Before we hit the bright lights of Vegas (baby) we headed to Hoover Dam. I had pretty low expectations here because when it comes to giant feats of engineering and historical milestones I've really only got about five minutes of 'wow, that's cool' or 'hmmm, interesting' in me before I start getting bored, bored, bored. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that the Hoover Dam was in fact amazing. A prefect combination of stunning natural scenery and grand human design, with just enough interesting factual tidbits scattered about the place.
It was built in the early-mid 1930s, and the public areas were purposefully designed to be beautiful, so there are all kinds of gorgeous Art Deco touches everywhere. Whilst everyone else on our tour was agog at how much cement was needed to build the thing (over 5,000,000,000 barrels if you're curious), I was obsessing over light fittings and tiles and mosaics and fonts and the way the tunnels curved just so. It was wonderful!
*Said in Penguins of Madagascar style, aka this.
I visited in 2001. I remember it was a quick day trip while my husband and I were in Vegas for a friend's wedding. It was in May and was at the beginning of the hot season. I nearly melted at 10AM with all of the cement. I imagine it's what pottery feels like in a kiln. I distinctly remember the tour guide telling us that in the middle of summer they often have several people faint due to heat stroke.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to go again when it is cooler and I am able to take in the details and not nursing a hangover. Ah... early twenties. :-)
I could imagine it would be awful in the Summer, especially as my husband and eldest step-son fall apart completely in the heat, they wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in there!
DeleteHow beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI'm much the same as you when it comes to having a limited capacity to be amazed by many built structures, but there is much to like here. I'd be interested in all those 1930s details too.
:)
Okay, those tiles are fabulous!
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