I talked about this in much greater detail last week in my blog post reviewing Magical Forest at Opportunity Village, but in summary, I’ve had a renewed and more positive outlook on winter over the past handful of years, and I’ve lately been seeking out some seasonal, holiday-themed places to check out in my free time.

Another popular holiday-themed spot in the Las Vegas Valley is the Ethel M Chocolates Factory and Cactus Garden in Henderson, Nevada. Each year throughout most of November and December, their cacti are adorned with holiday lights for an annual tradition that has apparently been going on for decades. I was heading out of Las Vegas soon for my next trip, so before I left, I squeezed in a visit to the chocolate factory and garden.

I timed my visit so that it was early enough that their chocolate factory was still open, in hopes of being able to see the chocolate production process and potentially get a tour, while still being late enough that the sun would set while we’re on-site and the lights on the cacti would be illuminated.

I’m not entirely sure what went wrong with the timing—I assume I was just a bit too late—but when I showed up, the little podium near the factory area was vacant (which I assume is where the tour registration attendant or docent would have be stationed), and it didn’t seem like there was much activity going on inside the production room. There were still windows looking in though, so even though I didn’t get a proper tour (if there were even some available at all), I still got to take a look at the equipment.

After seeing all the machinery, I headed over to the retail area of the store.

The only time I eat chocolate nowadays is if I get it as part of a dessert at a restaurant off a tasting menu. Otherwise, I avoid it because I taste nothing but bitterness from dark chocolate, while other sweeter kinds of chocolate just seem to be an unhealthily high source of sugar. Knowing that, it’s probably unsurprising that I didn’t want to buy anything that was for sale. However, it was still amusing taking a look at the vast assortment of different available options.

My friend decided to buy some dark-chocolate-dipped Swiss candied orange slices.

I didn’t want to be too un-fun, so I figured that grabbing a beverage from their Cactus Garden Café wouldn’t hurt. I decided to try out their peppermint hot chocolate, which came with an incredibly steep price of US$9.00 for a 16 oz. portion size, but ended up being some of the most delicious hot chocolate I think I’ve ever had.

Warm drink in hand, I headed out into the cactus garden and stood in line to purchase an admission ticket.

The line was incredibly long and was split into multiple different lanes, but I noticed that one of the lanes off to the side was not being used. I suspect that everyone else thought that wasn’t a proper lane because they saw so few people standing in it, so they all crowded into the other lanes. I, on the other hand, am a thrill-seeking risk-taker when it comes to figuring out ways to not have to wait in line, so I walked down that empty lane to find out… that it was indeed a proper lane. I got to cut what I imagine was over a hundred people who would have been in front of me.

Admission was only US$3.00, which I guess more than makes up for the expensive hot chocolate.

In no particular order, here are a bunch of photographs I took throughout the Cactus Garden.

The garden’s path was winding and self-intersecting, so there wasn’t a clear linear route to take to walk through the garden. Because of that, I ended up doubling back multiple times and going in circles to make sure I saw everything before I left.

Even though the items for sale inside the store were pretty pricey, you can’t really beat and get much more value than what you receive with the $3 admission ticket to the Cactus Garden. You can tell that the garden was designed with the community in mind, i.e., even if the retail area was intended for profit, the garden is intended to serve as a pleasant gathering place for friends and family. At that price point, it seems like their objective is simply to break even with the garden after the extra staffing and electricity costs.

If you’re within a reasonable distance of the southeast Las Vegas Valley, I highly recommend checking out Ethel M Chocolates Factory and Cactus Garden. I thought it was quite good at instilling holiday spirit, and I felt it had a blissfully joyful vibe to it overall.