We could spend a lot more time here!
My personal highlight was leaving Dwayne and the kids at the beach while I went on an exploratory bike ride. When the trail ended, I turned back and explored the different day-use beaches I had passed before. My reward was finding the Tallac Historic Site, which was one really, really rich family that eventually subdivided to two other really, really rich families, creating three summer estates on Lake Tahoe in the lifestyle expected of the early 1900’s San Francisco’s high society. Of course, the most interesting buildings were closed to tours, but there were some lovely gardens, and just-take-a-peek outbuildings for the governess, tutor, butler, chauffer, kitchens, dairy, larder, and guest cottages for the many, many friends wealthy people with land-fetishes often have.
Back at the beach, Dwayne and Piper rented a kayak to explore the waterfront a bit, and the kids had a delightful time in the blue, blue water.
We met back up for our scheduled Rum-Runner tour, an hour-and-a-half water cruise over to the aptly-named Emerald Bay. For my younger slugs, this was the perfect way to live their own high-society life, as they sipped root beer and lounged in the back of the cruise boat.
My favorite part of the cruise was the glimpse of Vikingsholm we got. In any year not ending in “20”, we would be able to do a feet-on-the-ground tour of this castle. However, a float-by was the best we could do this summer.
But better than the castle? The tea house. “Located on the only island in Lake Tahoe, The Fanette Island tea house was built in the 1920s by Lora Knight, the clearly super-rich lady who owned Vikingsholm — a 38-room castle along the Emerald Bay shore. The stone shell of the building still remains today and is fairly easy to reach for any willing to swim out to the island.“ Originally, this folly had a roof, stained glass windows, a large oak table, and four chairs. Today, it has a come-hitherness that made us all wish we could jump off the boat and swim over to explore further.
I predict we will be back one day, and spend far more than just two nights. Lovely Lake Tahoe!
Needopedia 