The trifecta of sights to see from Reno, NV…

We had a one night stay in Fallon, Nevada and then made the less than 60 mile drive to Sparks, Nevada which is nothing more than a sister city to Reno, Nevada. We are staying at the Spark’s Marina RV Park for a week… a really nice place and over our normal budget but the location is perfect for exploring the nearby area.

We decided that we wanted to see Virginia City, NV and also visit the state capital of Nevada, Carson City. However the must see spot when in the Reno area is Lake Tahoe. Our plan was to see each one of these venues in three separate days….,our trifecta of sights to see. However, the best laid plans sometimes do not pan out….

Here is the story… We decided to make a day trip to Virginia City, a historic mining town. It was here that Janis Joplin sang and here that Mark Twain started in the newspaper business. So the trip over to Virginia City was one we really looked forward to. The drive through the mountains to get there was very scenic and as we approached Virginia City we were somewhat excited.

That is until we got there… Virginia City is yet another old historic mining town that has lost its charm (in our opinion) to over commercialism. There really wasn’t much to this town other than some shops selling souvenirs, some restaurants selling food at high prices and a few interesting looking bars. When researching the town, we read many colorful historical stories, yet to our disappointment the city had no informative plaques or markers illustrating these accounts.

The bright side of the town was that there were some very interesting buildings from the 1800’s that seemed to be relatively authentic and restored (despite the town suffering a devastating fire) to represent the true spirit of the western days of glory that Virginia City once had. However the crooked balcony on the Kashmir photo above could use a little help…

After a stroll along the three or so blocks along the main drag, nothing convinced us that we should linger. We therefore decided to go on ahead and visit the state capital this day as well. So on the the road we went until we arrived in Carson City and as we approached the center of town we were surprised by the lack of any tall buildings. Yet it was this lack of the “citified” buildings that made Carson City charming and alluring.  If you ever have a chance to visit this town we feel you must take a stroll around the inviting tree lined grounds of the state capital. We took a lunch with us and totally enjoyed eating in the Capital Plaza while soaking in the ambiance of the city.

Despite spending an hour or so in Carson City we still had most of the day left. We felt compelled to complete the trifecta of sights this day and headed to South Lake Tahoe.. but that is another story…