Virginia City, Nevada. Come on along.

   Welcome back to our trip. Reno, Nevada is our base for the first part of our trip. If you enjoy history and legends, then take the short drives out of town and explore. The first town up on our list was Virginia City, Nevada.

   Darlene and I left Reno and drove east 27 miles to the old small silver mining town of Virginia City. The short drive is up one mountain ridge into a valley then repeat about 5 more times. There are signs along the road saying horse crossing. This is due to the population of wild mustangs in the area. We did not see any wild horses, but saw many signs of where they had crossed. The drive east was scenic and you could still see the snow capped mountains in the distance.

      Arriving in town, you take a step back in time to the 1870’s. The town is one long main street with old buildings, plank sidewalks, and history everywhere you look. I had no idea Mark Twain lived there, worked there, and hung out nightly at The Red Dog Saloon. He was editor of the town newspaper, The Territorial Enterprise. This was prior to his more famous writings on The Mississippi River about Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. We saw the old building, still standing today, where his newspaper was published weekly.

   The town was famous for silver mining and “The Comstock Load” and, like most mining towns, had many saloons, brothels, and characters. Three of the more famous saloons (and still standing by the way) was The Red Dog Saloon, The Delta Saloon, and The Bucket of Blood. The Red Dog Saloon had a hotel or ” the rooms” upstairs. The signs are in the windows stating Rooms $1 and Baths with Attendant $1. The saloon has been open since 1876. We ate lunch there and, if you ever get the chance to eat there, pass on that opportunity. The bread on the sandwich I had seemed as old as the hotel!

The Bucket Of Blood Saloon has also been at the same location since 1876. Darlene and I saw some of the posters and signs telling of the ” old days” with stories mixed with what has become legendary. One of the most interesting sites was The Delta Saloon with the famed Suicide Table. It was originally a Faro Table inside the saloon. The owner lost so much money one night he shot himself in the head sitting right at the table. The next owner blew his brains out at the table full of other gamblers over his losses. The cursed table was then retired for a few years. The new owner had it converted to a Blackjack Table. Guess what? The first night he lost over 60,000 dollars and shot himself in the head at the table. It was retired for good after that.

   We visited several of the local shops and talked with some of the owners. The walk up and down the street is an adventure. Remember, I said the sidewalks were planks but they also are not very level. They slant different directions and have rise and falls in them. Just watch your step. 

   We then drove 3 miles further east to the smaller town of Gold Hill. This town was famous for the train depot that serviced The V and T Railroad; Virginia and Truckee Railroad that connected the Comstock towns of Gold Hill, Virginia City, and Carson City. There is still a vintage train ride you can take daily from Carson City to Gold Hill.

   We saw about all there was to see in our tour of Virginia City, although we did stop by The Silver Cemetery on our way out of town. We then headed back to Reno for the afternoon and went down to the Truckee Riverwalk. The city has really fixed it up nice with numerous restaurants, bars, and shops along the walkway. There are plenty of  scenic views from many of them. We had cold refreshments at The Spot. It was right on the river with a nice view of the river. We then returned to our hotel and chilled until time to eat. We chose Sushi Sake there in the El Dorado.

   Check back on my blog soon for our day trip to Truckee, California and the beautiful breathtaking loop around Lake Tahoe.