The Mob Museum - Nevada

The Mob Museum is three floors of mob history, the law enforcement that tried to reign it in, and the history of the most infamous mobsters and crime families.  You will see actual evidence and weapons used in the era and detailed history of the beginning of "organized crime" in the United States, it's explosive and violent growth during Prohibition, and its diversification into almost all possible areas of commerce and industry after WWII. The museum highlights the rise of coordinated law enforcement from the start of the FBI to the multi-agency Department of Homeland Security engaged in addressing organized crime across the globe. There is also a large exhibit about the growth of Las Vegas and how the Mob may ... or may not ... have played a role in it's history.

One exhibit covers the famous Senator Kefauver Committee's televised hearings which brought national attention to the "Mafia" and exposed its pervasiveness in 1950's America. The museum gift shop included a t-shirt with the slogan "Two sides to every story" and that is what the museum presents. There are a lot of hands on exhibits including listening to actual wire-taps from investigations. My daughter stepped into an FBI weapons training simulator. My son video taped himself in an FBI interrogation room. There are recordings from courtrooms and police stations too. Finally, the museum looks at Hollywood's portrayal of the Mob throughout the years with a short documentary.

There is a large area where you can learn the mob history of your home state. I was, and yet was not,  surprised to read all the details of mob activity here in Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix) including exhibits on several infamous mob killings here in Phoenix including the killing of an investigative reporter in 1982. The museum also looks at the current activities of organized crime which has become a global issue.

 

http://themobmuseum.org

This tour was definitely for me. The museum itself was originally a postoffice and county court building located down by the original Vegas strip now called the Fremont Street experience.

National Atomic Testing Museum -- Nevada

Always searching for a geeky attraction we found the National Atomic Testing Museum - a museum detailing the history of the Manhattan Project and the subsequent testing of atomic weapons in the desert outside of Las Vegas and out in the Pacific between 1945 and the early 1990's when testing was banned by most nuclear nations. The museum contains over 12,000 artifacts within 11,000 square feet of exhibits and memorabilia from the start of the Atomic Age and the first atomic test in July, 16, 1945 (code named Trinity) and through Cold War. Exhibits cover the rise of the "Atomic culture" in the United States in art, toys, television and movies, books, and the development of the "Duck and Cover" era. The museum helps to focus on the human side of the atomic weapons program and the people who worked to help create these weapons and ensure their safety. My husband was positively glowing with excitement and the kids were delighted with the hands on exhibits. 

  

    




In addition to the permanent exhibits the museum has temporary special engagement exhibits and the current one is about the infamous "Area 51" and the history of Unidentified Flying Objects AND the top secret Air Force installation where the nation's most advanced aircraft are designed and tested. The first ever exhibit on Area 51 was developed with the help of the very people that worked there. This exhibit will explore the real truth, the real programs, and address the secrecy that surrounds the base at Groom Lake including a look at the development of some of the US Air Forces more unique aircraft.

There is something for everyone to experience in displays presenting the history of the development and testing of one of man’s most significant feats of engineering - the atomic bomb.

The National Atomic Testing Museum is a repository for one of the most comprehensive collections of nuclear history. As part of its mission, the National Atomic Testing Museum seeks to collect and preserve a wide variety of materials and artifacts relating to atomic testing, the Nevada Test Site, the Cold War, and nuclear and radiological science and technology. The current collection includes thousands of rare photographs, videos, artifacts, scientific and nuclear reports and data and one-of-a kind scientist collections.


http://www.nationalatomictestingmuseum.org

Hoover Dam Tour - Arizona & Nevada border

For years my husband has wanted to tour the Hoover Dam with the family. So last week we packed up the kids, refused to tell them where we were going, and set off another road trip. It was better than I expected. The Hoover Dam, originally named the Boulder Dam, is an engineering marvel of the 20th Century and a testament to the great things the country was able to accomplish even in the depths of the Great Depression. The top of the dam is open for exploration and you can walk across and look over both sides and view all of the cool dam parts on the Arizona and Nevada sides and how the dam was carved into the canyon. You can stand in the middle of the dam and straddle two states and be in two time zones. After checking out the topside we purchased the Power Plant tour and traveled down several hundred feet inside to the Nevada side power plant and saw several of he huge water turbine generators in action. The generators are huge and heavy and the generator room still uses the two original 300 Ton lift capacity cranes that were installed in the 1930's. Throughout the dam there are incredible 1930's Art Deco design details and other hints of a bygone era. Overall the dam tour has a lot of fascinating information and history and can appeal to geeks and kids of all ages.

The Hoover Dam spans the Colorado River in Black Canyon between Arizona and Nevada, some 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas Nevada. Constructed in the 1930s, the concrete arch-gravity structure was intended to prevent flooding as well as provide much-needed irrigation and hydroelectric power to arid regions of states like California and Arizona. It was originally known as Boulder Dam, but was renamed in 1947 in honor of Herbert Hoover, who as U.S. secretary of commerce and the 31st U.S. president proved instrumental in getting the dam built. At 726 feet high and 1,244 feet long, Hoover Dam was one of the largest man-made structures in the world at the time of its construction, and one of the world’s largest producers of hydroelectric power.

http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/

PING Tour

If you're a golfer (and perhaps even if you are not) you have probably heard of PING golf clubs, named for the sound they make when a golfer hits the ball with the club's "sweet spot." In 1961 Karsten moved his family and new business to Phoenix and the rest is golfing history. The Karsten family still runs the PING business and you can get a tour of the facility where they manufacture their legendary clubs still using many hand crafting techniques used on the first products. The PING facility also has computerized tools for visiting golfers to have their swings analyzed and custom clubs optimized for them. Pro golfers will visit often to test out the new equipment. Because this is an actual working factory they do not allow pictures to be taken but the tour is impressive and you also get to see a bit of golfing history including the original designs to some of the first PING clubs. 

My children have recently begun golf lessons so of course I am now interested in the history and culture of golf. PING is a large manufacture of clubs, bags, and previously golf balls (they ceased making the balls and so they are now collctors items).

http://www.ping.com/about/decade.aspx

Karsten Solheim is the man behind the clubs. When he settled his family here in Phx he also built his manufacturing plant here. PING is 100% family owned.

The tour lasted 2 hours and I went thru  4 buildings and saw first hand the equipment being built. Sadly no pictures are allowed.

http://phoenix.about.com/od/attractionsandevents/ss/PING_9.htm

First Friday Phoenix

For anyone not familiar with First Friday, it is a long running open art and music event hosted the first Friday of every month in downtown Phoenix (Roosevelt @ 2nd Street area). The empty lots fill with local artists selling a wide variety of goods and pieces such as paintings, sketches, found object art, clothing, and jewelry. There are usually lots of street musicians of different genres and sounds filling the night air to compliment the visual activities in the area.  Enjoy the spirit and culture of downtown Phoenix as you mingle with thousands of other residents and visitors. Tour art galleries, venues, and related spaces from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. every First Friday of the month. (Note: each art space has their own hours.)

This past Dec we took the family downtown to First Friday.  We parked the car and walked to Sit and Stay, a great little hot dog joint.  We then spent the next 4 hours wandering the streets enjoying art galleries, street artists and musicians and much more. We ventured into Nash, a dry jazz joint that features local musicians going up on stage and sitting in for a few songs in the set. On these Friday nights the cover charge is free and the music is always excellent. There are lots of shops to browse and a few coffee bars to sit and recharge before your next adventure. The people you meet are friendly and generally everyone has a good time. 



http://www.rooseveltrow.org/about/first-fridays/