Free Stratosphere Tower Passes for Nevadans

The Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower is once again offering anyone with a Nevada ID a free pass to the top of the iconic landmark from Sunday February. 22 to Saturday February 28, 2015. However, visitors who are under 21 need to be accompanied by an adult.

The pass allows free access to the tower's indoor and outdoor observation decks at Level 108 and Level 109. Guests can also purchase tickets for Skyjump Las Vegas, a 855-foot or 261-meter high speed controlled descent, or the thrill rides X-Scream, Insanity, and Big Shot.

The postcard showing the Stratosphere Tower with the Sheep Range and Las Vegas Range in the background was a private card sent to Taiwan.

Insanity dangles riders over the edge of the tower and spins them in circles at 900 feet or 270 meters above the ground.

Bellagio Museum Day

Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art (BGFA) hosted its annual Museum Day on Saturday October 4, 2014, in honor of Smithsonian magazine’s Annual Museum Day which offered complimentary admission to participating museums and cultural institutions in the U.S. on September 27, 2014.

“Painting Women: Works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston” is the current exhibition at BGFA, showcasing 34 paintings by women artists from 18th to 20th centuries. The show will run through October 17, 2014.

The featured postcard shows the Portrait of a Young Woman, circa 1797, by French artist Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun (1755–1842), one of the paintings on display. The postcard was purchased at BGFA's gift shop.

Mühlenmuseum in Hiesfeld, Germany

Postcard DE-3395051 from Germany shows the Mühlenmuseum, the Mill Museum,  in the small neighborhood of Hiesfeld, Dinslaken, Germany. The museum has a watermill and a windmill, serving to show the development of millers' crafts in history. It is one of the 200 museums in the Ruhr District, the largest metropolitan area in Germany.

Surrounded by the beautiful nature, the wind mill was originally built in 1822 at the center of what is now the district of Hiesfeld. The water mill was built close by the Rotbach river in 1693. Both mills have since been restored. The museum also has a collection of over 60 model mills from around the world. The admission is free.

Discover Nevada State Parks Day

As an official Nevada 150 event of the Silver State’s Sesquicentennial celebration, and in conjunction with National Get Outdoors Day, “Discover Nevada State Parks Day” offers visitors free day use admission and free fishing (no license required) at all of Nevada’s 23 State Parks on June 14, 2014.

I went to see the Old Mormon Fort in Las Vegas, a state historic park located next to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum. It was the first European settlement in Las Vegas, Nevada. One hundred fifty nine years ago, thirty missionaries arrived and started to build a 46-meter or 150-foot square adobe fort on June 14, 1855. Therefore, June 14th is remembered as Settlement Day, the day the first non-native permanent residents set foot in the Las Vegas valley. The Mormon outpost served as a way station for travelers. The first post office in Las Vegas was established on site in 1893.

The postcard, featuring art work by local artist Ali Tenney Boyer, was a gift from completing a survey after the visit.

Free Ride to the Top

Postcard US-1669739 to Taiwan shows the Stratosphere Tower at 1,149 ft or 350.2 m, the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States, It is also the second tallest freestanding observation tower in the Western Hemisphere, next to the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario.

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in January, 2014, Nevada residents can get a free Stratosphere Tower pass for access to the indoor and outdoor observation decks with a valid Nevada ID. The general admission would cost $18. The Stratosphere Tower is open from 10 am to 1 am, Sunday to Thursday;  and from 10 am to 2 am, Friday and Saturday.

Sustainable Style: Fashion and Photography

It is the Museums on Us by Bank of America weekend again on October 5 and 6 in 2013. You can get a free admission to one of more than 150 participating museums, science centers, or botanic gardens by presenting your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch debit/credit card. The traveling postcard US-2437271 to Massachusetts shows a photo of the exhibition: "Sustainable Style: Fashion and Photography" at the Springs Preserve from an early Museum on Us event on June 2, 2013.

"Sustainable Style" highlights fashion items made out of sustainable or environment-friendly materials. The collection on the card was designed by Elizabeth Calderon, an Mexican designer based in Las Vegas since 1996, using renewable fiber, recycled polyester and organic cotton.

According to the event web site: "Sustainable fashion is part of the growing design trend of sustainability, the goal being to create a system that can be supported indefinitely. Fashion designers are now re-introducing eco-conscious methods at the source through the use of environmentally friendly materials and socially responsible methods of production."

Organized in association with Fashion for a Cause, the exhibition ran from March 22 to June 16, 2013.

Systems at Work

During my trip to Washington D.C., I managed a brief late afternoon visit to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum near the Union Station. The museum was established through a joint agreement between the United States Postal Service and the Smithsonian Institution. It opened in 1993. The building housing the museum was constructed in 1914 and had served as the Main Post Office of Washington D.C. until 1986.

Although the museum is small when compared to its Smithsonian cousins, it houses many interactive displays about the history of the United States Postal Service, and the history of mail service and stamp collections around the world. Among them, "Systems at Work" leads visitors through 10 different periods and reveals the evolution of the postal system in the U.S. over time. You can participate simulated postal activities by tossing packages into mail pouches as mail clerks did in 1917, keying letters on a computerized version of a multiple position letter-sorting machine operated in 1968, or scanning barcodes using handheld intelligent mail devices.

My favorite part was to gather cancellation marks from various eras on a postcard.

The admission is free. For those who can't attend in person, you can visit the online version on the web.