Today we have another full schedule. We have booked a tour through Gray Line Bus Tours and are going to go and see The Hoover Dam. We saw the dam when we drove over it on our way from Sedona to Las Vegas and we saw the dam from our helicopter tour a couple of days ago. This will be an up close and personal guided tour. The tour company picked us up at The Golden Nugget which is just a couple of blocks from our hotel and drove us to the Bus Terminal where we met up with the rest of the guests on the larger tour bus.
The tour was a little dissapointing, most of the areas that used to be on the tour are now off limits since 9-11 , but we did wander through the museum, and did participate in the tour to see the generators, but if you have been to Niagara Falls and seen the generators at the Beck Generating Center, then you have a good idea of what to expect here at the Hoover Dam. Most of what you would want to see is off limits.
Here is a picture of the generating room.
After the Hoover Dam tour we boarded the bus and we were taken to The Hacienda Casino in Boulder City on the shores of Lake Mead for a free buffet lunch and some gambling.
After leaving the Hacienda Casino, our driver spotted some Long Horn Sheep in a park off to the side of the road so he pulled over so that we could get out and take pictures.
We got back on the bus and headed for the final stop of our tour. The Ethel M Chocolate Shop. As one would expect, this is a factory where they make chocolate. We got to sample and purchase chocolate and ice cream.
One thing that we were not expecting at the Chocolate Shop was a Cactus Garden. Karen's favourite cactus is the Saguaro Cactus, and we have spent a lot of time looking for one. Even when we were in Sedona Arizona we were told that saguaro's are not found that far north in Arizona, so it was a real surprise and a treat to find one here in Southern Nevada, even though it is not out in the wild, Karen was happy to have her picture taken in this garden with her favourite cactus.
That concluded our tour and the bus dropped us off back at The Golden Nugget.
After dinner this evening we decided that we should stick around and check out the Fremont Street Experience. Our hotel is located two blocks away from the entrance to The Fremont Street Experience so we have been spending a lot of time in this area during the day, but never at night. About a 5 block long section of Fremont Street is covered with a metal latice type of dome.
It is basically an open air conditioned pedestrian mall under this enclosed area, with dozens of casinos and lots of stores for shopping or browsing. At night time, the Fremont Street Experience comes to life with a video show performance displayed on the ceiling of the dome, the full length of the street.
It is hard to describe, but you can see for yourself what I am talking about if you click on the link to the VIDEO that I placed on You Tube.
Here are a few photos of the lights at night along Fremont Street
We enjoyed Fremont Street at night and if you are in Vegas, this is a must see.
You can click on my Flickr site to see all of our photos and videos from today.
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