We started out the day in South Shore Tahoe looking for breakfast and working on a plan for the day. We ended up traveling up(?) HWY 50 and stopping at a vista point for pictures and a little exploring. We drove though cave rock and later learned the history of it at the vista point.
Cave rock is the most holy and most sacred ground to the Washoe Indians (and still is) and yet in 1931 we blew a hole in it so we could drive though it at highway speeds....
We wandered around the Vista point for a short while and another couple asked us to take their picture so in return they took ours as well.
The water was so pretty and clear and the most beautiful shades of blue and green. There was still some snow on the ground (it did just snow the night before) and I liked how it sparkled in the sunlight. Cliff was fascinated with plucking ice cycles from the rocks. We had been admiring them on all the roofs and on the under carriages of all the cars that sat outside. Even made some really cool frozen stream water falls on the sides of the mountains. He didn't want his picture taken and got more enjoyment from ducking from my camera much to my annoyance.
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| I noticed my car is in desperate need of a good washing after the snow covered it. |
We were getting hungry so we went in search of breakfast which came in the form of the local Safeway (my favorite store). They didn't have any breakfast like sandwiches like our local one at home, but we settled on yogurt, a banana, Hostess Cinnamon Streusel cake, and a starbucks coffee. All-star breakfast for sure!
When we were done eating, but before we left the store Cliff headed to the center (front) of the store and played a little video poker (theme of the weekend). The slot attendant was very friendly and chatty and even let me take a picture after Cliff won 10 bucks (also a common theme).
We left Safeway and just started driving until we came into Carson City. We noticed a very large movie theater attached to a casino and moseyed on up towards it to see how much it would cost to catch a showing of 'Hannah'. 13 dollars for the two of us and only 10 minutes since it 'started' so we headed inside. The movie had some really cool fight scenes that I likes, but not all that much in the way of plot. One amazing line in the movie though... Someone asked Hannah how her mother died and she replies very simply "3 bullets". Awesome. We then won free game play at the adjacent Club Fandango casino so headed over for a little bit of gambling. We never got the free play, had some fun playing for quite awhile, but still only half way to our free play. Again, thanks to Cliff, we ended up 10 bucks ahead.
With no real place we had to be (and beautiful blue skies above) we drove though Arby's for lunch on the run and headed out for Virgina City. We were this far already, why not?
Beautiful drive. Such tiny little towns, and small, old houses and yet people STILL live like that. Crazy and a little humbling to think about. I loved the old mining structures still in great condition just sitting on the side of the road all through Silver City.
Silver City would be a fascanating place to walk though and explore (take pictures). Mine shafts everywhere and there is even a 'Cabin in the Sky' that is for rent and has 'fine dining' available.
Driving into Virgina City and the very first thing you notice is a very large church steeple (directly in front of a slightly smaller one a street back). There were a LOT of churches, especially for such a small town but I really wanted to take pictures of the "Church in the Sky" so we parked there and headed up to the main (western) street.
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| The church in the sky |
Most of the street was different saloons and then many touristy shops. About 3 candy shops, 2 or three old time photo places (one had a picture of "Miss Kitty's Bath House"- best old time photo idea I've ever seen), plenty of history, and lots of fun little things to see and discover. We ventured into most of the saloons since they all seemed to have pieces of the towns history preserved. There was the 'silver queen', the suicide table, and one saloon that still had coin slot machines that paid out silver dollars and gold (if you hit big enough). I didn't win much, I actually lost 3 dollars, but Cliff and I both got to watch a silver dollar drop into the tray which was very fun.
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| This church was much prettier when you didn't look at it directly next to the 'Church in the Sky' that was in front of it. |
This church was much prettier when you didn't look at it right next to the church in the sky.
After walking through most of the street and looking in the most interesting of shops we went back to our car and drove across town to check out the historic cemetery (which was HUGE-several acres). We were told there was a very interesting story about a local prostitute so we hiked up and down the hills trying to find her grave. Come to find out after we got home her name was Julia C. Bulette and she's entombed east of town at an unmarked site. Since we didn't know that, we walked up and down the paths through the grave markers trying to find something declaring a prostitute buried below for over an hour.
Every symbol on the headstones had meaning (also something I didn't fully know until later) and the graveyard wasn't just 1 cemetery, it was actually several all next to each other segregated by ethnic, religious, professional and fraternal lines. There was a section in the beginning for members of the Masonic temple and Morning Stars. There were whole areas just for Irish immigrants, English immigrants, French immigrants, Firemen, or military personal all separated by fences. There were graves 200+ years old, and I even came across one grave that was just a week old.
We found many graves of infants, children, and very young adults. It was very humbling to see such a reminder that people lived a hard life and death at any age was part of it. Beautiful the way they looked after their dead though.
The graveyard was designed (in Victorian Times) to be a beautiful, lush garden where people could go to contemplate life and wanted to bury their loved ones. It wasn't meant to be just a lot of holes covered with marble but an actual park to enjoy being in. Now with age, and thieves, and vandals it's little more than dead bushes and lots of dirt surrounding hundreds of beautiful headstones and plenty of town history.
By the time we were done scouring the headstones it was almost 6 so we headed back to town (Tahoe) to find dinner and get some gambling in. We realized when we got into town that we weren't actually that hungry yet so we headed straight to Harveys to play a few games and score a few drinks. We started with Keno (you buy your games and walk away...not that cool) and then Cliff found more video poker that paid him a few bucks before we ventured onto a roulette table. Odds are totally stacked against you, but I'm a sucker for chance games. On our last play I chose the number 20 (since 20 is the day Cliff and I met/got together). 136 dollar pay out after tip and we walked away happy (my only true win for the night). We played some slots in Harveys and Harrahs and I got Cliff to drop 5 bucks on a few games of Big 6 (more chance) and then we walked up the street to check out the other two casinos. One had no tables whatsoever, and both (probably because of the small sizes) seemed less smoky.
Still, not too much going on, and no great luck so we went back to our car and drove up the Fox & Hound for dinner (didn't realize they only serve appetizers at 11:30pm). We ordered the combination pizza (great crust!) and a bowl of chili. After two nights of eating there I can confidently say the food is very yummy and I will go back next time I'm in Tahoe.
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