Clark County Historic Museum

Henderson is a major city within Clark County. Just a short drive up the 215 is located a historic museum with exhibits that have been moved from their original location to this historic site for preservation for furture generations to see how the west lived in days gone by.

This house was built as a store with living quarters behind. The rooms were small and the furnishings simple. Built in the 1900's it was fitted with the latest 1920's kitchen technology. However modern they may have been in their hay-day, the appliances were far from what one is accustomed to today!

This house, although not built in the 1950's, has been refurbished to have a 50's look with all "mod cons". The TV was certainly wide but not wide screen.

This house was built in the early 1900's and was literally a one room house. Best make sure the bed is always made as visitors are literally sitting in your bedroom! Also, the toilet was outside. Not my idea of home comfort.

Clark County boasts the highest number of weddings in the USA with 7% of the market share. This chapel, built in the 1960's, was brought from Las Vegas Boulevard (aka "The Strip") where it had been one of the first chapels to be in operation there.

It is rather peculiar that the railway never really took a firm grip in the west. One reason may be the low cost and availability of cars unlike in England where you still pay through the nose for an automobile!

The "Ghost Town" was the last stop on the tour. Many of the buildings had been taken from the Last Frontier Town that was, once upon a time, located near the strip. Care is taken to maintain the "destressed" look of the buildings, thus keeping the erie atmosphere of the town. Not one for a dark night, me thinks!

Fish Gotta Swim.....

Whilst waiting for the hourly daytime show to begin in Caesars Palace we watched the fish swimming in a rather large aquarium underneath the fountain! The quality is not great as they were taken through glass but they make for interesting viewing.

Desert Beauties

Desert plantlife is often considered of less beauty than that born of fertile land. Following a walk around the cactus garden adjacent to the chocolate factory I am now firmly against the general consensus of opinion.

Sweets For The Sweet

After swiming 1000m non stop this morning, what more fitting activity could follow than a visit to a local chocolate factory. It is a well known fact that there is no such thing as American chocolate and those fortunate enough to have travelled beyonds its extensive bounds and tasted the sweet nectar elsewhere can seldom bring themselves to eat the nation's national "delicacies". Here are a few of the signs that were hanging in the viewing gallery.

St George

My friend, Nancy, lives 2 hours drive from Las Vegas in St George, a city of historical importance in LDS history, being famous for the establisment of cotton farming during the American Civil War. Both Nancy and Stephanie had been in Cambridge for several years together so, prior to arriving in the USA, a reunion was planned and Stephanie and I drove the 150 miles to meet Nancy. The Ross family live just outside St George among breathtaking scenery. I aspire to have chickens and an orchard so one day I may be calling on them for advice. Did you know that you can buy bees, chickens and almost any small fowl via mail order?? Neither did I. However, I was informed by Nancy's husband, Russ that this was the case! The modern age!!

Our first stop was the St George Tabernacle, which was built between 1863 and 1876, shortly after the establishment of St. George, Utah. It was built under the direction of Brigham Young who told Elder Erastus Snow, the local leader in St. George, he wanted a "commodius well-furnished meetinghouse, one large enough to comfortably seat at least 2,000 persons, and that will not only be useful, but also an ornament to your city." This was truly the case and today this stately building, which sits at the heart of St George, is still used for concerts, assemblies and talks.

While the sun was shining we hurried to visit the Temple. Both the Tabernacle and the Temple are constructed from locally hewn red sandstone. However, the Temple has been plastered to give it the brilliant white colour we see today. Against the backdrop of the red mountains and deep blue sky, this resplendant landmark is a beacon to the people of St George and all those who vist and is visible long before you arrive at the city boundaries. The St. George LDS Temple dedicated and opened on 6th April 1877.

Although not the oldest of the LDS Temples, the St George Temple is currently the longest continually-operating temple. With a total of 18 sealing rooms (not all are in active use), the St. George Utah Temple has more sealing rooms than any other temple in the Church. Back in the early days if of the church there was a "honeymoon" trail from the east of saints wanting to be married in the Temple. Many faithful members of the church traveled the Old Arizona Road from southern Arizona to the temple to be married or participate in other rites of the church. The name "Honeymoon Trail" comes from this use.

The battlements that surround the St. George Utah Temple once functioned as chimneys for numerous narrow rooms that lodged traveling guests. The St. George Utah Temple was originally patterned after the Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples .

President Brigham Young, second president of the LDS church, spent much of his time travelling to the settlements between St George and Salt Lake City. As he grew in years he would often spend several months during the winter down in St George to escape the harsh climate of northern Utah. He spent the last few winters in St George, directing the building of the Temple before he passed away on 29th August 1877, just a few months after the dedication and opening of the Temple.

Subsequent to Young's death, the Brigham Young Winter Home passed through several ownerships before it was purchased by the LDS Church and opened to the public as a museum, with free guided tours. Owing to the numerous changes in ownership, many of the original pieces of furniture were lost. Some original pieces are still with the home, however, and in some cases replications have been introduced. The original piano was one of the pieces restored to the home.

Following the historical tour and a wonderful time catching up on the last three years, the explorers made their way over to Cafe Rio, an establishement I had heard much of but have never had opportunity to visit as it is unique to America. This was quite an experience. Here is how one proceeds. You line up to wait for the next available slot and then what follows is something akin to organised chaos!! First you order the style of dish, which can be one of a number of Mexican dishes, then its a choice of which beans you would like (none for me, thank you), followed by rice and a choice of sauce and or salad. It was blatently obvious that this was my first time at Cafe Rio and, when discovering I was from England three LOUD shouts arose from the kitchen staff, hailing my heritage. A perfect ending to a perfect day

Sodom and Gomorrah

Some like it hot, some like it cold, some like it in the pot, the pot of GOLD! The strip was something I had wanted to see while in Vegas. The landmark skyline rises high above surrounding suburbia like an ocean liner cruising the Mediterranean and is visible from every vantage point for many miles. Once in the strip you need never leave it for there are shops, restaurants, shows and other forms of entertainment including the Venetian Canal and a lion enclosure at the MGM resort.

Donny and Marie Osmond, Cher, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey are many of the celebrities that have shows in the many hotels! There are often West End shows that you can go to see for a greatly inflated price. The cheapest tickets are $100 which at the moment is equivalent to £65. Desperate times call for desperate measures!!

One of my favourite vistas was that of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel. With most of the themed hotels, although of modern construction, every effort has been made to keep the original style of the period or theme on which they are based. The light from the top of the Luxor pyramid can be seen from space. It took us nearly 20 minutes to walk from the carpark on top of Cesars Palace to the street level of the strip! Its certainly an effective form of exercise.

Should one become hungry whilst on a visit to the the city of sin then there are many gourmet establishments simply waiting to serve you their best fayre! In one half of the strip there are no less than three McDonalds so you are never less than 500 yards away. Wouldn't want to expend too much energy in walking for your supper.

The Bellagio fountains were breathtaking and if visits to the strip are sporadic it is often the case that there will be a differently choreographed display on every visit. Apparently if it is windy the show is cancelled so that the innocent onlookers, dressed up to the nines for the evening, will remain dry. When all is said and done, the strip is something quite extraordinary and well worth a visit if one finds themselves in The Silver State.

Las Vegas Temple

Temples are an integral part of a Latter-day Saint's life. I love to see Temples around the world and spend time within their sacred walls. The Las Vegas Temple is situated at the foot of one of the many mountains which surround the valley. The grounds, though small, are beautiful and no doubt many hours of hard labour are spent in maintaining them in the heat of the desert.

After spending several hours in the Temple we took a walk around the grounds as Stephanie has been hired to take photographs at a wedding in March. Good luck to her with the Nevada sun!! I know she will do a fabulous job!!

Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam is the main thoroughfare for this part of Nevada to Arizona. Three lanes of motorway go down to one and there are restrictions as to the type of vehicle that can cross the dam. They are partway through building a bypass to alleviate the strain on the dam. I was most surprised to see that small trucks were permitted to cross the dam as this magnificent edifice is not getting any younger. Completed in 1936 it was then the worlds largest concrete structure, being now superceeded by the Grand Coulee Dam, and is now the worlds 38th largest hydroelectric power station.

As is the case with most heritage centres, money must be made and they charge for virtually everything, if you are not in the know. Thankfully the only penny we spent was in the ladies "restrooms" on the side of the dam. Having driven over the dam we parked in a free car park on the otherside and walked down various sets of staircases to commence our walk over the dam. There are two vast overspills on either side of the dam which are crowned with small bridges which link the road and the dam. Needless to say, being a fan of terra firma, I ran over both of these until I was on "solid" ground, much to the amusement of my friends!

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, Hoover Dam is one of the seven wonders of the United States of America. Check out the other six. They are pretty impressive!

Red Rock

When living in the desert, one would think that national parks are merely dusty trails. However, this is not the case and in a recent blog posting I had seen that Stephanie had taken her family's annual photograph whilst on a visit to the Red Rock Canyon. As this is a place of rare beauty in the desert, we made the 45 minute drive there just before lunch so as to enjoy the best part of the day outdoors.


Our first stop was at the "Red Rock" and, as you can see from the image above, this is a most interesting feature against the grey backdrop of all the other rock formations in this part of the mountain range. After a little walk down then a climb back up we were back in the car and on our way with the temperature rising by the second. However, when we reached the picnic area there was a rather cold breeze coming down from the mountains. Immediately following lunch we proceeded with our adventures for the day by taking a childrens trail called "Lost Creek" which took us up into the mountain to a waterfall. With this being Presidents Day every man and his dog, literally, wife and children were on this particular trail! We managed to evade falling into the many small streams and soaking ourselves and after a short while found ourselves turning round and heading back to the car with two, tired boys. All hail George Washington!

Supersize Me

Saturday, as is customary in most households, is a special day. Its the day we get ready for Sunday! Or for those not of a religous persuasion, it is the day when jobs and shopping are performed. The day commenced with washing (I love doing washing but nor the folding or ironing parts) followed by a trip to Smiths to procure some of the necessary food shopping on the list. Following lunch I was taken to two of the most enormous stores I have ever cast my eyes upon, to complete the weekly shop. Costco sell in bulk, a well known fact, but they do bigger and better bulk here if you have the requisite RV to transport it all home! They have "zamples" to try and you can practically eat a full lunch if you had one of each. However, I am trying to eat healthily so treats are being rationed in proportion to the quantity of healthy food I have consumed in a day.

Happy Birthday Stephanie

Today was Stephanies birthday. Its a hard life being 21 as she will gladly inform you. Her friend looked after her youngest son so that we could go out to lunch. After much deliberation we went to The Cheesecake Factory, an establishment I have heard much about from fellow Americans but have managed to somehow miss on my many excursions to the land of excessive consumption. We had hardly walked into the restaurant when I was drawn, not a surprising statement some might say, towards the dessert counter. There on top of the refridgerated counter were three of the most gargantuan cakes I have ever laid eyes on. It took all my self control to not order a slice of each. Glossing over the main course, which although lovely was merely a means of nourishment, and moving swiftly onto dessert we ordered two slices of cheesecake. A slice of red velvet "Stephanie" cheesecake and a delectable dark slice of Godiva chocolate cheesecake.

As these were adjacent to one another in the menu it was deemed to be a sign and the order was made. Had this not been the case we might still be there now deliberating on which two to have. My preference leant towards the Godiva cheesecake, again, no surprises there. Being in America, should you be unable to finish your meal or on the rare occasion that you are beaten by your dessert (I hasten to add this happens but rarely), the culinary establishment will provide you with a box for you to take home the remainder of your meal for further enjoyment at home. On the way out I had a misunderstanding with an outdoor heater and came off the injured party. However, please do not be alarmed, bruises are not terminal.

Surfin' USA

I left England in snowy conditions on Thursday 11th February and flew the requisite 10 hours to Las Vegas! The weather is wonderfully warm but then what does one expect when one arrives in the desert. The warmth has been a rather welcome change from the cold, damp wintery weather in England and I am looking forward to recording my adventures over the next three months in this, my new, blog!