The day after the air races we headed out to Virginia City, NV. I had picked up a brochure in the hotel lobby and thought it looked interesting. As neither Doug nor I had ever heard of the place, we were amazed to learn what a big history this "little" city had. The Comstock Lode was discovered there in 1859. Gold mixed with high quality silver ore was recovered in such huge quantities that it turned many prospectors into millionaires over night. Apparently over $400,000,000 was mined from there and it was said that Virginia City had the richest silver strike in the world. At its heyday, it had over 30,000 residents, a 6-story hotel with an elevator, and was said to have financed the building of San Francisco. The wealth of the Hearst family supposedly started here as well, financed by $400 borrowed money.
We arrived there early before a lot was open or the crowds really poured in. We really enjoyed walking around and looking at all of the architecture and Doug was surprised that there were so many buildings still occupied even though there were huge cracks running through a large portion of them. While meandering around, we came across the Virginia City Mercantile. It was filled with barrels of candy and marbles. There were old signs and posters and pretty much anything you could imagine. There was just a lot to see and do. My friend Trish tells me there's a train ride you can take with an "attempted robbery" by gun-toting outlaws but we missed that one. We also left before the mine tour opened.
It's beautiful country up that way. The girls enjoyed the drive there as we wound higher and higher. Anna kept saying, "You can see the whole world from up here." Lauren was worried we were going to tumble off the hill and said numerous times, "Guys, we shouldn't be up here!" :)
Back in Reno, we decided to pick up lunch on our way back to the hotel. As we were unfamiliar with the area, we decided to take a gamble on a Mexican restaurant that was looking a bit seedy on the outside because I had a hankering for a chimichanga. We walked back out pretty quickly though as where they seated us had a desert and cactus display with half-eaten tortilla chips and french fries covered in ketchup. We had seen a "Hawaiian-style Cheeseburger" place up the road so we decided to give that a go. It was very busy and people were super friendly. All the kids got leis, and fruity drinks with parasols. Anna and Lauren were pretty funny because they kept negotiating each parasol that came to the table. I think Lauren ended up with most of them at the end of the day. We had an awesome plate of nachos and decent burgers. The best part though was that everything was free. That's right, you heard me...FREE. We noticed there was a sign on the door that read, "Staff training in progress." We didn't think too much about it and went on in. Apparently the place wasn't even opening until the following day and we just lucked into a trial run and a complimentary meal. How cool is that?
We arrived there early before a lot was open or the crowds really poured in. We really enjoyed walking around and looking at all of the architecture and Doug was surprised that there were so many buildings still occupied even though there were huge cracks running through a large portion of them. While meandering around, we came across the Virginia City Mercantile. It was filled with barrels of candy and marbles. There were old signs and posters and pretty much anything you could imagine. There was just a lot to see and do. My friend Trish tells me there's a train ride you can take with an "attempted robbery" by gun-toting outlaws but we missed that one. We also left before the mine tour opened.It's beautiful country up that way. The girls enjoyed the drive there as we wound higher and higher. Anna kept saying, "You can see the whole world from up here." Lauren was worried we were going to tumble off the hill and said numerous times, "Guys, we shouldn't be up here!" :)
Back in Reno, we decided to pick up lunch on our way back to the hotel. As we were unfamiliar with the area, we decided to take a gamble on a Mexican restaurant that was looking a bit seedy on the outside because I had a hankering for a chimichanga. We walked back out pretty quickly though as where they seated us had a desert and cactus display with half-eaten tortilla chips and french fries covered in ketchup. We had seen a "Hawaiian-style Cheeseburger" place up the road so we decided to give that a go. It was very busy and people were super friendly. All the kids got leis, and fruity drinks with parasols. Anna and Lauren were pretty funny because they kept negotiating each parasol that came to the table. I think Lauren ended up with most of them at the end of the day. We had an awesome plate of nachos and decent burgers. The best part though was that everything was free. That's right, you heard me...FREE. We noticed there was a sign on the door that read, "Staff training in progress." We didn't think too much about it and went on in. Apparently the place wasn't even opening until the following day and we just lucked into a trial run and a complimentary meal. How cool is that?
