State Bird Provisions sounds like an entertaining meal. I’m having a hard time imagining how this translates to the palate, though:
Chinese-inspired duck-neck dumplings ($6), browned and looking like potstickers; the waiters pour on a sauerkraut jus tableside
Desserts there strike me as … fanciful. I’d probably hop the 38 inbound toward home, for:
beignets … dusted with cinnamon sugar and served with a Macallan Scotch caramel custard
And if it’s brisk outside on the walk up the hill to Moonkeyball Aitch Que? Apply some Sierra Nevada Hops-N-Mint Lip Balm.
I thought the review of the quail spot looked really intriguing, and we’re going to a show at the Fillmore on Friday so it seemed like a great possibility for pre-show dinner. But ms. s was less than enthused by the depiction.
I don’t really like game fowl much, but that dessert sounds fantastic.
Love me some duck. Have half of one in my freezer right now.
I’m in Lake Tahoe through Wednesday. Nice weather today, cold and windy tonight, a few inches of snow expected overnight into tomorrow.
This is probably my favorite shot of the day:
33 from today here.
The hike to Vikingsholm is awesome. I just loved the woodworking involved in the house. The hike back was tough on the Mrs. I agree that this is my favorite spot in Tahoe. A definite step back in time.
I’ll have to do that sometime. Snowing here right now.
I love Vikingsholm but I hated that hike. A walking trail with switchbacks would have been great, but the paved road was grueling to walk uphill. Last time I visited I approached by boat instead, much more enjoyable.
We’ve gone camping at Emerald Bay each of the last four years. Awesome place.
If anyone goes, make sure to bring plenty of water.
I love South Lake Tahoe. I’ve started looking a little at vacation property there- anyone know what the best FKing neighborhoods in South Lake are if you were looking to invest? Judging by price/sf it looks like there are lots of real bargains available but I don’t know if some of that is because there are neighborhoods that have real problems and should be avoided. All I really know of the area is the little I’ve learned from staying there on ski or summer vacations and it’s never been a long enough stretch of time to really get a feel for the different neighborhoods. I’m especially curious if anyone knows much about the Meyers/Tahoe Paradise/Christmas Valley area.
The area closest to the casinos is dumpy except for a few places well up in the hills. Al Tahoe and Sierra Tracts vary block by block as does the area between the Y and the Keys. Many of these houses will be older. The Keys themselves feel like East Bay suburbia.
There are a lot of very nice properties once you get away from the casinos out along Pioneer Trail and down towards Meyers and into Christmas Valley. Those areas have a much more rural feel. A big issue down there is the harsh winters. The lake is a moderating influence on the weather; the temperature in town rarely drops below 10 degrees and there’s less snow as you go east from the Y. In Meyers and Christmas Valley you’re in the immediate lee of the Sierra so there’s quite a bit more snow and once you get out past the airport, a few miles from the lake, you lose that temperature moderation so morning temps are often below zero and sometimes down below -10.
The Nevada side has the least snow and pretty much all the neighborhoods are nice except right around the bottom of Kingsbury. However the properties are generally more expensive, in large part because of Nevada’s favorable taxes compared to California.
This may sound trivial but it’s not: I much prefer having the front of the house face south. The sun will help you out a lot with snow and ice clearance. If your driveway is on the north side the sun won’t get to it most of the winter and the work required to clear it is way more onerous.
Thanks so much for the information, that was a fantastic summary of some of the areas.
Along the PT and out as far as Meyers and Christmas Valley was what I was the most interested in and this seems to confirm what I was thinking. Interesting point about house orientation, I hadn’t even thought of that.
The town of Meyers has just a few services: a nice but small supermarket, hardware store, couple gas stations and a few cafes. So by the time you start getting down into Christmas Valley you’re getting quite a distance from the full services along 50 in South Lake Tahoe…especially in winter weather. But for that reason the farther out you go the more house you’re going to get for your money, and also you’re well off the busy tourist strip which in the summer gets pretty irritating with the noise and traffic. That was something I liked a lot when I lived on the east shore; I was just behind a Safeway but aside from that it was non-commercial and non-touristy. If you’re looking for more of a quiet retreat, don’t need to be close to restaurants, shopping etc. and plan to spend most of your time there in the summer Christmas Valley would be a good fit. Pioneer Trail/Meyers/Tahoe Paradise are closer in and probably more sensible if you’ll be there a lot in the winter, but you’ll have to pay up somewhat for those areas. As far as crime/safety problems the City of South Lake Tahoe has a fair amount of it but it isn’t an issue in the areas you’re discussing.
I thought about this discussion when I was walking around today, and all I had to do was search FK for “orientation”. OK, there’s a lot of sexual orientation stuff, but I found it. With all the snow in the last couple of weeks this is a perfect time for TJ to come up here and take a serious look at conditions at places like Christmas Valley in a snowy winter, see if you really want to deal with that.