Gold & Silver Pawn Review

Rating: C
Neighborhood: Las Vegas Strip – North of Stratosphere
Address: 713 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Website: www.gspawn.com

We are big fans of the History Channel‘s TV show – Pawn Stars.  The TV Show is about Gold & Silver Pawn.  Customers go to the Las Vegas business to try and sell or pawn valuables.  There are many great one-of-a-kind items brought into the store for viewers to see.  In addition, Gold & Silver Pawn buys some collectibles and restores them to their original state.

However, the store is TV made to look much bigger than it really is in person.  Many of the items in the store consist of jewelry.  Other items reflect a higher paying clientele by the higher quality and big ticket items for sale in the  store.

The location of the store is north of the Stratosphere on Las Vegas Blvd and south of downtown.  It is not a great neighborhood.  So we recommend going in the daytime for the casual fan.  In addition, the parking lot is not very big for the growing popularity of the TV show.  We visited on a weekend so it may be better to go during the week for less congestion.

If you are looking for a novelty Las Vegas tourists’  site close to the strip, this is your place.  You can rent scooters, take a taxi or drive  a few blocks North of the strip to the Gold & Silver Pawn.  Maybe you’ll get to meet the Old Man, Rick, Big Hoss or Chumlee.

Hoover Dam Review

Rating: A
Neighborhood: Boulder City
Address: Nevada/Arizona Border
Website: hooverdam

Hoover Dam is just a 30 miles southeast from downtown Las Vegas.  With about a 45 minute drive this is one must see destination.  While at Hoover Dam, take a tour of the dam and the power plant.  Tours start at 9:15 am and go through 5:15 pm in the summer and 4:15 pm in the winter.

You can choose to park in the main Visitor Center’s parking lot.  However, if you don’t mind walking a bit, we recommend free parking lots on the Arizona side of the dam and walking to the dam and visitor center.

Hoover Dam has security check points entering the dam from both Arizona and Nevada entrances.  If you decide to travel in the summer months, be sure to get an early start to the dam.  Otherwise, wait times can be hours to cross the dam 4-7 miles back.

Drive times will be reduced significantly once the bridge over the canyon in complete.  The bridge is also a spectacle by itself.  It will be a suspension bridge.   See below pic.

The Hoover Dam and the surrounding scenic views of Lake Mead Reservoir make fantastic backdrop for pictures.  Don’t miss out on one of the true wonders of the world.

Ethel M Chocolate Factory Review

Rating: A
Neighborhood: Henderson
Address: 2 Cactus Garden Dr
Website: www.ethelschocolate.com

If you are looking for something to do in Las Vegas that is off the beaten path, visit the Ethel M Chocolate Factory.  While at the Ethel M Chocolate Factory you can see the chocolate factory, cacti garden, Ethel M chocolate store and M&M store.

In 1981, Forrest Mars Sr, “retired” to Henderson, Nevada and created Ethel M Chocolates to honor his mother by creating a line of gourmet chocolates that reminded him of how he learned about quality chocolate making.  While at the factory, you can walk on a self-guided tour through the factory and watch chocolates being made.

In addition to the factory tour, you can take a self-guided tour of Botanical Cactus Garden on premises.  The Botanical Cactus Garden has one of Nevada’s largest collections of cacti and contains more than 300 species of plants.

Tours are open 7 days a week.  The Chocolate Factory tours are great.  However, chocolates are produced in small batched to keep quality high.  Call ahead to verify the factory is running if you want to see the process live.  The factory usually runs Monday – Thursday.  Don’t forget to get your free taste of Ethel M chocolate in the chocolate store – dark, milk or white.

Welcome to Las Vegas sign

The Welcome to Las Vegas sign is on the south end of the strip just past the Mandalay Bay resort.

A great location for engagement pictures and for wedding pictures is at the world famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign.  The big difference in the past few years is now the sign has its own parking lot to make it very easy access to take pictures.  In addition, the sign has a new sidewalk and fake grass surrounding the sign making a great location for pictures.

One of the downfalls of this Las Vegas landmark is the number of visitors at the sign at all hours.  If you want a picture of just the bridal couple or the wedding party, we suggest early in the morning for the fewest amount of tourists at the sign.