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Today I wanted to check out the Little A’Le’Inn, which is an Alien themed restaurant in Rachel, NV very close to where the Area 51 facility is supposed to be located. Area 51 is a military facility that most likely is a testing ground for experimental aircraft, however UFO enthusiasts claim that there are alien ships kept there. The government does not acknowledge the existence of the base, which only makes it more interesting

It was about a 3 hour drive out to Rachel, NV, so I had Foodio54 give me a recommendation for Las Vegas first and it sent me to Carnevino Italian Steakhouse in the Palazzo Hotel and Casino. This is one of Mario Batali’s restaurants, so I came in with high expectations. Right from the get go it was clear that this was a very upscale place, the staff was extremely professional and friendly. I looked over the menu and because I had just had steak the night before I asked the waiter for a recommendation other than steak and he said that their mushroom burger was excellent and so I ordered that. He was right, the burger was topped with bacon and onions, and had a fantastic mushroom sauce. Really, this was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had.

After stuffing myself with a big burger, I headed into the desert to find the Little A’Le’Inn. The first impression about an hour or so out was highway 375, which has been officially renamed the “Extraterrestrial Highway.” Upon entering this highway there were signs posted warning of “low flying aircraft.” There was very little traffic and the road seemed to go on forever until I finally arrived at the very small town of Rachel.

Having just had a big burger I wasn’t really hungry so I just took some pictures and bought a few souvenirs, however while I was in there I overheard some other people who I later found out had come all the way from New York talking about the signs at the base warning people to stay away. I asked where those were because I hadn’t seen them from the highway, and the woman said, oh, you have to go down the dirt roads, and then she and her son offered to take me there. Not wanting to pass up a chance like this I agreed to follow them.

We traveled back down The ET Highway to “Mail Box Road” which has a strange mailbox that they said was the postal address for Area 51. We stopped for a few pictures, and then the two people from New York warned me that when we got down to the base there would be a manned post and that under no circumstances should I point my camera at them. I agreed and we proceeded down Mail Box Road, and then down several other dirt roads into the desert, when I noticed that someone was following me. My initial reaction was that the base had alerted the local police to stop us before we got even remotely close, however it turned out to be just someone who had seen us turn down the road and figured we were going to the base entrance and just followed us there.

Finally I noticed on my Garmin that we were headed down “51 Rd,” which all of a sudden just ended. It ended around a hill that had signs posted warning not to proceed any further. Then I noticed on a hill to the right that there was a pickup truck just waiting and certainly watching our every move. We all took a few pictures of the sign that said “no photography” being very careful to always point the cameras to the left to avoid even the impression that we were taking pictures of the truck. I did also notice some other devices that were probably sensors setup on the hill above us. The truck then without warning lurched forward and we all decided that it was time to leave. I didn’t see any aliens, UFOs, etc, but certainly it was clear that the area was off limits. It was very cool to be out in the middle of nowhere at the gates of the infamous Area 51 base.

After Area 51 I raced back to Las Vegas to catch Penn & Teller’s show which was fantastic. Tomorrow it’s off to Utah.

Tags: Big Road Trip