We arrived in Carson City, Nevada, in the mid-afternoon. Carson City is has a population of about 55,000 and is the state capital. It is known as the Silver City, as mines in nearby Virginia City yielded a "mother lode" of silver, as well as other minerals. It was named for the well-known frontiersman. There are a number of golf courses in the area, so we certainly felt we could entertain ourselves for a couple of days.
The next morning, we decided to go to the Nevada State Museum, located just down the street. The building was formerly the Carson City Mint Building, where silver coins were minted from 1870 to 1893. Interestingly enough, there was a story on the news that morning of a dime minted in that facility in 1893 that had just been sold at auction for over 1 million dollars. The museum still owns one of the presses used for minting coins, but it is only operated intermittently. Lucky for us, when we walked in, the person at the desk told us we should go right back to the minting area, as the gentleman who operates the machine was in and showing how it worked. The process was simple- they currently purchase a round blank of silver from a supplier, and simply manually operated the press to create the design on the coin. During the time the building was a mint, these blanks were also made at the mint. The press itself is a 6-ton, steam powered piece of machinery. It was originally owned by the mint, was removed when the mint was closed down in 1893, and resurfaced many years later. It was supposed to be destroyed for scrap, but someone recognized its historical value and contacted the museum, which bought it. It now makes commemorative-type coins for different purposes to raise funds for the museum.
The remainder of the museum was very well done, and worth a visit if you are in the area. There was a ghost town, displaying the history of mining in the area. In the basement area, they had put together a mine display that had a very realistic feel- walking through the tunnels with stops to explain different aspects of the mining industry. In addition, there was a display describing the Indian history in the area. The natural history display was very informative with regard to the state's changing geologic history. Again, I would recommend this museum.
After visiting the museum, we drove up to Virginia City, the nearby mining town. The roads going into the town were winding, narrow, and steep. The town itself retains the old wooden sidewalks and storefronts of a western town. However, it was very "touristy" and crowded. We just walked the main street and visited an antique shop before heading back to the motel.
We had intended to play golf the next day, but we were not very happy with our motel- noisy and just not service-oriented. We regrouped (again!) and decided to go to Lake Tahoe, which we thought we would visit on a day trip. Instead, we headed south and stayed in that area for a couple of days. We arrived on Sunday- what a zoo! Lots of folks everywhere. We stopped in the Nevada side first, where all of the casinos are located, as we had spotted a craft fair in progress. We wandered down, spending a few minutes talking with a local photographer and a jewelry designer-maker from the Sedona area. Dale ended up purchasing a new hat- really nice looking!
We started to drive around the lake, as many folks recommend, but we only got just past Emerald Bay before turning around. The traffic was awful, and anyplace worth stopping to look and photograph was packed with people. Instead, we decided to check out a few golf courses to decide where to play the next day. We chose the Lake Tahoe Golf Club- nice course and views, not OMG expensive.
Monday morning we left the motel early to play. We were paired with another couple that spends every summer in Tahoe, getting out of the heat of Las Vegas. He was showing us the ridge behind the course, and told us that there had been a fire there 3 years ago, where over 300 homes had burned. Scary! It was a good thing we started early, as we started hearing thunder by the 7th hole. We played until it started to rain on the 9th hole (convenient!), then went in for lunch to wait it out. It just got worse, so got a raincheck, hoping we could use it on Tuesday morning before we left town. That night, we had made plans to go to the Chart House. We had a gift certificate given to Dale some time ago for his service as Commodore of the Model Yacht Group and decided that was a good place to use it. It was a nice restaurant, with great views. Generally, those places give you small servings, so we ordered appetizer (huge), salad (enough for two), meal (normal size) and dessert (which had to be ordered 30 minutes ahead, so we ordered it prior to all the rest...). Dale ended the evening by telling me never to allow him to eat that much again!
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| Virginia City Old-Timers |
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| Lake Tahoe Beach |
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| Emerald Bay |
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| Another view of Emerald Bay |
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| Lake Tahoe |
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