Greg, Frank, and I just finished up a week out in Lake Tahoe. We rented at the Tahoe Tavern on the lakes North Shore. The first night (Sat 7/14) we went to the casinos in Kings Beach on the California / Nevada border. We hit up the Crystal Bay and happened to catch local Cali band the "Mother Hips" for their last set. The music was good and, while we didn't gamble much, I managed to get a suited black jack which got me a free bottle of wine. That plus my $50 dollars of winnings probably put me up $54.50 for the night.
So our cab driver Nate who took us to the casinos that first night ended up being an invaluable resource. While he looked about 22 with his baggy cargo shorts and sideways
flatbrimmed hats, Nate was actually 34 and had been in Tahoe for the past 15 years working as a cabdriver, bartender, and landscaper, and playing in garage bands. His day-to-day life, as he related to us on many a ride to the bar,
occured primarily between the hours 8PM and 10AM and wondered between casinos, bars, his cab, and following around the
Ozzfest concert series with his other
cabby buddies and "12 or so other hot girls". The main girl he seemed to be on the phone with, however, was his 22 year old ex(?)-girlfriend, a recovering heroin user and gambling addict, who he assured us was hot enough to compensate for whatever other minor issues she dealt with. In fact, Nate told us he no longer even needed the restraining order which he had taken out against her after she came over and trashed his apartment in a plate throwing fit one to many times.
Whatever else might be said about Nate, and believe me this just
scratches the surface, his unique local
knowledge was invaluable in helping us lay out a agenda for the
nighttime activities throughout the week. The best part was not only would he drive our cab driver, but he would also frequently join us at the bar introducing us to some of his local pals and slyly sucking down as many free beverages as he felt he could get away with. Other highlights from Tahoe bar circuit are below:
Monday: Pete and Peter's bar in Tahoe City. It was
definitely a local scene (half the patrons were in their softball uniforms) but we took refuge on the
shuffle puck table and proudly embraced our summer tourist status (i think Greg was wearing a
tanktop). Other awkward summer tourists naturally flocked to our fortified position and we
finished the night with a
hotly contested
shuffle puck victory over two summer tennis camp counselors who were on their night off.
Wednesday: At
Nates suggestion "Wet Woody Wednesday" at a bar/
restaurant called "Garwood's" was the order of the day.
Naturally I was on board, believing my last name was worth at least 2 or 3 free drinks. Despite not getting comped any drinks intoxication levels were quite high as a pitcher of "Wet Woody" frozen rum drinks were only $8.
At one point, Greg tried to bum a cigarette from a girl who glared at him and declared "Are you kidding. Do you know what those things do? My father takes out black lungs for a living so I would never smoke something that will eventually kill you."
A non-pulsed Greg responded, "Well you're entitled to your opinion, but I just can't say I personally have seen any conclusive evidence. Does your friend perchance have a smoke".
Thursday: Iron Curtain night at Rookie's
Sportsbar in Incline- so named because on Thursday's the bar offered half price drinks for all the Eastern Europeans who came to the Tahoe area to work in the casinos, hotels, and other tourist jobs. By 11:00 PM the bar was packed with more Slavs then a Balkan refugee camp.
Unfortunately, however, our attempts at conversation were stimied when the other patrons claimed not to know either Dolph Lundgren or Maria Sharapova and thus all our connections to Eastern Europe were exhausted.
We did have a good time that night though. Frank's family friend Mike came out with us allowing for some 2 0n 2 Golden Tee and pool. Mike even offered to help out by calling a Romanian friend from college and asking for some opening lines that might penetrate the Eastern European ice queens. The night ended up back at the famous Crystal Bay casino where the meager profits from the previous Saturday were quickly caughed back up to the casino with a substantial bit of interest.
Between these great Tahoe cultural events, we managed to take advantage of the lake and surrounding mountains with some great outdoor activities. There was a great trail for running along the
Trukee river and up into the Sierra
Nevadas within a mile of our cabin. I got five runs in during our 7 days and even made one attempt at an open water swim in the lake which lasted 25 very cold minutes. The most enjoyable swims were my morning post run dives of the pier which never failed to clear the head, cleanse the body, and start the day on a visceral high. They also served to replace showers for the first 4 days.
Greg, Frank, and I also floated the
Trukee river. While the only foam and white-water that we saw was generated by spilled Busch Beers, we still enjoyed the three hour float down the river. Our other experience on the Truckee was two days of fly fishing. The fishing was tough, with not much top water activity, but we did get to see a cool part of the region. We mainly fished an area known as the "Little
Trukee" which ran between the
Boca and Stampede
reservoirs northeast of Tahoe City.
We spent two days out on a boat in Lake Tahoe,
wakeboarding one morning and doing some cruising and tubing another afternoon. The
wakeboarding was a cool experience, Greg had done some growing up and was able to give me some tips on getting up. While I don't think you will be seeing me in a
Moutain Dew commercial anytime soon, I was able to move around a bit behind the boat and had a great time. The other day Frank's buddy Mike took us out on his boat and we went to Rubicon and Emerald Bay and did a bit of cliff jumping and tubing. Mike's house in the Chambers complex had an amazing deck looking out over the lake and some cocktails there late Friday afternoon provided a relaxing end to our week.
