I swear that is the last time I’ll make that joke. With that being said, stick around until the end of the post to see the very first Travel Video I ever made! It’s an oldie but a goodie.
When a friend asks you if you want to go to her family’s time-share in Lake Tahoe for a birthday trip, your birthday trip to be specific, the answer is ALWAYS YES. Seriously, thank god for friends with time-shares… also, friends who don’t mind road tripping to Lake Tahoe to save money… and, of course, friends who drive the entire 12 hours. She is most certainly a keeper, that’s for sure.
Since we only had a short time in Lake Tahoe, we knew right away that we had to make the most of our time there. Being the adventure lovers we are, our list was seriously hefty.
Emerald Bay State Park
Emerald Bay is an 1,533 acre state park that is home to Eagle Falls, Vikingsholm and Fannette Island and it is one of Lake Tahoes most photographed sites. With that being said, this place was packed. As you read in the last blog (where we accidentally hiked across the entire Golden Gate Bridge) sometimes I’m not the best planner. This is one of those times. Being that we were on vacation, we had gotten into a wonderful routine of making a giant pot of coffee as soon as we woke up and slowly enjoying it on the balcony. So, we weren’t the first to arrive to Emerald Bay State Park this particular morning (likely not even the top 100). We ended up parking so far away that we had an unexpected hike to the parking lot AND THEN hike down a steep one mile pedestrian trail to the water: the trail drops about 400ft in elevation which is pretty steep for a pedestrian trail. On route, we stopped to adventure to Eagle Falls. Being that this was just a stop along the way, we hiked to Upper Eagle Falls: very easy to get to and the trail is very well maintained. If you plan enough time, you can hike to the bottom of Eagle Falls for, what I’ve read, even better views.
All the way down at the bottom of Emerald Bay is where you can find Vikingsholm and Fannette Island. Vikingsholm is the 1860’s version of a “summer home.” I kid you not: what stands now is a beautiful Scandinavian-castle-like-home that is open for tours during the summer months. After taking a quick tour, we laid out our blanket and immediately jumped in the water. Being an East Coast girl, here is a list of things I am not used to: warm ocean/lake water, clear ocean/lake water, ocean/lake water that just looks so damn good that I want to stay in it for the rest of my life. Side-note: this doesn’t mean I didn’t spend EVERY summer growing up on the beach in the water. I did. This was just different and if you’re from the east coast you’ll understand. Needless to say, but I’m saying it anyway: seeing the water at Lake Tahoe for the first time was life changing. Seriously, I must have stood in the water staring at my own toes on the bottom for a solid half hour, that’s how surreal it was.
Kings Beach
The next day we found ourselves exploring Kings Beach. On this particular day it was very windy so the water was reminiscent of the east coast: wavy and a little cloudy. We rented kayaks from a stand right on the beach and set out to have a relaxing day kayaking the beautiful Lake Tahoe. What we got instead was stomach cramps from laughing so hard as we tried and failed over and over to paddle our kayaks past the first 20 feet of waves breaking on the shoreline. We were not ready for the wind and waves! After all of this hard work, we rewarded ourselves with dinner at Char-Pit. If you have never been to/heard of Char-Pit, put it on your list IMMEDIATELY. What started as a summer only walk-up burger stand in 1962, is now an enclosed year-round casual burger/sandwich/hot dog/taco/BBQ rib joint. Seriously, I’ve had dreams about their Grilled Chicken Sandwich. This place will not disappoint.
Sand Harbor
Save the best for last 🙂 Our day at Sand Harbor could not have been more perfect. The weather was amazing, the water was calm and clear as day, and the beach wasn’t as crowded as I’ve heard Sand Harbor can get on a hot summer day. We started our day early and found another little stand on the shore to rent Stand Up Paddle (SUP) boards from. We started with an hour rental (it was expensive, but worth it) and immediately took to the water. Now, Sand Harbor is the image when you think of Lake Tahoe: crystal clear water and giant rocks in the water. This is real people. I repeat. This. Is. Real. We ended up re-renting the SUP after our hour was up and didn’t bring them back for the rest of the day. We went back and forth between SUP, sunbathing, swimming, and jumping off rocks into the water. Truth be told, we only went back to shore once to eat lunch and then instantly went back to the water.
Sand Harbor Sand Harbor
Looking back on our trip, we absolutely could have stayed for a week and not had enough time. To me, Lake Tahoe is a hidden gem. Never having been before, I had previously thought it would be more of a one-time trip. Now, I wish I could go back every summer and spend lazy days on the beach relaxing. Lake Tahoe has officially been checked on my travel list, but not crossed off! This vacation deserves a repeat performance. Be sure to say YES to this adventure!
Yours,
Bohemian Postcards
4 Comments
Leave your reply.