Please click on the YouTube link below to see my photos ⬇️

https://youtu.be/XK27FkErZYo

We left Truckee for the second time in our adventure and headed south to South Lake Tahoe. It’s roughly an hour’s drive from start to finish. On the way we were able to make some stops where we saw amazing views of Lake Tahoe from the east side. We made one of our stops at Incline, near Sand Harbor. Here you can see fantastic views of Lake Tahoe, at the point where the water is at its deepest, which is 1645 feet. We could also appreciate the clarity of the lake itself which is amazing. In 1892, a naturalist named John le Conte lowered a white dinner plate into Lake Tahoe and it could still be seen at 100 feet below the surface.

We arrived at our hotel at about midday but were unable to check in until later. The hotel is actually located on Stateline Avenue, on the side of the road that is in California. The other side of the road is in Nevada. Further along we saw the imposing Harvey’s Casino which is in Nevada. Gambling is illegal in California, so casinos aren’t accessible like in Nevada. However, some forms of gambling which are regulated by the state, or the state’s Native American tribes, are allowed. This only includes card rooms, the state run lottery, betting on horses, tribal casinos and bingo.

https://www.caesars.com/harveys-tahoe

We decided to look for somewhere to have lunch and soon found McP’s Taphouse and Grill, an Irish bar and restaurant. Service was quick and we were soon on our way.

https://www.mcpstahoe.net

We headed down Lake Tahoe Boulevard on the Californian side to explore further. The area was buzzing with people milling in and out of shops and bars. We came across the Heavenly Mountain Gondola which takes you on a 2.4 mile ride to the top of the mountain and gives amazing views of Lake Tahoe from the top. We couldn’t investigate this further as an electric storm was heading our way so all the cable cars had stopped running.

https://visitlaketahoe.com/tour/heavenly-gondola/

We then paid a short visit to the visitors’ centre nearby, where we read about all sorts of interesting facts about Lake Tahoe.

Then we went to Stateline Brewery for a quick drink. We left and headed back towards the hotel when JC realised that he didn’t have his credit card. He hoped that he had left it at the brewery so we made a mad dash back there. The bartender recognised him and thankfully handed his card straight back.

https://statelinebrewery.com/?utm_campaign=gmb

We wanted to check out the beach at Lake Tahoe which wasn’t far from the hotel. This was called Lakeside Beach and would cost us $25 each if we wanted to access it, as we didn’t have a hotel pass. We took a few snaps through the railings instead and decided that we would go to another beach tomorrow where we hopefully won’t have to pay. It’s a really beautiful place that is worth a visit.

We thought at this point that we would go and find the marker that indicates the California/Nevada stateline. It didn’t take us long to get there, only ten minutes or so. It’s on a road inside the Van Sickle Bi-State Park. We hurried along as we could hear thunder and there were a few large drops of rain coming down. We quickly took photos and an American asked if we wanted a photo together. We said yes and he took a few, including one of himself!!

http://parks.nv.gov/parks/lake-tahoe-nevada-state-park-3

We thanked him and quickly headed back as the rain was getting a bit heavier and managed to get nearly back to the hotel when it really came down. It wasn’t really an excuse to go in, but we visited a nearby bar, called South of North Brewing Co. We waited for the rain to stop whilst having a couple of beers. We had a bit of thunder and lightning but nothing like the flash floods that were predicted. When the rain stopped we sat outside and listened to a country singer, before getting a text message to say we could check in.

https://www.southofnorthbeer.com

We went back and unloaded our hire car and got settled in the room. We also showered as we both felt very sweaty due to the humidity at South Lake Tahoe. We then headed to Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen Restaurant for our tea, which is situated in Harvey’s Resort in Nevada. When we arrived we had to walk through the casino hall to get to it. The casino itself wasn’t that busy but I expected it would be later on.

https://www.caesars.com/harveys-tahoe/restaurants/gordon-ramsay-hells-kitchen?utm_campaign=GMB&utm_source=google&utm_medium=local&utm_term=HellsKitchenTahoe&utm_content=restaurant

Hell’s Kitchen is based on the TV show of the same name. The menu is based on the dishes that the contestants had to create on the program. It was a great choice of food – Caesar salad and steamed Alaskan King Crab to start, and then jidori chicken scallopini and beef wellington for the main course. The waiter made the whole experience lovely. We finished with espresso martinis that were also fabulous.

After the bill was paid, we headed back through the casino and headed for the South of North Brewing Co again (well it is only round the corner from the hotel!). There was another country singer playing which attracted a lot of people who were sat outside. We felt very chilled out at the end of another great day.