36 Hours in Reno / Tahoe

Welcome to my 36 hours in Reno / Tahoe blog!  I'm lucky to have 2 sets of family visitors this month, so that's given me reason to think about how to be a tourist in my own town.  As I put this blog post together, I realize how difficult the job of a travel writer can be (and then i look back at that sentence

Tahoe stop

and laugh, because what a dream job that would be!):  you're writing for as broad an audience as possible, but vacations will look totally different based on the age, family composition, and interests of the travelers.  My recommendations here are based on things that I enjoy about my area (so casinos are not included, and outdoors are included heavily).  My sister was the most recent visitor, so many of the pictures feature her.  Here we go...

Friday Night:

When you first arrive in Reno, I would head to the downtown River Walk.  Enjoy the Truckee River and the surrounding mountains.  Once you've worked up an appetite, there are several good restaurants in the downtown and Midtown area.  I would recommend Campo, a nice Italian restaurant near the river walk.  After that, check out a fun independent bookstore nearby called Sundance Books and Music.

Truckee brunch with the babies

Saturday Morning:

Saturday is Tahoe day!  Start off the day in historic downtown Truckee.  Truckee is a small mountain town just outside of the ski resorts on the north side of Lake Tahoe.  You can grab brunch at one of several cute cafes along the main shopping strip, buy a Lake Tahoe souvenir, and dream about how you will furnish your future vacation home at Lake Tahoe.  

Saturday Afternoon:

From Truckee, proceed to Lake Tahoe.  My advice here is to go in with a rough plan of a few places that you would like to stop and see, but also to be flexible.  We had hoped to see Emerald Bay, which is arguably the most picturesque spot on the entire Lake, but which also has extremely limited parking.  It was a zoo the day we visited, so we changed our itinerary to instead visit Tahoe Dam on North Lake, and we then made a second stop at Baldwin Beach near South Lake.  All the places along Lake Tahoe are breathtakingly beautiful in their own way, and depending on the season / time of day / events happening, some places will be easier to access than others.  If you keep plans held loosely in the first place, you can enjoy whatever stop you end up making.  (If you don't want to be flexible, then you need to be early :).)

Random stop along West Tahoe

Saturday Evening:

After an eventful outdoor day, I'm usually tired and hungry, so I'm ready for a big meal close to home.  Casa Grande in Northwest Reno serves up delicious and filling Mexican food and generous margaritas in a family friendly environment.

Sunday Morning:

One of the up and coming streets in Reno is Dickerson Road.  Start the morning off with a short, beautiful hike in the Oxbow Nature Study Area, which is at the very end of Dickerson Road.  After working up an appetite, get brunch at Oxbow Cafe.  After brunch, you can check out the art galleries (if they happen to be open - hours are unpredictable!) and stroll through Sierra Water Gardens.