After surviving a pretty intense hail storm on Tioga Pass, the only way in and out of Tuolumne Meadows of Yosemite National Park, we finally made it to Lake Tahoe!
The Keep Tahoe Blue campaign is strong. Its mission is to preserve and conserve the natural beauty of Lake Tahoe. Everyone has bumper stickers with the slogan and the area has taken to having a little fun with it. For example, the Brewery at Lake Tahoe has adopted “Drink Tahoe Brew”.
Did you know that Lake Tahoe is America’s second deepest lake? The border of California and Nevada goes through the middle of the lake and there are many towns that dot the circumference of the lake. We stayed in South Lake Tahoe just over the Nevada border and I consulted this article on Thrillist while planning (http://www.thrillist.com/travel/new-york/a-new-yorkers-guide-to-lake-tahoe).
Accommodations
We stayed at the 968 Park Hotel (http://www.968parkhotel.com/) and it was the perfect spot for us because it’s centrally located across from Heavenly Village and a short walk to the water.
Food
The first night we got in late and enjoyed pizza at Blue Dog Pizza (http://bluedogpizzatahoe.com/) in Heavenly Village. It was yummy and they had gluten free crust! Our second night we made a reservation at Scusa (http://www.scusalaketahoe.com/) in South Lake Tahoe. They had good reviews, gluten free options and it wasn’t far from the hotel. While the food was tasty and plentiful, it came out so quickly that it was hard to enjoy it.
We had two yummy and filling brunches in Tahoe. The first was at Ernie’s http://www.erniescoffeeshop.com/ and we were lucky because there was no wait (and they had gluten free bread!). Driftwood Cafe (http://www.driftwoodtahoe.com/) was also delicious however the first day we went there was a 45 minute wait so definitely try to get there earlier in the morning.
In Truckee, along the west coast of the lake, we grabbed a light lunch at Coffeebar http://www.coffeebartruckee.com/. We had tried to get into Squeeze Inn but it closed by 2pm. There are lots of options for food in Truckee and great shopping so leave some time to peruse.
What to Do
In the early morning we drove to Emerald Bay so that we
could get on the lake with Kayak Tahoe (http://www.kayaktahoe.com/). Parking is tight so the earlier you can get there the better. You’ll also want to wear sneakers to walk down to the lake and bring flip flops for the boats. Keith decided to stand up paddleboard and we took out a double kayak. If a storm wasn’t moving in we would have spent 2 hours on the water and paddled farther out but we enjoyed the hour paddling around the island in the middle of the bay and just lounging on the lake. Also it’s right by Vikingsholm (http://www.vikingsholm.com/), a historic mansion that has daily tours.
After lunch in Truckee, we went to Donner Memorial State Park (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=503) to check out the new Visitor’s Center. The center was small but had tons of information. We particularly enjoyed learning about the Donner Party and their treacherous journey across the Oregon Trail. They had decided to take what they hoped would be a short cut to the west coast but their trailblazing route allegedly lead to the infamous cannibalism. The center also included exhibits about the local Native Americans and the builders of the transcontinental railroad.
Outside the center is the original Pioneer Monument dedicated to the travelers of the Trail.
Portland
We chose to add on Portland, Oregon because, quite honestly, Brian wanted to eat at as many places as possible. I visited Portland about 6 years ago and it seems to have changed a lot. The city straddles the Willamette River, the very river that lead to the city’s origins as a lumber town. Two east coasters, one from Portland, Maine and the other from Boston, Massacusetts, flipped a penny to decide the name of the “Stumptown”. Guess who won? Also for all you Simpsons fans, creator Matt Groening is from the Rose City and it inspired many of Springfield’s residents: http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/2012/05/the_simpsons_map_of_portland_w.html
Accommodations
We stayed at The Jupiter Hotel (http://jupiterhotel.com/) located in the Burnside neighborhood of Portland. It’s about a 20 minute walk over the bridge to downtown. Portland hotels can get pricey but the Jupiter was right within our budget, with small but perfectly comfortable rooms. There’s a music venue and bar at the hotel so be sure to book a “Chill” room if you want a good night’s sleep. The staff was very helpful and answered all our questions enthusiastically.
Food
Screen Door
The first day we ate lunch at the food pods. Portland has tons of food carts and they are fun to ramble through and find your favorite. We decided on a Korean taco pod that hit the spot! Brunch is an art in Portland and our favorite was at Screen Door (http://www.screendoorrestaurant.com/). It was absolutely worth the wait with its southern cuisine that kept us full for hours on end. Brian loved the chicken and waffles (and the biscuits and gravy), my shrimp and grits were delectable and don’t miss out on the praline bacon. Our last day we had brunch at Brunch Box (http://brunchboxpdx.com/), a teeny place with great breakfast sandwiches centrally located to get around the city.
Dinner at Por Que No
Our first night we met my friend Amanda and her husband at Por Que No (http://www.porquenotacos.com/). Despite the wait, it was amazing. Brian ate 6 different tacos, the margaritas were perfect and the ambience was Portland hipster. What more could you want? We’re Top Chef fans so we put Doug Adam’s restaurant, Imperial (http://www.imperialpdx.com/#welcome), at the top of our list. It’s a loud restaurant but everything we ate was delicious. We also loved sitting near the open kitchen and watching him work. Still on our Top Chef kick, we wanted to try Gregory Gourdet’s Asian inspired cuisine restaurant, Departure (http://departureportland.com/), in the Nines hotel. We went for drinks at the rooftop bar before and sat outside for dinner. It’s a very trendy spot but the food was not as good as Imperial and there were some issues with service.
The lines at Voodoo donuts were crazy long so Brian decided to go to Blue Star instead as it’s been touted as the grown up donuts of Portland (http://www.bluestardonuts.com/) . Petunia’s, (http://petuniaspiesandpastries.com/), is a gluten free bakery in the city so I had to try it out since I couldn’t eat any donuts. We both agreed our snacks were so yummy!
What To Do
Although I’ve been to Portland before, we thought it would be fun to learn about some of the neighborhoods and history of the city so we went on a 2 hour jaunt with Portland Walking Tours (http://www.portlandwalkingtours.com/). We learned a lot and saw some great sights along the way.
Portlandia was sculpted to be the symbol of the city however sculptor Raymond Kaskey sues anyone who uses it for commercial purposes so it remains in relativity anonymity. Here’s an article to learn more about this pretty hilarious symbol: http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23062-so_sue_us.html.
While Portland is known for its microbreweries, there’s a burgeoning distillery movement happening as well. We bought a Distillery Row passport for $20 which gives you access to seven distilleries (http://distillerypassport.com/). We made it to three; Eastside, Rolling River and New Deal, with Rolling River as our favorite.
At Rolling River where we tried Aquavit for the first time
New Deal Distillery
We took the bus up to the International Rose Test Garden (http://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/finder/index.cfm?action=viewpark&propertyid=1113). It’s fun to ramble through the garden and see all the wild varieties of roses. If the day had been less hazy we would have had a spectacular view of Mount Hood.
The Portland Art Museum (http://portlandartmuseum.org/) had an Ai Wei Wei exhibit I wanted to check out. The exhibit was small but we looked around the other temporary exhibits as well. It’s definitely worth checking 
out.
Portland is a unique city. Think of a cross between San Francisco, Seattle and Brooklyn. There is a vast and present homeless population throughout the city and the neighborhoods differ greatly on either side of the river. It’s extremely walkable but you may want to utilize Uber or Lyft to get between neighborhoods.
It’s a tradition to take photos of your feet with the PDX airport carpet! They are ripping it up despite the residents’ love of it.
We had a terrific trip to Nevada, California and Oregon! I highly recommend going out west to any or all of our destinations.
The Primary Source 