The new Heavenly Village Friday night concert series (Sponsored by KTHO radio and Wake Up Tahoe) kicked off on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend in front of Base Camp Pizza with the Trey Stone band playing some great blues and Jimi Hendrix covers including "Voodoo Chile", and "The Wind Cries Mary"
Trey Stone is a longtime musician who has played with Parliament/Funkadelic, Bootsie Collins, Dee-Lite, and Tower of Power. He has lived in Tahoe for a number of years now and loves it too much to leave.
He is accompanied in this video by "8-track" John Belanger (Drums), and Boyce Pittman (Bass).
The Heavenly Village concert series will continue all through June and July. Upcoming dates include:
For the last 3 years running Lake Tahoe's Slow Rollers bicycling club has put on a costumed bike parade, which last year I filmed as a contender for the Gueiness world record for "World's Longest Bicycle Parade" but this year the spring weather was rainy with a threat of lightning and the turnout wasn't as big as usual.
It's usually from the Y to Stateline; this time it was from South Shore Bikes to Mo's Place, so I missed the actual parade; but I caught up with the slow rollers at their afterparty and got this video with all the riders in their costumes.
May 1-5 Rocky LaPorte / Ron Morey @ Improv at Harvey's
May 01 Jesse Kalin and Acousitcal @ Cabo Wabo
All Tahoe clothing swap @ American Legion
May 02 City Mouse, Ninja Slaughterhouse, End of the Line @ Rojos
Bias and Dunn feat. Steve Kershnick @ Moody's Bistro
Chasing Ice movie screening @ Squaw Valley
Chango's Tree House @ The Grid
May 2-4 Left of Center @ Cabo Wabo
May 3-5 Genoa cowboy festival feat. Riders in the Sky, Dave Stamey, Hot Club of Cowtown and Waddie Mitchell.
May 3-4 Sammy Hagar: Four Decades of Rock @ Harrah's
Firefighter's "fill the boot"fundraiser at the Y
May 03 Seasonal Job Fair @ Harvey's bus garage
Jesse Kalin @ The Beacon
The Vegascendants @ Classic Cue
Graham Marshall @ Moody's Bistro
New Monsoon / Acorn Project @ Crystal Bay Club
May 04 Mayweather vs. Gurerro watch party @ Montbleu
Boogie Nights Cougars and Cubs party @ Opal
Sugar Beats, NoWa, EfxHand, AD/AM, and Nausicaa @ RAW bar
Truckee River Band / Molly taylor @ Whisky Dick's
Ike and Martin @ The Beacon
Forget the Roses @ Moody's Bistro
The Bumptet, Sean Leahy Trio / Spirit Family Reunion @ Crystal Bay Club
Biggest little skate jam for Autisim feat. Melvin Makes Machine Guns in Sparks
May 05 Cinco de Mayo (parties at Hacienda del lago, Heavenly's CA Lodge, and more)
DJ Chris English @ Cabo Wabo
May 06 Cash Only Band @ Cabo Wabo
May 07 TYMK, IJV, Ground Score @ Whisky Dick's
Skiier/BASE jumper Eric Roner of MTV's Nitro Circus @ Moody's Bistro
May 8-12 Jake Johannsen / Sammy Obeid @ Improv at Harvey's
May 08 Douglas County Sherrif's office open house @ America's Greenest Jail
Tone Cookin @ McP's
May 09 Jackson and Jesus @ McP's
May 09-12 Motherhood Out Loud @ Montbleu
May 10 Trunk Monkey @ McP's
Jellybread, Drop Theory, Low Flying Birds @ Crystal Bay Club
May 11 The Shins / Ra Ra Riot @ Montbleu
Super Diamond @ Harrah's
SureFure Deluxe @ McP's
Bent Wood @ The Beacon
Ben Fuller @ Moody's Bistro
Joker, Philosophy, Tally, Trevor B, Agent 42 @ RAW bar
Head for the Hills / Hellbound Glory @ Crystal Bay Club
May 12 Mother's Day
Local's appreciation party feat. Thrive, Weapon, Bukue One @ Montbleu
Anne Roos @ The Boathouse restaurant at BEACH retreat
May 13 Joy / Pleasure Bonus / Molly Taylor @ Whisky Dick's
May 14 Career faire @ LTCC
Digital Connection, Humpfree LowGart of (Ohm Wrecker) @ Whisky Dick's
May 15-19 Charles Fleisscher / Brant von Hoffman @ Improv at Harvey's
May 16 Kelly Anne Miller @ Cottonwood bar and grill
Slow Rollers bicycle parade through South Tahoe
Harmony Road @ McP's
The Main Squeeze @ Crystal Bay Club
May 17-18 The Academy of Dance Arts @ Montbleu
May 17 Livitz Livitz, Boot to the Kool, Ninja Slaughterhause @ Whisky Dick's
Ron's Garage @ McP's
Afrolicious, Eddie Robert's west coast sound / Downbeat @ Crystal Bay Club
May 18 Ira Walker w/ M.I.P. @ Whisky Dick's
Manic Bros @ McP's RYDHA J ClYDE, DUBB 20, J PIGG fr hooligans @ RAW bar
Lyrics Born feat. Skins and Needles and 40 Watt Hype / The CME, Mr. Rooney @ Crystal Bay Club
May 21 Oscar Danliels, Dead Robot, HepHany @ Whisky Dick's
May 22-27 Nick Griffin / Gene Pompa @ Improv at Harvey's
May 23 Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes @ Montbleu
Live at Lakeview Commons voulenteer recruitment (5PM) @ Lakeview Commons
Neutralboy, Up Against It @ Rojos
Ben Taylor @ Crystal Bay Club
May 23-24 Northstar Elevators @ McP's
May 24-25 Steven Roth @ Moody's Bistro
May 24 Equinox, DJ Kronyak, Conspiracy Theory, Beat Karma @ Blu nightclub in Montbleu
Long Beach Rehab / Arden Park Roots @ Blu
K-Theory @ Tahoe Biltmore
Sisqo @ PEEK Tahoe
Trey Stone @ Heavenly Village
Dead Winter Carpenters w/ California Honeydrops / The Paisley Brain Cells @ Crystal Bay Club
May 25 Dead Winter Carpenters w/ He's My Brother, She's my Sister / Achilles Wheel @ Crystal Bay Club
Valilla Ice @ Harrah's
4-way street @ McP's
Deep Fried Mojo @ The Beacon
Stranger Band (reggae) w/ SO Dubs, Weapon @ Whisky Dick's Late Nite Billy's birthday bash feat. DJ Morefiend & DJ Enlightenment @ RAW Bar
Cool Black Kettle @ The Beacon
Perfect Giddimani / Winstrong @ Hacienda del lago
May 26 Starship w/ members of Jefferson Airplaine @ Harrah's
Naughty By Nature @ PEEK Tahoe
Big Bad Wolf @ The Beacon
Tracorum, Groove Session / The Nick Moss Band @ Crystal Bay Club
May 27 Memorial Day
Mindfull Massive dubstep show @ Whisky Dick's
Protoje @ Hacienda del Lago
May 28 Desert Dwellers, Ransom, Trevor & tattoo Joe Moontribe @ Whisky Dick's
May 29- June 02 Bob Zany / Zan Aufderheide @ Improv at Harvey's
May 29 Birds of Chicado @ The Divided Sky
Ron's Garage @ McP's
Agent Orange, Marones, The Business End @ Whisky Dick's
May 30 JG Duo @ McP's
The Black Lillies @ Crystal Bay Club
May 31 Gretchen Wilson @ Montbleu
Dab City in South Lake Tahoe
Castle, Hate FX, Demon Lung, Envirusment, Serpent & Seraph @ Whisky Dick's
4-way Street @ McP's
Jesse Kalin and Cool Black Kettle @ Heavenly Village
Reggae legends The Wailing Souls w/ Pure Roots / Massive Delicious @ Crystal Bay Club
July 1-2 Highway 50 Wagon Train rondezvous @ Zephyr Cove Resort
Valhalla Rennasaince Faire @ Camp Richardson
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy @ Harrah's
Battlecross, Huntress, Otis, Arsonists get All The Girs @ Whisky Dick's
July 2 America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride Wagon Train Parade
If your browser doesn't support embedded playlists, click here for the May 2013 playlist.
I went out to the South Lake Tahoe Rec center for the The 2nd Annual Home and Garden Show presented by Golden Bear Events and talked to some of Tahoe's finest home and garden vendors.
April 01 J-Boog, Hot Rain, Eph Bee Cee, DJ Treez @ Blu nightclub in Montbleu
Banff Mountain Film Festival @ Montbleu showroom
April 02 Kaminanda, Nominus and Dubcoling @ Whisky Dick's
April 03-07 Allan Havey / Don McEnery @ Improv at Harvey's
April 03 Plantrae, Ale Fresh, Shane Suffriti @ The Grid
April 04 Vokab Company, Smiley Face @ Himmel Haus
April 05 Del the Funky Homosapien, Eddie B., Lazy J. Davey Jones Click @ Blu nightclub in Montbleu
Tracorum @ Himmel Haus
Thicker than Thieves, Point of View, Bud Light Girls @ Whisky Dick's
Pyronauts / DJ SDF @ Northstar
B.O.G.G @ Fat Cat Cafe in Tahoe City
Peter Jospeh Burtt and the King Tide @ Crystal Bay Club
April 06 DJ Pauly D. (Or Jersey Shore) @ PEEK nightclub in Harrah's
Elvin Bishop @ Harrah's south shore room
Mr. Roony, SubDocta, HepHay, Philharmonic, Benjah Ninjah, Gurbtron, Shane Suffriti @ RAW bar
High Roller Hold Em w/ Shaun White @ Heavenly
Kirkwood Rail Jam @ 7800 at Kirkwood
Bite, Point of View @ Classic Cue
Mike Colten rock explosion @ Squaw Valley
Natalie Gelman / California Repercussions @ Northstar
Keyser Sose @ Moody's Bistro
Bluetech, Benjah Ninjah, Tor @ Tahoe Biltmore
Tea Leaf Green, Hot Buttered Rum, American Jubilee @ Crystal Bay Club
April 07 Gunbarrel 25 challenge @ Heavenly
Tracorum @ Alpine Meadows
Roach Gigz @ Cal Neva
Emily Tessemer band / Pond Skim w/ DJ Fidgital @ Northstar
April 09 Mr. Roony / SubDocta / Trill Pickle @ Whisky Dick's
Elephant Revival @ Crystal Bay Club
April 10-14 Chris Porter / Jodi Borello @ Improv at Harvey's
April 11 Bob Wayne (outlaw country), Brandon Fox, T. Junior @ Rojos
Moksha feat. Peter Apfelbaum and Mojo Green @ Teps Villa Roma
Speakeasy Social Club w/ Tahoe Moonshine Muggers feat. Ashley Kepler @ RAW bar
Wala, Roksmyth, IJV @ The Grid
Diego's Umbrella @ Crystal Bay Club
April 12-13 Jellybread @ Bar of America
Northstar Session / DJ SDF @ Northstar
April 12 Moustache Party feat. Cloud D., Nice Fingers, Eliquate, S.O. Dubs, Eklektik, Bluntstache,
Street Shark @ American Legion
Keyser Sose, Mojo Green, Downbeat @ Crystal Bay Club
April 13 Local natives @ Harrah's south shore room
Models and Bottles @ Opal at Montbleu
Heavy Glow, Over the Falls, I'm Dirty Too, Molly Taylor @ Whisky Dick's
Catacolm Sessions feat. RV, Chango, Zach Rawlinson, FM Marc, David Aaron @ RAW bar
The Junk Merchants @ Classic Cue
Snow Bash @ Squaw Valley
Crash Kings / Foobs & Gurbtron @ Crystal Bay Club
April 14 Ski Patrol Fundraiser feat. Jelly Bread, Devastators, and Deep Fried Mojo @ Heavenly Village
Joe G @ McP's
Miss Lake Tahoe pagent @ Montbleu
Whitewater Ramble @ Himmel Haus
D. Lo, Dreda Dre, Benni Boom @ American Legion
Hans Erbach @ Alpine Meadows
Closing day at Nosthstar California feat. Neva @ Northstar
April 15 Groovebox, DJ Phesko, Beat Karma, Roots Rob @ American Legion
Mark Wilson @ McP's
April 16 Roksmyth, Benjah Ninjah @ Whisky Dick's
April 17 Bad Looks, Zeb Early, Aux vs. Mizl @ The Grid
April 18 Trey Stone @ McP's
April 19 Anti-Serum, Unkle Dobson, Equinox, Oscar Daniel, Dead Robot @ Blu nightclub at Montbleu
Lion's Den, Smoke Signalz Dubstep @ RAW Bar
Hiatus / Tom D @ McP's
Arsonists get all the Girls, Gary Busey Amber Alert, Conducting From the Grave, Catalyst, Aethere,
Enslave the Creation, Walk Away Alpha, Delirium Process, Vengance @ American Legion Hall
Element of Soul, Overwatch, Bar Fly Effect, Slaves of Manhattan, Vanishing Affair @ Whisky Dick's
Jamestown Revival @ Moody's Bistro
Purple Haze / Dub Virus, DJ S1nth3sys @ Crystal Bay Club
April 20 Kill Paris, Candyland, Fiasko Daniels, Kronyak, Dead Robot/Oscar Daniel, Beat Karma @ Montbleu
Nico Luminous, Smasheltooth, Lafa Taylor, Little John, Mighty Jacob, Howie Du @ RAW bar
Don Carlos, Heiroglyphics, Cannabis Cup @ Tahoe Wellness Collective in Bijou Center
Keyser Sose Bob Marley Tribute @ Tep's Villa Roma
The Hoods, Early Graves, Guttershark, Blessed Curse, Otis, Murderlicious, Crused @ Whisky Dick's
Kyau and Albert, Gjestar, POTUS @ Horizon
Break Science, Auxiliary / Shotgun Wedding quintet @ Crystal Bay Club
April 21 Joe g @ McP's
April 22 Mark Wilson @ McP's
April 23 S1nth3sys vs Irieys collab set w/ DubColinG @ Whisky Dick's
April 24 Mr. Kitt, INI, Gurbtron @ The Grid
April 24-28 Vince Morris / Kat Simmons @ Improv at Harvey's
April 25-27 Trey Stone duo @ McP's
April 26 Black Pussy, Blaak heat Shujaa, Molly Taylor @ Whisky Dick's
The Sleeping Giants, Hot B, Big Light, Huckle, PMW @ Crystal Bay Club
April 27 Far East Movement @ PEEK nightclub in Harrah's
Roy Rodgers and the Delta Rythim Kings @ Harrah's South Shore room
Aligning Minds, Lynx, Drumspyder @ RAW bar
The Uglies @ Classic Cue
Three Times Bad @ Divided Sky in Truckee
Dead Winter Carpenters, Travelin McCorey's, Huckle @ Crystal Bay Club
April 28 Mountain of Strings feat. Yonder Mountain String Band, The Del McCoury Band & Tony Furtado @ Squaw Valley
Joe G @ McP's
April 29 Mark Wilson @ McP's
If your browser doesn't support embedded playlists click here for April 2013 Lake Tahoe Concert playlist.
Mau 02 City Mouse, Ninja Slaughterhouse @ Rojos
May 03-04 Sammy Hagar - 4 Decades of Rock @ Harrah's South Shore Room
The South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce puts on a business expo every year and this year's Tahoe Business Expo was the wildest one yet! I've never been photobombed so many times in one video in my life. There were over 96 businesses presenting; plus live entertainment by the Heavenly Angels and Montbleu Boogie Nights dancers, Dreu and Adra from "Wake Up Tahoe", an actual bomb disposal robot, and much more.
Lake Tahoe has a long tradition of doing art and doing it in a public way where anyone can see it, and there is, frankly, so much public art in Lake Tahoe that if you go by car you're gonna miss a lot of it. So I've taken the trouble of laying out a public art walking tour that most anyone can do.
Though there's a lot of hills and mountains in Lake Tahoe this particular route is 3 miles of very flat walk. There is great public transportation all the way along the route so that if you get tired you can just hop a bus back to wherever it is you were staying. It is not a very difficult walk. Just about anyone who can walk three miles can do this tour, and it's a really good tour. There is so much great public art here in Lake Tahoe: all the way from Stateline all the way to far, far into California. This particular tour covers the area from Stateline to the American Legion. you can see everything in the interactive map below.
We begin our public art tour with one of the most recognizable pieces of art on the south shore of Lake Tahoe: The Harrah's Pony Express statue. This statue was dedicated by Bill Harrah himself in 1967 to celebrate the centenial of the Pony express. There used to be a Pony Express stop about 1/4 mile up the road near Edgewood at Friday's station, where the Pony Express riders would refuel, change horses, and get ready. The Pony Express, if you don't know, was such a dangerous job that they would only hire orphans because they didn't want to have to pay compensation to the families of those who died delivering the mail in the dangerous mail conditions of the 1860s.
Little known fact about this statue: in the base of the statue is a time capsule -- put there by Harrah's in 1987 that can only be opened in 2037.
Chainsaw Sculptures by Jerry Toste
One of the art forms that Tahoe is most strongly associated with in people's minds are the chainsaw bears. There's a company down in Carson City called Timeless Scluptures, that employs an artist called Jerry Toste, who, whenever one of the trees is taken out, dead, and there would otherwise be a big ugly stump that couldn't be easily removed; instead of leaving a big ugly stump they have a chainsaw artist come up and carve it into bears, eagles, and all sorts of other forms. Read more here about how he makes his sculptures here:
"From a mighty redwood a Statue was carved" article on Chainsaw artist Jerry Toste of Pollack Pines by The Mountain Democrat.
Now, after this, I would suggest that after you check out the fabulous chainsaw bears in front of Heavenly Village that you go in to Heavenly Village and check out the famous fountain. The next stop on our Public Art walking tour is Heavenly village. Besides the famous fountain at heavenly village that freezes over every year and is famous from a lot of my videos -- if you've watched my videos you've probably seen that fountain many times.
Lightbox Art at Heavenly Village Cinemas:
There is a lot of other great public art that is available to anyone, just for visiting Heavenly Village. The Heavenly Village cinemas also has some really amazing public art. The lightbox art in front of Heavenly Village cinemas is some of the best lightbox art in town. It was done by DreamsAndVisionsArt.com and they did a truely amazing job.
I want to thank +Paulo Block on Google Plus for making the image of the Eagle from then go truely viral on Google+: It is amazing how many hits that image got! And several of the other pieces of lightbox art at Heavenly Village cinema have also gone viral on the internet, and rightly so because it's some of the best lightbox art in town.
Art Galleries in the Crescent V Center
Also, if you're the sort of person who likes to see their art in a gallery, right across the street from Heavenly Village at the Crescent V center, there are 4 different art galleries of 4 different kinds of art. Scott Wyland has a gallery where you can look at some of his famous paintings of the whales and dolphins in California and Hawaii. There's an Untamed Art gallery in that space that does a lot of local artist's art. There is also a Jon Paul gallery which shows Lake Tahoe photography from photographer Jon Paul. There's also a Marcus Ashley gallery that shows a lot of local artists and does a lot of paintings of Lake Tahoe.
If you're not a strong walker and you're looking to skip a part of the walking tour, catch the bus across the street from the Crescent V shopping center to the Ski Run Marina, where the next major collection of art is. If you're willing to keep walking do the extra mile of walking because there is some really amazing lightbox art along that mile that you really wouldn't want to miss unless you weren't a really strong walker.
Sphere of Influence lightbox and dumpster art:
As you walk down highway 50 in Lake Tahoe you will see a lot of the lightboxes have been painted up. In 2009 and before Lake Tahoe used to have a terrible grafitti problem when it came to people drawing on the lightboxes. So, they decided: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." and they hired a local group called Sphere of Influence that diverts kids from graffitti art into doing legitamite street art on the lightboxes.
Most of the lightboxes along US 50 and Ski Run were put in by Sphere of Influence, a local nonprofit that has a contract with the city to cover up graffitti with art.
Our next stop on the Public Art Walking Tour is the complex at Ski Run. Ski Run Marina has an amazing collection of public art that you can see totally for free just for walking in.
There is a wonderfull chainsaw sculpture in front of the Riva Grill that depicts an American Eagle with the "United we Stand" logo. It was made in 2005 by chainsaw artist Toste who has done a lot of the chainsaw art in Lake Tahoe. He also did the bears in front of Heavenly Village.
There is also a lovely mixed-media map of Lake Tahoe on the side of the Riva Grill building, a very impressive fountain, and most importantly of all, this is one of the concentrated places where you can find galleries in Lake Tahoe.
Dirk Yurkitch has a lovely photography gallery in this complex. There is also the Tahoe Art Connection gallery where you can buy some lovely paintings. In the summertime they have meet the artist events at both galleries, and there's a lot of great stuff to be seen here.
Also, while you're here definitely check out the Tahoe Queen, which is usually docked at Ski Run marina. If you're interested in seeing more of the Tahoe Queen click here to see my original video of the "Dixie vs. Queen Sternwheeler race" that we have every year. I did a great video last year of the Dixie vs. Queen Sternwheeler race in 2012. and you should definitely check that out too.
El Dorado County Building
Those of you in my audience who are history buffs will really enjoy this next mural on the side of the El Dorado County building. It depicts the S. S. Tahoe, which was the first ever steam powered tourist boat on Lake Tahoe and is one of the most famous shipwrecks in Lake Tahoe. it depicts a woman with a period camera waiving goodbye, presumably to the last voyage of the SS Tahoe from Glenbrook. It's a really awesome mural, it was put up in 2001 by Don Gray and his partner.
Lakeview commons just happens to have one of the most overlooked pieces of public art in Lake Tahoe and it's really much less famous than it deserves to be. There is a great tile mural at Lakeview Commons that actually predates Lakeview Commons itself.
It was originally proposed by Patrick Ferris Bennett in 1996, unfortunately he didn't live to see it completed. It was dedicated in 1997 by then vice president Al Gore as the centerpiece of the very first Tahoe Summit. The front of it depicts the view from Lakeview Commons and what all of the fish in the lake are, what all of the mountains that you can see across the lake from Lakeview Commons are, but I strongly encourage you to look at the back of the mural.
The individual tiles on the back of the mural were made by individual high school kids in South Lake Tahoe, and there are tiles from some rather famous people. Famous college basketball player Jared Hass who is now a commentator on ESPN has a tile on there. There's a tile commemorating Tahoe Tessie, there are many, many other great tiles. You can learn a lot about the people of Lake Tahoe in 1997 and the cool thing is that because I went to south Tahoe High School I was in high school with most of the kids who made the back of this mural. It's really cool.
Tahoe Daily Tribune Building
Tahoe Daily Tribune has a mural of the Tahoe Hotel in the 1930s. More murals in Tahoe .
Here on the side of the Tahoe Daily Tribune building you will find one of the most impressive local history murals in town. It was painted by Alan Wylie and Mike Svob about 10 years ago. It depicts the famous Tahoe Hotel at the peak of it's popularity in the 1930s. It's got a great 1930s automobile, some wonderfull people in Great Gatsby era dress. It's a great thing!
Also, if you've worked up a bit of an appetite doing this walking tour -- I know I have, just walking down here. You will definitely see some great restaurants just walking by here. There's a sub sandwitch place less than a block from here. There is also the Sno-Flake Drive in, which is famous for having some of the best mildshakes and season fries in town right next door to the tribune building, so you can eat and be satisfied before you continue on or go home from your walking tour.
Tahoe Visitor's Center, Historical Society Museum, and Tahoe Art League
One of the reasons I reccomend the visitor's center is that there is a lot of very interesting public art right in front of the visitor's center on your way there if you're walking. There is a great big metal bicycle that was put up to celebrate the America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride and the Amgen Tour of California coming to Lake Tahoe a couple of years ago.
There is also another fine example of a chainsaw bear, this one with an eagle on it. There is also a lot of other really cool art that is within walking distance of the visitor's center. Stay tuned to Fabulous Lake Tahoe later this month for coverage of the Tahoe Business Expo put on by the Tahoe Chamber. The Tahoe Chamber of commerce has been nice enough to let me cover their business expo again.
And here we come to the end of our walking tour of Lake Tahoe for most of you, unless you're a really strong walker, because we've covered most of the public art on this side of town. I choose to end it at the history museum partly because you can get all of your questions answered right at the Tahoe Art Leage next door to the history museum, and the history museum will teach you a lot about the great public art that we have in Lake Tahoe and our long tradition of public art.
Tahoe Historical Society features a mural showing the story of the discovery of Lake Tahoe. More murals in Tahoe .
We have here at the Tahoe Historical Society museum a fine example of a mural in Lake Tahoe. This one depicts the discovery of Lake Tahoe by Kit Carson and John C. Freemont in 1844. In February of 1844, John C. Freemont and Kit Carson crossed over the Carson Pass to Lake Tahoe, to the very first sighting of what they called "Lake Bigler" after the then governor of California.
And it is a really, really interesting story. John C. Freemont, if you don't know, went on to become the very first Republican candidate for President of the United States. He was opposed to slavery 20 years before it was trendy, and Kit Carson has become so famous that they have a statue of him in
Carson City in front of the Nevada Legislature. Carson City, the Carson River, and the Carson sink are all named after Kit Carson, and, as Mark Twain said: "When they erected the statue of Kit Carson in Carson City, they made sure the horse's ass faced the legislature." Yeah, that is still how Nevadans feel about their legislature.
This is a good place to end our tour because there's good public transit access here and you can catch the bus back to wherever you came from from right in front of the visitor's center. Also I would strongly encourage you to stop by the Tahoe Art League's art center and gallery where they can answer any of the questions you may have come up with over the course of this
walking tour.
C. Meeks Lumber and the American Legion
Though I told you that a good place to end your walking tour is the museum, there's actually a lot of great material after the museum going towards South Lake Tahoe. Here on the side of Meeks Lumber is one of the most impressive murals in town. It's from the Art 4 Tahoe project and was painted exclusively by local kids with paint that DeVoe and Meeks donated for the process. It's actually one of the most impressive murals in town, and if you're willing to cross the street, usually the American Legion Hall in the summertime has meet the artist maker fairs where you can meet artists and actually buy some stuff, and there's a bus stop that's convenient to get you back to Stateline right there. It's almost as convenient as ending at the Tahoe Arts Project but a little longer walk.
The Heavenly Village concert series will continue all through June and July. Upcoming dates include:
