Virginia City

I guess that one of the reasons that I chose Lake Tahoe as a destination on this trip was to re-live a trip from my childhood.

My mother and I had spent a week at Lake Tahoe with my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Tom and their son Dick. Besides fishing and swimming we took a side trip to Virginia City.

Virginia City was a boom town in the mid 1800s with all of the silver mines in the area. When we visited in 1953, it seemed to me that there was still a lot of the original ambience and everyone there still spoke of the way it was.

Joyce and I took a trip today to visit Virginia City. Big disappointment. It  was so commercialized. It was like visiting Myrtle Beach or Branson. Sure, the old buildings were still there, but they were filled with schlocky souvenir shops and the like. We walked down the main street, had lunch and then sat down to have an ice cream cone.

The main drag at historic Virginia City, Nevada

I suppose that there has been as much change in me as there was in the Virginia City of today. A young 14 year old boy certainly sees things differently than a 74 year old. I guess that you really can't go back.

When we got ready to leave, I drove down a side street, then another, getting further and further away from the noise of the main street. We saw some old boarded up buildings, then an old dilapidated horse-drawn hearse. These were the scenes that I had missed in my mind. I was beginning to feel better.

These buildings are about two streets over from the main drag.

An old horse-drawn hearse in sad condition. Note the coffin in the hearse.

As we left town I pulled over to take a picture of a refurbished school building. As I parked the car I noticed some trees with bottles in the branches, then an old car with a tree coming up through the back seat. Got my pictures and we drove away with new memories.

This old Oakland automobile is actually in pretty good shape except for the shredded tires, and of course the tree. This car was in an unimproved (and un-attended) parking area at the edge of town. I really appreciated the lack of commercialization here. We did leave a few dollars in the donation bucket.