Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - Road Scholar Program Day 4

After Buffet breakfast at the hotel, we went on a field trip to the 160-acre Walking Box Ranch.  The ranch was purchased in 1931 by legendary silent films stars Rex Bell and Clara Bow.  During the 1930s, it covered nearly 400,000 acres, supported 1,800 head of cattle and was a beautiful, rural, desert escape destination for their famous Hollywood friends including Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. 

Clara Bow (1905-1965) and Rex Bell (1903-1962) were Hollywood's premier couple in the 1940's.  One of the legendary sex goddesses, the beautiful redhead with the cupid bow-shaped lips made 46 silent films and 10 talkies in only 10 years (1922-1932).  She married Rex Bell in 1931 and retired in 1933 at the age of 26 to become a rancher at her "desert paradise".  Rex Bell was one of the white-hated heroes riding off into the sunset in the shoot-'em westerns.  In the 1950's Bell was the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Nevada.  They had two sons.


After a tour of the two-story 5060 sq. ft. ranch house and a box lunch at the bunkhouse, we did a drive by of the Hoover Dam.  The dam is located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas at the Nevada-Arizona border.   I was deeply disappointed that we were not able to tour the dam as I had been looking forward to the scheduled guided tour.  I also wanted to see the new 2000 foot long Colorado Bridge that spans the Black Canyon (about 1,500 feet south of the Hoover Dam) and is nearly 900-feet above the Colorado River.


We rode the bus to downtown Las Vegas where we visited The Mob Museum - National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement - in the historic former federal courthouse.  I explored all three floors, saw the actual St. Valentine's Day Massacre wall,  and visited the courtroom where the Kefauver hearing was held.  We drove back to Harrah's through downtown Las Vegas past Fremont Street and The Little White Wedding Chapel, the site of many "quickie" celebrity weddings.  It is noted for its Drive-Thru Tunnel of Vows.

After dinner buffet at the hotel we saw KA' - Cirque Du Soleil show at the MGM Grand Hotel.  Cirque du Soleil truly broke the mold with KA', its most lavish stage production to date.  KA' not only features Cirque’s signature dazzling acrobats and trapeze artists, this production also incorporates both Chinese and Brazilian martial arts, Poi (the Maori art of juggling), and the “Wheel of Death” — a thrilling spectacle of agility and bravery.   The theater itself was built specifically for this remarkable production.   The 360-degree rotating stage features unlikely elements such as moving platforms and a seemingly bottomless performance space, which adds to the drama to this unforgettable Cirque show.