Driving over the mountains to our east, we drive down the other side through irrigated farm land and then drier areas, old mining areas, to Virginia City.
It looks like a Disney western town BUT this is the real thing. Most building really are old with many having new uses. Some are replacements due to a major fire in the town’s history. Population is 787 and each one we met, including the man replacing boards in the wooden sidewalk, can give you a history lesson about the town! This was a town of 25,000 during the 1870’s when silver mining was big( the Comstock Lode discovery). We learned that the precious metals mined here helped finance the Civil War for the North. The Way it Was Museum has every artifact that one might want to see and more, plus an interesting movie about mining practices back then.
There were plenty of cool saloons to explore, most served food and had live music in the afternoon.
St Mary’s in the Mountains Catholic Church located a block off the main drag was an interesting visit.
Then back to South Lake Tahoe.
Back in South Lake Tahoe, we check into our new digs for the rest of the week.
. This is a really nice spot with a restaurant/bar on site, a pool, an activity room with two pool tables and table shuffleboard( one of my favorites).
2025-02-14