping hoping hoping it would be finished before we move in August.  And it is!  Here's the punnily named High Roller.

It's the largest observation wheel in the WORLD at 550 feet.  I'm a sucker for a great view of a big city, and this is the best way to get it, no doubt.

It took about 30 minutes to go all the way around, and the cabins have windows on all sides so you can walk around and get any view you want.  Up to 40 people can stand in each pod, but there were only about a dozen in ours (maybe because of the time of day we went - Sunday at noon), so there was plenty of space to move all around.

Even AA loved it!  Or at least didn't cry about it (which is basically what we use to judge if he likes something or not at this point).  He seemed so fascinated looking out all the windows and really  seemed to like looking down - I'm guessing he didn't quite understand how high up we were, haha!  Or he just loves heights and we have a dare devil on our hands. 

We decided to ride during the day time so AA could come with us (and also because moms rode free on Mother's Day - YES PLEASE) and we loved being able to see all the way to the mountains, but how breathtaking would this be at night with all the lights?!  Maybe we'll ride again for a little date night.

We highly recommend you put the High Roller high on your list of things to do when you come to Vegas.  It's a welcome break from the busyness of walking along the strip, and so nice to be out in the sunshine with all the views instead of stuck in a smoky casino - for at least a little while!

Viva-ing in Las Vegas: Hiking Springs Mountains National Recreation Area

This weekend we took our second little family hike (here's the first!).  This time, we headed to the local mountain area known to locals as Mount Charleston, but the official name is either Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest or Spring Mountains National Recreation Area...as you can see, even the sign below says both.  About 30 minutes from the north edge of Las Vegas, this is a gorgeous area perfect for a day trip; there are dozens of trails to choose from and even a ski/snowboard area in the winter!

We chose Sawmill Loop trail because it was only 1.3 miles and had less than 100 feet of elevation change.  Sounds about right for taking a baby along!

The views were beautiful, the weather perfect, the sun shining brightly.  We could not have picked a more perfect day.

Nor could we have chosen a more ridiculous hat to put our baby in (isn't that the best thing about babies?  You can dress them however you want and they can't say anything about it!).

 Spring was springing!  Along with the ol' obligatory cactus.  We are still in the desert, after all.

Then AA decided he didn't want to be in the ErgoBaby anymore and would rather be physically carried in someone's arms the rest of the trail.  The better to feel the trees, I suppose!

How un-Las-Vegas-like does this picture feel with that gorgeous mountain in the back?  Just so beautiful!

Please allow me to take the rest of this post to post more baby ridiculousness that is so cute I can't even deal with it:

THE HAT.

 THE PANTS.

 THE STARE.

 And for the baby who insists on being carried, the only thing that will do is THE LION KING POSE.

Viva-ing in Las Vegas: Pinball Hall of Fame

For all the nostalgia geeks out there, there is a magical place with your name on it here in Las Vegas.  That place is the Pinball Hall of Fame.

If 10,000 square feet of pinball machines--old ones from the 1950s all the way up to brand new ones like a Transformers one--sounds appealing to you, this is your place.  It sounds SUPER appealing to Scott and I, and we've spent many a quarter in this dark concrete building already.  Walk in with a $20, visit the change machine, browse the rows with about a pound of quarters in your pocket, and you've got a good hour of solid entertainment for a Saturday afternoon!  My personal favorite is the Space Jam one; it gives you crazy good bonuses and, you know, Michael Jordan.

The Pinball Hall of Fame is actually on Tropicana Ave, essentially down the street from the Strip, so it's not even too far off the beaten path.  Plus, I figure if you're going to be putting quarters into a machine and losing all your money anyway, you just as well give your wrists a workout while you do so, right?

P.S.  There is also a Super Mario Bros (the first one) arcade game here, which I dominated for like 30 minutes straight without losing all my lives.

Viva-ing in Las Vegas: Red Rock National Conservation Area

Living in a city that is almost completely known for being a tourist destination can be a little tricky.  Before we moved here, I was legitimately worried that the entire town would be like The Strip:  all flashing lights and casinos and just general wildness.  While there ARE slot machines and poker games in the grocery stores and gas stations (because why wouldn't you want to be able to gamble while picking up some produce?), we have been so pleasantly surprised to find that there are tons of other unique and fun things to do in Las Vegas besides just going to the strip.  I'll be writing about a few of them over the next few months in case anyone who is visiting Vegas wants to venture off the beaten path!

Red Rock National Conservation Area sits on the western edge of Las Vegas and is so easy to get to.  There are trails for hiking, biking, horsebacking riding, and you can rock climb.  But, if you have a baby (or some other person who is physically incapable of walking over rocks for several miles - or just doesn't feel like it), good news!  The 13-mile scenic drive loop is breathtakingly beautiful and will get you a million spectacular views.

We did duck off the scenic loop and take a short little hike (as in, approximately 1/2 mile) with AA in my Moby wrap!  Hopefully we can both build up our endurance (me, for carrying a 15-lb. object on my person) and tolerance (AA, for being wrapped and strapped to Mom) and take some longer hikes in the future!  Or just get a different baby backpack and throw AA on Dad instead :)

If you bring some friends, it makes the drive and photo ops even more fun (we had Heidi and Marshall with us that weekend!).

But of course, watch out for that extremely bright Las Vegas desert sun.