Litespeed_Chick

Hi all-

I'm flying to Sacramento Sept 12th for a mountain biking trip to Lake Tahoe. I have many questions:

1. I land after dark. Would I be better served to stay on the outskirts of Sac. the 1st night and drive to Tahoe the next morning?

2. What route do you recommend, and are there any traffic considerations I should be aware of. Same question coming back to the airport on Saturday afternoon.

3. I intend to eat two dinners, the first around 10pm on Wed. night, the 2nd around 6 on Sat night. The Wed night dinner must be convenient to my drive from the airport toward Tahoe. (we're foodies...this may be a hard question) On Sat., I'm more open, so shower me with recommendations for Sacramento's best.

4. I'm clueless where I want to stay in Tahoe. I'm not very interested in casinos, then again, I don't want to be completely isolated from "town." The Hyatt on the north side looks great and is recommended on the threads I searched...but are people in CA used to paying $400-$500 + for the cheapest room in a hotel? That seems like a LOT to me.

5. Most of our daytime will be taken up with mountain biking, and I think the bike shops will give us all the 411 we need on trails...but what should we do in the late afternoons? We like to window shop galleries, and other other cool stores, and explore interesting neighborhoods. Ideas appreciated.

6. What will I wear? I checked the weather.com averages. looks like HI 70's low 30's, but I'm not sure how that shakes out fashion-wise. Here in SC I would still be firmly planted in summer clothes. Will that look OK? I'll bring jackets/sweaters so I don't freeze...I learned that lesson in Park City in July a few years ago...brrrr.

Thank you very much for any advice!

dmlove

In answer to your first question, whether you should stay in Sacramento or drive to Tahoe the night you arrive, it depends where in Tahoe you're going. If you're going to No. Lake Tahoe (the Hyatt for example), then sure, you can drive up at night - it's a freeway most of the way. If you're going to South Lake Tahoe, I would not recommend driving up at night, especially since you've never been before - it's a side-of-the-mountain-hugging two-lane highway much of the way.

If you ARE going to No. Lake, it's only a couple of hours from Sacramento. Sometimes, we'll drive to Auburn (about an hour beyond Sacramento) and stay at a Holiday Inn or such so we can get up to No. Lake earlier in the morning (usually for skiing). Don't know if you'll find great food, though (now that Izzy's Hamburgers is no longer there).

J_Correa

Regarding what to wear - fashion in Lake Tahoe is basically whatever the weather and your activities call for. It is the mountains, afterall. And since it will still be summer when you go, summer clothes will be fine for the season, although you might be cold. I always bring jeans and a warm jacket when I go to Lake Tahoe because if nothing else, it will be cool in the evenings. At that altitude, once the sun goes down, the air really cools off. If you are planning to ride early in the morning before the sun has had a chance to warm things up, bring cool weather riding gear. The coldest temperatures are usually around 4am, so it takes awhile for things to warm up in the mornings.

As for hotel rates, no most people in California are not used to paying $400-500/night on a room. I have never paid that nor would I pay that - for a condo or cabin with a few bedrooms, sure, but not for a hotel room. When we go to Lake Tahoe, we have always stayed in cabins or condos - Brockway Springs, Zephyr Cove, or Lakeland Village - or for real budget trips, motels in South Lake Tahoe.

dmlove

You might look into renting a condo at a ski area (which are also summer "resorts" like Northstar. It has a really nice village, as well as a swim/health club.

Or Brockway Springs -- it's in a fantastic location on the lake.

janisj

You've received answers to most of your questions. Whether to drive up that night mainly depends on what time you land and which part of the Lake you are staying. Sept 13 is a weekday and you will hit very heavy morning traffic (even going against the main commute) until you get past Roseville. So IF you do wait until morning I would either get a very early start (like before 06:00) or wait until mid morning. What I'd probably do after a tiring trans continental flight is drive just as far as Roseville or Auburn and stay in one of the many highwayside chains. The next morning there will hardly be any traffic from that point so you can leave whenever you want.

One point you may not have considered being from the SE. The air is VERY dry at Tahoe. Like humidity in the 10%-12% range. Folks from humid areas sometimes forget the need for lots of moisturized sunscreens. The combination of thinner air, altitude and low humidity means your body may not react to strenuous activity like you are used to. the dry air is great - lots better than the sticky alternative - but just take it into consideration. Also, use stronger sunscreens than you might need at home.

sunbum1944

If you are staying in Sac the Midtown area has a lot of good restaurants.

Its considered more of an "IN" area than the "Old Town"

Zocola's restaurant is one of the fav's

MBnancy

We've never paid that much at the Tahoe Hyatt in Incline. Did you put your dates online on their web page, for their Sunshine on Sale package, under special offers? Pay for 3-4 nights, get the next one free, with breakfast included. Brings the cost down if you are staying that long.

They've been running at full occupancy all summer, but might be less crowded after Labor Day.

Leely

In Sac, try The Waterboy or Biba for your foodie dinner. Others may have better recs (check chowhound), but my mom lives there and to be honest, I find most of the food at the "good" restaurants....well, just not really sophisticated. Even at Waterboy I believe the server will tell you his/her name.

Sorry, Sactown friends.

janisj

"The Wed night dinner must be convenient to my drive from the airport toward Tahoe. "

I'm sorry - but for anyone to recommend a restaurant in mid-town (Biba/Waterboy) as convenient between SMF and Tahoe doesn't know Sacramento or the freeways very well.

If you do start out towards Tahoe on I-80 I'd look at someplace in Roseville w/ easy on/off freeway access.

Like http://www.crush29.com/ or http://www.fatsbistro.com/

I know Crush29 serves untill 11:00. Fat's Asian Bistro is more "squishy" timewise. They will close the kitchen if the traffic slows down but do serve until at least 9:30 last orders.

(Biba and Waterboy are wonderful but not on your way to Tahoe)

Leely

Janis, I was recommending dinner for Saturday, for which she said "shower me with Sac's best."

BarbAnn

Foodies in my area eat at Masque in El Dorado Hills. It would be convenient only if you are going to South Lake Tahoe via Hwy 50. Check it out at www.masqueristorante.com

sunbum1944

Crush29 is a great trendy place but its definately a "crush" - barely a spot to move last time I was there -

The drive from midtown area restaurants to the freeway is not that far out of the way in my opinion -

janisj

"The drive from midtown area restaurants to the freeway is not that far out of the way"

true - but from the airport TO midtown is a pretty long, convoluted route.

And yes, Crush is usually really crowded - but as late as the OP would be getting there (after 10 p.m.) it should be fine.

ChiDad

I would highly recommend a rental condo in McCloud. It is walking distance to the Hyatt and the beach and the hot tubs are great after a day on a bike. Check out the rental agencies. I would expect some availability after Labor Day.

Plan to visit downtown Truckee one afternoon and probably another at Squaw. A rafting trip down the Truckee river is always fun after a day of riding, too. Check out the beach at Sand Harbor one day and do the hike down to Emerald Bay another. If the weather is good, the catamaran cocktail cruise from Meeks Bay is also worth doing.

Have fun,

Kevin

dmlove

You're not eating Thursday and Friday?

If you're in Truckee at dinner time, we had a very nice dinner recently at Pacific Crest Restaurant.

IMHO, Squaw is very nice for a quick visit, but I wouldn't plan on more than a couple of hours there (and that would include a drink at one of the bars in the plaza area).

beckytx

The Black Bear Inn in South Lake Tahoe has really nice rooms starting around $200 per night, which includes an amazing breakfast. For your foodie dinner, I've heard that Evan's is the place to go.

Litespeed_Chick

Yes, I'll eat on Thursday and Fri...but I have lots of suggestions already from Chowhound. I'm thinking one night in Tahoe , possibly
Big Water Grill,Fiama, Le Bistro. Then one night in Truckee, Cottonwood, River RAnch, Squeeze Inn, Soule Domain, Moody's and Dragonfly have been recommended.

It's the hotel that still has me confused. I think I want to be on the North Side, but most of the affordable stuff seems to be in S. Lake Tahoe. I can't get a feel for what that area is like. I want to avoid super-touristy, T-shirt shop, fudge shop kind of stuff with lots of traffic....but maybe I have gotten the wrong idea.

beckytx

SLT is more touristy, but I loved it on my first visit last month. The traffic was never too bad, and we did a lot of driving to explore the outlying areas. Yes, there are t-shirt shops, etc, but its still beautiful! We had lunch the the Hyatt at Incline Village and really enjoyed it, but I agree $400ish is pricey.

dmlove

The Lake is about 70 miles around (by bike, my husband has done it a couple of times). If you look at this map of the lake, you can see "So. Lake Tahoe". "North Lake Tahoe, including the 2 "cities" of Truckee and Tahoe City, are also shown. There are smaller "towns" too, including Kings Beach and Incline Village on the North side. South Lake Tahoe is much more "touristy" than North Lake.

http://tinyurl.com/2c2hgt

yogartlovers

There are so many places in north and west lake tahoe. the Tahoma area, homewood, sunnyside- you can stay in cabins where breakfast is served in a group area. I do think S. Lake Tahoe is too touristy, but we like it quiet. Try Meeks Bay- just beautiful!