Chocolates and a Quilt Shop

Could there be a better day than one that includes a chocolate factory and a quilt shop??? Maybe if we'd won the lottery. I've heard that your chances of winning the lottery are greatly increased if you actually play. I might have to try that sometime. 

After all that talk yesterday about possibly hiking or biking, we ended up driving to the places we wanted to go. It's important not to get out ahead of yourself, you know. Before we left, I spent some time on the fifth of the blackwork baskets, filling my hoop.

Smitty was my stitching cat. He looks happy to have been awakened for this picture, doesn't he?

It seemed we were both too lazy for anything physical, and so I suggested we visit the quilt shop and also head to Ethel M's chocolate factory...something that was recommended to us by one of the friends we visited last week. Heading out, it doesn't take long after leaving Boulder City for Las Vegas to come into view. We could see snow on the mountains in the distance.

In keeping with my commitment to photograph anything remotely related to cats, I was disappointed not to be able to capture the whole sign on this very exclusive veterinary hospital.

I had the whole sign, including the cat climbing over the top, except this "no parking" post got in the way. Rats!

It's just down the road from the quilt shop. Five minutes more, and we were there. I'll tell you about the quilt shop in a separate post.

After my fabric shopping trip, we got some lunch at Jimmie Johns, and then headed over to Ethel M Chocolates. You can read more about it at that link. As it turns out the "M" in Ethel M stands for "Mars," the candy company. Ethel M is owned by Mars, Incorporated and was named after the mother of Forrest Mars, Sr. As we drove into the guest parking lot, I caught an image of the sign.

The grounds also include a botanical cactus garden, and there was a map posted to the left of the sign.

Visitors are encouraged to take pictures and share them with friends and on social media. So, okay...I'll just start here with this chocolate sample they handed me on the way in. I had my choice of milk or dark. I chose milk. Mike chose dark. We ate those right away...mmm, mmm, mmm. 

From there, one walks past a glass wall for a self-guided tour of the area where chocolate is made. Apparently, private tasting tours can be scheduled ahead of time. I'm not sure what the status of the tours are with COVID precautions. I couldn't get very good pictures here because there were a lot of reflections on the glass. You can get the gist of it, I think.

The signs at the tops of the images will give you some idea what you're seeing.

There wasn't much going on inside while we were there.

Toward the end, there were signs telling the contents of some of their chocolates.

And these stretched on for a distance. They were just buttering us up for when we entered the gift shop.

And oh my...I could have gone hog wild in here...emphasis on the "hog."

So much yummy stuff to behold.

Here's a listing of all the choices. So tempting.

We could have bought a box of chocolates, but we decided to be sensible. We knew we'd hate ourselves if we did that, and so we each settled for a treat from this case. In the upper right-hand corner were some of the biggest chocolate-covered strawberries I've ever seen. They were about the size of tennis balls (no exaggeration). 

We ended up with just these two items to eat with our afternoon shot of espresso, also available in the gift shop. I chose a cannoli...my first cannoli ever. Mike chose a brownie. And what can I say? Diet = Blown.

While we waited for our espresso, I snapped this image of the little brochure beside the cash register.

There were so many temptations. I'd like to come back here again sometime when I'm not trying to lose weight. They're chocolates can also be purchased via their website.

We sat outside to eat our goodies and gaze on their botanical cactus garden.

We took a little walk around. It was fun and interesting.

All the cacti were wrapped in Christmas lights. I can imagine this is pretty at night.

Here's something...the shoestring acacia tree. I've seen these before, but didn't know their names.

Looking up overhead, it looks like a tree that's lost its leaves, but those long stringy things you see are the actual "leaves" of the tree.

There was also some garden art...these were lit with strings of Christmas lights too. Those are blooming brittlebush on either sides of the blue peacock.

This cactus was the only one we noticed blooming.

After that, we made a quick trip to the grocery store, and then headed back to the RV. We were tired after so much excitement.

Today I told Mike I'd ride bikes with him if he wants to. There are some great...and not scary...biking trails in the area, and he has pointed them out to me for my approval. I'm not yet willing to ride by the side of the road, even when there is a bike lane, and so all trails have to be wide, paved, and off the road. There is plenty of that here. If there's time during the day, I'll get back to my sewing.

I'll tell you about the quilt shop in a separate post, so stand by. It'll be just a bit while I make myself useful in other ways.