California 2013 - Round 2 - Day 5

September 15, 2013 (Sunday)

Genoa, NV - "Nevada's Oldest Thirst Parlor"

The day started with a drive to check out Genoa. Genoa is an old town, the first settlement in which became the Nevada Territory. There is a bar in town that claims to be “Nevada’s oldest thirst parlor”. It is said that Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt and Johnny Cash visited the parlor.  A couple of films used Genoa as the set. The area is historically known as Mormon Station, since the first settlers were Mormon pioneers.  There is not a lot to do or see in the little town.

Carson City, NV - Capitol

Next stop Carson City to visit the capitol building. There was free parking along the side of the building. We snapped some photos and checked out the grounds before heading across the street for lunch at Mom & Pop’s Diner. The food was pretty simple and they serve breakfast all day (they are only open until 2PM).

Virginia City, NV

Continuing north, we took a step back into time to check out a really neat place called Virginia City. During its heyday, Virginia City was a highly profitable mining town – millions of dollars, which equals billions in today’s standards. The town is full of Victorian-era buildings including Old West saloons, shops, museums and restaurants. People are dressed in the era and there is even an old shoot-out corral. There is an opportunity to ride on a stagecoach, trolley and steam engine train. We opted to check out the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.  We took the Historic Route to Gold Hill which was a 35 minute roundtrip train ride. The fare was $9 for adults, ages 5-23 $5, free under age 5. There is an opportunity to hop on the train in Carson City and take it to Virginia City (1.5 hours each way – weekends only). Check out www.virginiatruckee.com for more information!

Sand Harbor - Lake Tahoe, NV

Heading back to Tahoe, we stopped a beautiful spot along the Lake – Sand Harbor!  We parked in one of the pull outs along the roadway and did a little bit of hiking to view the beautiful sparkling blue water. There is a state park there also, but it was $12 and we did not have the proper cash or check to put in the envelope, we did not enter the park.