Las Vegas Neon Museum

The Hubs and I jetted off to Las Vegas last month for a little anniversary getaway. My one and only absolute must-do was to visit the Las Vegas Neon Museum, where all the old Vegas signs are laid to rest. From the little info I was able to find on the web, it looked like a pretty spectacular place to photograph. I mean, what's better than old, colorful, rusty scrap metal? Right! NOTHING! What I wouldn't give to photograph a wedding or an engagement session in here... Even if you are not interested in photographing the signs, I would encourage you not to miss this Vegas attraction. The tour is just exploding with information on the history of the Vegas sign industry. Not to mention, riveting stories about the individual signs in the collection. My husband was not all that thrilled about my insisting that we do this, but he ended up really enjoying himself.

A little tip for photographers planning a visit, take a WIDE lens. I shot at 24mm almost the entire time, and I really wish I'd had a 14-24mm. The path thru the boneyard is narrow and, for safety reasons, they are very strict about everyone staying on the path.

The museum lobby and gift shop is the lobby of the old La Concha hotel. Our guide, Deena, was so enthusiastic and just adorable with her magic wand pointer. There was another photographer on the tour and Deena was extremely sweet about the two us lagging behind the rest of the group to shoot (even though the museum frowns upon that).

I was really hoping for the perfect golden hour, but alas, most of the afternoon was a bit dreary and overcast. However, the sun decided to peek out from behind the cloud cover at just the right moment for me to snag this shot of the poole player. Definitely my favorite of the day!

To get to the museum, we hopped on one of those open top tour buses in the morning and saw all the important Vegas sites, while taking advantage of the transportation from the Vegas city center up to Freemont Street. It was far more fun than taking a cab. And of course, I also needed shots of some of the famous Vegas sinage that is still in operation.

We ended up getting to Freemont Street earlier than expected. So after lunch at a delicious little Italian place, we walked a couple of blocks North to the Mob Museum to kill some time. The Mob Museum was also a bit hit with the Hubs. I touched this Tommy gun here and leaped backwards and squealed when, unexpectedly, it started simulating a real Tommy gun. Of course, Jason had to try it out after me. (Note the facial expression. It's absolutely essential to the experience.)

For anyone interested, we stayed at the Bellagio in a room with a spectacular view of the fountain and the strip.

And because I am just a BIT obsessed with all things Paris, we spent a fair amount of time over there as well. The shot of the Bellagio, above right, is from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Below are views of Paris from the Bellagio.

I will end this post with a shot of the glorious Las Vegas sunrise. I don't know what woke me from a dead sleep, but there was no way I was getting back in bed after glancing at the window and seeing this. You know I jumped out of bed, grabbed my camera, and started snapping like a crazy person. Good gosh, how amazing would it be to wake up to this every morning?