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We all dream of it while we work, play, dream, daydream, even drive...to work. We want to travel, get out on the road or hop into a plane or ship or canoe. To see the world, to experience the beauty and mystery and excitement all around us. But, at GeographicWest we hope you can take that trip with us. Through words and pictures, we would like you go on the road with us, to interesting, exciting, relaxing and even magical places. This series of Road Dispatches will be made available to you one per month, maybe sooner. We too want to get out on the road...let's go.
GeographicWest Road Dispatch Number 2The Richest Place On Earth VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA – It was once called, “The Richest Place On Earth” and “The Comstock Lode” and now one of America’s largest Historic Landmarks. First the facts. Virginia City, Nevada is:
And walking down “C” Street, Main Street is like stepping back into the 1860’s. You see rollicking saloons, mine operation recreations, small museums, the ubiquitous tourist knick knack shops, period costumes on recreators and, if you time it right, recreations of street shoot-outs between the lawmen and the bad guys. The ride “up the hill” on the 341 from the north-south artery 395 is winding and beautiful. There are a couple of great lookout points you must stop at to take pictures with views toward the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the city of Reno. Reno is the gateway for Virginia City,Carson City,Lake Tahoe and Donner Pass. You fly in to Reno Tahoe International Airport, probably on Southwest. Southwest Airlines has the majority of flights into Reno but you can also catch a ride on other airlines; Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Horizon, United and US Airways. The Grand Sierra, Silver Legacy, Peppermill, Atlantis, El Dorado and many other hotels and motels abound, both around town and downtown. A great source of information would be The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority, The Virginia City Convention and Tourism Authority, The Carson City Nevada Convention Bureau and The Lake Tahoe Visitor and Convention Bureau. Virginia City is not a recreation of an old west mining town; it is the real thing, sort of. In 1875 a nearly total fire destroyed the original town that exploded with activity after H.T.P. Comstock and a few other original prospectors discovered gold in Six-Mile Canyon, The rush was on. During its peak, nearly 30,000 residents resided in Virginia City. The most famous of all, as history tells us, was Samuel Clemons who became Mark Twain after he left his job as a reporter at the Territorial Enterprise for $25 a week. The Comstock Lode produced more than $400 million in gold and silver and still remains the richest known U.S. silver deposit. Around 1878 the mines were depleted, quickly flooded and became an anachronism. Languishing, the city has transformed itself to a tourist mecca beckoning those who wish to relive those days of wealth, wealth that built San Francisco, watch reenactments and stroll down the wooden sidewalks of an era now long gone. It is a fascinating place, the altitude makes the air crisp and turns the skies a deep azure blue. You see faces from around the world all wishing to sense the middle 19th century. You should take a ride on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad, visit “The Way It Was Museum” and stroll through the “Bucket of Blood Saloon.” Be sure to bring your Canon or Nikon. Park your vehicle, stroll up and down the streets filled with architectural delights. The facades and roof lines are fantastic in detail, shape and form. And off the main street check out the “Pipers Opera House.” The state capitol of Nevada is not far away. Tours of the silver state capitol dome in Carson City is doable the same day. Carson City, Reno, Silver City, Lake Tahoe, these will all be explored in more detail in coming issues of GeographicWest, so check back often for that and other Road Dispatches.
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