Myself standing in front of the Silver Queen portrait.

A Night at the Silver Queen, Virginia City’s Oldest Hotel

June 1, 2023, Leave a Comment on A Night at the Silver Queen, Virginia City’s Oldest Hotel

When it came to finding a place to stay in Virginia City, I decided we should hang our hats at the town’s oldest operating hotel, the Silver Queen. Built in 1876, the Silver Queen is dubbed such for its towering 16 foot portrait of a woman wearing a dress made up of 3,261 genuine silver…

Myself standing outside the Mackay Mansion, wearing a cream cowboy hat, fringe leather jacket, peach tie dye shirt, blue jeans and brown boots.

Inside the Haunted Mackay Mansion

May 30, 2023, Leave a Comment on Inside the Haunted Mackay Mansion

The Comstock Lode meant that virtually overnight Virginia City had millionaires, and some built opulent homes, including George Hearst. While small and not as grand when compared to his son’s extravagant Hearst Castle, the Virginia City home George Hearst built in 1859 is still beautiful and full of original fixtures and furnishings (including the first…

Angled view of some of the buildings of Virginia City, which include mostly two story buildings of wood facades in the "old west" style of square fronts.

A Stroll through Historic Virginia City

May 23, 2023, 1 Comment

Recently Patrick and I went on a road trip to visit my mom in Idaho, and anyone who knows me knows I love a road trip. While the route was somewhat familiar, as we had done it before, we made a few fresh stops, including spending some time in Virginia City. Virginia City is similar…

The Moulin Rouge on a postcard from the period. A low roof building features towering script that reads "Moulin Rouge." A tall tower on the left also reads "Moulin Rouge" in neon, and also features a massive neon version fo the Eiffel Tower. Script across reads "Greetings from the Moulin Rouge"

The Fleeting Life of America’s First Integrated Casino, the Moulin Rouge

February 4, 2020, 4 Comments

“In Vegas for 20 minutes, our skin had no color. Then the second we stepped off stage, we were colored again. The other acts could gamble or sit in the lounge and have a drink, but we had to leave through the kitchen with the garbage.” That is how Sammy Davis Jr. described performing in…

I Brake for Vintage Neon

April 20, 2017, Leave a Comment on I Brake for Vintage Neon

Throughout our entire trip there was lots of yelling “I’m pulling over!” or “Pull over!” depending on who was driving. Sometimes it was quite frantic. I have been called “dramatic” at times. But I just can’t help myself when I see a good vintage neon sign! And boy were there a lot of good ones!…

Abandoned along the Highway

April 19, 2017, 4 Comments

As mentioned in my post about Rock-a-Hoola, I love photographing abandoned locations, and we stumbled upon quite a few during our road trip, dotted in between tiny towns, and miles of fields. So here is quite the picture heavy post of what happens when buildings get left behind… The next 11 photos are from what remains…

The Art of Reno’s Old Motel Signs

April 18, 2017, 5 Comments

I literally took thousands of photos on our road trip, 3322 to be exact. Most were of abandoned buildings and killer vintage signs, which are my two favorite things to photograph, and our road trip was full of them! So much so my photos are coming to you in three, yes, three, separate posts! First…

Remnants of Vegas’ Glitzy Past Live on at the Neon Museum

April 12, 2017, 8 Comments

If you only go to one museum in Las Vegas, it should be the Neon Museum. The Neon Museum is rich in what made Las Vegas famous – neon. That spectacular glow of gases swirling inside glass made the lure of Las Vegas so bright and people flocked. Sadly though, over the years, many motels, hotels,…

Las Vegas’ Ghastly History on Display at The Mob Museum

April 11, 2017, 1 Comment

Patrick and I are finally home from our road trip to Idaho! Why Idaho? Well, my grandfather on my mom’s side passed away, so we went for his services, but I figured if we had to go, why not make the best of it, and do a road trip? The first stop on our trip was…

Vegas Finds & More

January 9, 2015, 8 Comments

After visiting the Atomic Museum, I did a bit of shopping at some of the vintage shops. Surprisingly I only bought one thing. Just a purse from Amberjoy’s Vintage Closet, though her store was quite lovely, and filled with beautiful things! I bought the purse for a few reasons, one is that I failed to…

Atomic Redhead

Nevada

A Night at the Silver Queen, Virginia City’s Oldest Hotel

Inside the Haunted Mackay Mansion

A Stroll through Historic Virginia City

The Fleeting Life of America’s First Integrated Casino, the Moulin Rouge

I Brake for Vintage Neon

Abandoned along the Highway

The Art of Reno’s Old Motel Signs

Remnants of Vegas’ Glitzy Past Live on at the Neon Museum

Las Vegas’ Ghastly History on Display at The Mob Museum

Vegas Finds & More