VIRGINIA CITY

For our last Saturday of our vacation, we decided to head to Virginia City. Future SIL had never been and it had been about 12 or 13 years since we had been. We got there about noon and the town was busy, but not crowded. A friend owns a Bed and Breakfast in VC, B Street B N B, so she recommended we go to the Cider Factory for lunch.

https://ciderfactoryvc.wixsite.com/ciderfactory-vc

What made this place nice was that it was out of the fray, a little south of the main tourist street. Quiet and cool setting, with comfortable social distancing seating. Food was good.

Heading back into the tourist street, people were generally complying with wearing masks. I would guess maybe 10% were not. As we walked along the street, crowds seemed to accumulate in front of the bars. I would cross the street when we approached a bar crowd, which were loud and a bit rowdy. Our daughter asked why I kept crossing the street. I told her I didn’t want to walk by the bar crowd. We checked out the antique shops. Masks were required to go in the all the stores. We took a peek in the Bucket of Blood Saloon, where they were screening for masks at the door. There was a band and it seemed a bit crowded and rowdy. No thanks! Alcohol and mask wearing don’t mix.
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We took the final ride of the day on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. It is a narrated, 30 minute ride, pointing out the various mining sights and area history. Very fun and informative. Seating was marked out to keep riders distanced. I had to ask a mother of a small child to keep him close as he was excited and would end up right next to me. I was nice and she was understanding.

As we headed out of town, we stopped by the historical cemetery. A fun day with perfect weather. .

WEST SHORE CAFE

Every year for the last 22 years, we have always had a meal at our favorite spot, West Shore Cafe at Homewood. The food can be hit or miss, but we love the setting. Cocktails are always wonderful. They have outdoor space and dining on their pier. With Covid restrictions, there are no walk ins. Pier dining is by special reservation, limited and a fixed price menu: welcome cocktail, Amuse-bouche, choice of salad or appetizer, choice of entree. The other outdoor space is off menu. We wanted to treat our daughter and her fiancé to a special day so I reserved on the pier. Usually weekends are closed for weddings, but not this year.

We arrived at noon and were the seated right away on the pier. There was another couple seated on the pier and a few of the outdoor tables were seated. The menu is scanned by one’s phone, so no handling of menus. I think the idea of special pier dining is to try to generate more revenue during this time, but no other pier tables were seated while we were there. All the other outdoor, non-pier tables were full.

Our welcome cocktail was a glass of sparkling wine, which isn’t really a cocktail, but it was good quality. The amuse-bouche was shrimp on a tortilla chip. Lame. The rest of our meal was good and I especially liked my Mountain Mule: Tito’s vodka, fig jam, ginger beer and a sprig of rosemary. So good. From the time I had reserved and paid online, they had lowered their price per person from $75 to $50, I think to encourage more pier dining. I really hope they survive as we love this spot. They also have a very nice inn on sight.


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West Shore Cafe view
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Mountain Mule 😋

On our last full day, we took our daughter and her fiancé to pick up her repaired car in Truckee. We decided to have lunch in downtown. For a Monday, things were pretty busy. Restaurants had set up outdoor dining in the street parking area. We liked the Moody’s set up so we went there. I had a salad and calamari appetizer. DH had a sandwich. Very nice dining outside.

Overall, we had a nice stay in Tahoe. Weekends tend to be more crowded and should be avoided if possible. We felt everyone, everywhere we visited are taking Covid seriously. Hoping everyone stays safe.

lucky you for taking that trip, all our trips this 2020 are canceled. I love Tahoe, I would love to come back after everything's okay again

That sounds like a fantastic break from COVID confinement. Thanks for the report.