Fun at South Lake Tahoe

We started our drive to South Lake Tahoe on Friday evening to get an early start on Lake Tahoe's activities (which can get rather crowded later in the day). Although there was some traffic on US-50, the drive was uneventful. We arrived at our 968 Park Hotel around 11:45 p.m. (as expected). Overall, the drive took about 3 3/4 hours - long but tolerable.

The Park Hotel is inexpensive in South Lake Tahoe - close to the major casinos (like Harrah's) and Lake Tahoe. I usually don't like staying in casinos on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, as their rooms always smell of cigarettes (even the non-smoking rooms). Plus, the whole gambling scene is not to my liking.

The only unfortunate part of the Park Hotel is its parking. The hotel's parking lot uses narrow spots, and I am not very adept at doing so at midnight in a large Toyota Sienna van.

We were pleasantly surprised by the lovely room in this relatively inexpensive hotel (there was even a nice pool!) The hotel also has an excellent wine bar, but more about that later.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

After waking up around 8:00 a.m., we ate breakfast at A Cup of Cherries - a local breakfast eatery. We usually like to eat at nearby Ihop, especially Swedish crepes with lingonberries (my precious), but this time, we were adventurous and decided to try a local cafe.

Although it's a small place, we liked the eatery and the variety of items on the menu, including items we've never seen before, like Island pancakes, Tamagoyaki Japanese omelets, and multi-flavored lattes and cappuccinos.

I decided to try the Tamagoyaki omelet with green peppers while Inna ordered the French omelet for herself. I also ordered the Butterfinger mocha, while Inna ordered an "Almond Joy" latte. Although I enjoyed my Japanese Tamagoyaki omelet, I think Inna's French omelet was more delicious.

Both the mocha and latte were delicious, and Alex enjoyed his "Snickers" decaf drink. Alex ordered a giant Belgian waffle and enjoyed it!

After breakfast, we drove to Emerald Bay for our day hike. We stopped at a couple overlooks to marvel at the beauty outside. Many tourists were here, and the parking lots were already getting crowded.

The lake was clear and calm, and the color of the bay was indeed Emerald green. The photos don't really show the full scenic beauty of this area.

After a few stops, we parked in the Emerald Bay State Park. Inna planned for us to visit Vikingsholm and then go to D.L. Bliss State Park, but we stayed in Emerald Bay the whole time. We started our exploration after waiting a bit to find some parking (come early!).

From the parking lot, there is a beautiful overlook onto Emerald Bay, which looks emerald green - but not in my photos!

We decided to walk downhill toward Vikingsholm and continue on the Rubicon trail afterward.
Walking downhill was easy but steep, and Inna was concerned about the return trip uphill.

Once we reached the lake, we decided to visit the Vikingsholm house. To see it, one has to purchase tickets. Tours last about 30 minutes and start 30 minutes past the hour.

Our tour guide explained how Vikingsholm was conceived by Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight, based on Scandinavian designs in Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

She hired a Swedish architect to integrate all Nordic elements into this house. There was one crucial requirement - no trees were to be cut down to make room for this house. The house was built in 1929, using about 200 laborers in about 6 months. There are many original, old-growth trees throughout the property.

Most of the furniture in Vikingsholm was imported from Scandinavia, with a Swedish bridal table and Finnish chair prominently displayed. It's all a tasteful mish-mash of furniture from multiple Noric countries.

There are a lot of carvings of dragons - which are a common Norwegian symbol. When we visited Norway's Balestrand, we saw many houses with carved dragons.

Mrs. Knight lived in Vikingsholm for a few months during the summer, hosting guests. She had 15 live-in servants who took care of the property. (All of her maids were required to remain single).

Guests who were invited had to abide by a strict schedule; they had to wake up at 0:00 a.m. and eat breakfast at 08:00, after which they could stroll around the territory. Lunch was served around noon, and Mrs. Knight recommended a nap afterward. A formal dinner was scheduled around 6:00 p.m., after which music and entertainment were provided. Although Mrs. Knight did not play the piano, she had a Steinway installed for guests that did.

One fact the tour guide missed was that Mrs. Knight was one of the leading financial backers of Charles Lindbergh's flight of the Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic. After she died, Vikingshom passed through a few other owners and was eventually sold to the State of California.

After completing our tour, we decided to walk the Rubicon trail. However, while walking on the trail, we noticed a few kayaks available to rent and decided to try them out.

We rented a two-seater kayak ($35/hour) and rowed around Emerald Bay, stopping briefly at the Fannette Island in the middle. Fannette Island has remnants of an old tea house where Mrs. Knight held afternoon tea (but not much is left of it now). Since we did not have footwear while kayaking, we did not explore Fannette Island's interior. Walking barefoot over jagged rocks and tree branches is not overly pleasant. We circumnavigated Fannette Island a few times (we had a one-hour rental) and returned by 1:30 p.m.

We decided to explore the Rubicon trail, and walked for a few miles, by the Emerald Bay, We saw a few people camping and relaxing in the water. This is an excellent location to camp, as the water is clear, and the camp location is well sheltered from Lake Tahoe's winds.

Since it was late, we decided to turn back and return to our van. But first, we had to feed Alex a few snacks, so we got him some ice cream, which helped him endure the steep uphill walk.

The hike back was tiring, but we made it with some huffing and puffing.

A Renaissance Fair was going on (and there was a lot of traffic in the area). We saw lots of exciting costumes but decided not to stop there. We were not in the right mood and had seen it all before.

After resting in our hotel, we went to dinner at Off The Hook California Sushi Bar. Inna and I shared a couple of delicious rolls - a "Dragon Roll" and a "Roll Called Wanda."

Alex ordered a more normal Teriyaki chicken plate, as he was starving!

After dinner, we returned to our hotel room and walked to our scheduled Big Bad Voodoo Daddy show at Harrah's Hotel and Casino, only a few blocks away.

We had a fabulous time at the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert (but much more is written in a separate blog post here.)

Sunday, May 31, 2015

After waking up around 8:00 a.m., we finally decided to get breakfast at A Cup of Cherries! Alex and Inna liked it and did not want to take any chances. I ordered a Goat Cheese omelet, and Inna ordered the French omelet again. Instead of mochas and lattes, Inna and I ordered French press coffees, which was great with half-n-half.

Alex ordered a Nutella crepe with bananas. He really liked it. The sugar fix!

From there, we drove to Baldwin Beach to meet with Erik Birkholm of Erik Birkholm's Water Ski School. Since we arrived there early, we just rested on the beach, and I tried to decide which wetsuit would be needed.

While waiting for the boat, Alex played on the beach.

Although the water seemed warm, I decided to err on the side of extra warmth (which was an excellent idea), as Lake Tahoe's water was 59 degrees Fahrenheit (chilly for us Californians).

Erik's boat arrived on time at 11:00 a.m., and we scrambled aboard. Alex put on two separate wetsuits as the water was cold and was the first to try out water skiing. Erik explained that water skiing is more accessible than wakeboarding, so he wanted us to learn this first. He showed Alex how to sit in a cannonball posture, with knees bent and arms straight, to prepare for when the boat started to pull.

Alex practiced the sequence a few times on the boat, and then it was time to try it out in the water. Alex was initially reluctant to get in as the water was a bit cold. Finally, he was in the water.

Alex had a few attempts at getting up on water skis but fell. I think the cold water got to him. He was tired after a few more tries, and it was my turn to get wet.

I fell on my first try - the cannonball posture was challenging to get used to, but I got up on the skis on my second attempt and skied for a long time.

I shot a GoPro Hero4 silver video on my third attempt. Here it is:



Inna enjoyed watching Alex and me try water skiing while she recorded our progress.

Alex and I were tired after a few water skiing runs and decided to try rafting. Trying to hang on was a lot of fun while the boat turned left and right!

Initially, Alex did not want to try rafting. However, after seeing how much fun I was having, he decided to try it. He had a blast!

We had two great hours of water skiing, finishing up at 1:00 p.m. As we were starving after spending all this time on the water, we drove back into South Lake Tahoe for a much-needed lunch.

We decided to try the Artemis Mediterranean Grill. Inna ordered a Gyro plate, and it was enormous! I ordered a normal Gyro, which was more sensibly sized.

Alex had a "Classic Burger" - as he was ravenous after all that activity.

We enjoyed our lunch, finishing up with a chocolate dessert.

We had a great time in South Lake Tahoe, and I hope to revisit it soon.