Virginia City, Nevada

                                     Thursday 5/17/2012   _ Part 2

We made it to the top of the hill at 6200 ft., as we entered Virginia City, Nevada.



We were starved by then, so we pulled into the parking lot that had plackarrds with information, and had our lunch. Then we read about the town.

The views from Virginia City are awesome. The views in themselves were worth the trip. Can you amagine waking up in the morning and looking out your bedroom window at this. You can have this in Virginia City.

A home below the hill where we were reading about the town.

Sorry that the views aren't so great in this picture, as I have said so many times, " You just have to see it in person"!

Virginia City is one of the oldest established communities in Nevada.

Virginia City was a mining boom town that appeared after the Comstock Lode silver  strike in 1859.

The town is a mile long block of cute shops, bars, restaurants.

From the main street looking north. It is definitely a rustic town.

Of course they have a V on the hill for Virginia City.

In it's peak Virginia City had a population of 15,000 people and was called the richest city in America.

We stopped into Buckets of Blood.

A nice saloon and casino.

The table at the back had great views to the east. You won't get these views in Las Vegas.

We also stopped at the Bonanza Land and Cattle.

They too had great views on the back deck.
Virginia City is near the site of the fictitious Ponderosa Ranch on the Western television drama Bonanza.

They offered $5 for $4 of slots money. We both loss our $4 in a short amount of time. Why I don't like to gamble!

As we left, Joe pointed out this sticker attached to a newspaper bin. Do you trust our government?

I stopped into a few shops, and when I came out, Joe had found a property that he dreamed about buying for a few moments.

It had a bar downstairs, and an apartment upstairs. He said he always wanted to own a bar.

This was the building he showed me when I finally caught up with him.

This is the side of the building. It also had a parking lot next to it, that went with it.

As we walked away I squashed his little day dream, and said as old as it is, the foundation is probably crumbling. I have no desire to own a bar, so I had to nip that in the bud! It was just an momentary day dream anyway!

The town's population is 885 as of 2010 census. Majority of the towns people own the shops, and their livelihood is from tourism.

There are all kinds of antique shops,

A jail for bad boys,

He got in a gun fight in one of the saloons!

You can find barrels of candy in town,

or get married.

After you get married, you can get some homemade fudge.

For entertainment, you can stop at the Delta Saloon and see the famous Suicide Table.

According to the information on the wall two owners committed suicide after losing their fortunes from this table. The table was then stored away. After being in storage for many years it was brought back out by a new owner, and turned into a 21 table. That owner soon lost everything he owned and was the third owner to commit suicide over the table.

At Red's you can watch them make peanut brittle.

While I was in another shop, Joe found the Visitors Center and got some FREE popcorn. When I found him, I asked where mine was. I helped him eat his.

Visitor Center Building

Virginia City had three churches.

The old 1864 fire station.

A Gothic First Presbyterian Church dedicated in 1867, built at a cost of $12,000.

You can ride the trolley, if you don't need exercise.

Tahoe House Hotel
From reviews, this is a highly recommended hotel that has been restored. It was built in 1859 and is located on the main street.

If you are looking for a RV park, you can stay at Virginia City RV Park.

Ask for a site that overlooks the cemetery and has  the 100 mile view. The park is just one block from the main street.

A full hook up site cost $37.50 a night. I could have stayed here for a week and enjoyed the quite life of a small town.

The third church is the "St. Mary's In The Mountains". Built in 1868, Burned in 1875, Rebuilt in 1876.

You can also take train rides, or

or take a Gold Mill & Museum Tour.

You can also take a stagecoach ride. We didn't do any of these things, because we have done all these things on other adventures.

We drove around and found the Mackay Mansion.

We were getting short on time, so I ran around the back yard to see the gazebo, flowers and view.

I don't know what kind of bush this was, but it was gorgeous.

The mansion was built in 1859 by George Hearst, a mining supervisor. The Gazebo has the 100 mile view.

View from gazebo at the Mackay Mansion.

The lilacs were in full bloom and reminding me of our old back yard.

The woodshed is stock with original tools.
You can take a self guided tour through the mansion for just a few dollars, if you have the time.

We also wanted to go through this old schoolhouse, but we needed to head back home.

The drive down Hwy 341 was better than coming up.

I would have liked more time in Virginia City, because it was a really cute little town and had lots of shops to browse.

We really liked Virginia City. It was a very quaint town.

I talked Joe into stopping one more time to see the wild horses. They were at the same spot.

We had this spaceship following us for a while.

We wanted to stop and see the capitol building in Carson City, but you just can't see everything in one day, when you go shopping in Virgina City

We climbed the Sierra Nevada Range and got back to Lake Tahoe before dark.