Weekend Getaway: North Tahoe

When you live in a big city, people love to "get away for the weekend". I used to find this counterintuitive seing as "the City" is the place people are trying to get to a majority of the time. But after living in San Francisco for a year and a half, I totally get it. There are just people everywhere, and sometimes ya gotta get out. We are all living in apartments, packed like sardines on the Muni, and shouting at each other over beers at happy hour.

My boyfriend and I took a much needed weekend getaway to North Tahoe for President's Day weekend. Unfortunately, neither of us actually had Presiden'ts Day off (LAME), so instead we took Friday off and decided to head out early to beat the traffic.

Friday

We left at 5am and because it was so early, there was literally no traffic and we got to Truckee at 8am. I'd say getting up at that hour was worth it (especially because I didn't have to drive). I also got to enjoy this beautiful sunrise.

I needed to rent ski's for the day, so we went to Tahoe Dave's in Truckee. I highly recommend this store. It was super quick, affordable, and they let us return the ski's at one of their other locations in King's Beach. Clutch.

We arrived at Northstar for a day of skiing and snowboarding. Within approximately one hour, I completely wiped out with both ski's ejecting off my feet. But besides this minor blip, it was a perfect day. The conditions were definitely reminiscent of sping skiing, despite it being February, but we still found some good runs. We made a pit stop for lunch at the top of Comstock Express, sitting in the sun and enjoying a tri-tip sandwich and a beer. In the afternoon we mostly stuck to the backside of the mountain and were greeted with this fantastic view.

After a full day of skiing we checked into our condo in King's Beach and did some much needed jacuzzing before heading to dinner at a friend's cabin. Sidenote: The location of our rental was perfect. King's Beach is 15 minutes from Truckee and Northstar, 15 minutes from Incline Village, and about a 5 minute drive from Safeway, Tahoe Dave's, a ton of restaurants and bars, hiking, and the lake itself.

Saturday

We had a lazy morning of coffee, eggs, and bacon before heading out for a hike around 11am. We headed up the 267 to hike up to Picnic Rock, just off the Tahoe Rim Trail. Picnic Rock was supposed to have a great view of the lake and be just under a 4 mile hike.

We parked in a small parking lot on the side of the road (very easy to find) and headed up the trail. It was completely covered in snow, but there were a fair amount of hikers (mostly in snowshoes, which should have told us something), so it was easy to follow the trail. We both fell through the snow a few (more than a few) times, but it mostly just gave us both a good laugh. It was sunny, in the mid 50s, and couldn't have been more beautiful. The view from the top was everything I had hoped for. The pictures really say it all.

After the hike we both were ready for a beer (or two). We headed to Incline Village to check out Alibi Ale Works.

We both loved Alibi. The space was open and airy. The brewery was full of people coming in from a day on the Mountain. Dogs were allowed as well as food from local restaurants. But more importantly, the beer lived up to the atmosphere. We started with a pint of the Super Pale Ale (orange juice, pine, dank) and the Racuhbier (a smoked German amber: rich, smokey, bacon-y). 

We then got a flight to share (from left to right): Nitro Porter, Oktuberfest (sour brown ale), Farmhouse Saison, and Scotch Ale. Overall, my favorite for drinkability was the Super Pale Ale, it was a solid pale ale but interesting and distinguishable with dank citrus flavors. Surpisingly, as these are not my go-to's I also very much enjoyed the Oktuberfest  and the Scotch Ale. They weren't too aggressive but still true to their name in flavor profile.

We then headed down to the a park right off Lakeshore Blvd. in Incline Village. The park had grills, benches, and lots of open space. More importantly, it had beautiful views.

Sunday

Today was the day we were dreading, because it was our last. But our fun wasn't over just yet! We headed to Truckee to check out the downtown and have brunch. We ended up at Squeeze In, which was predictably, a narrow restaurant. The menu was very extensive, but we finally settled upon the following:

"Buckin Buster" omelette (sasuage, spinach, mushrooms, monterey jack and cheddar cheese) with tomato pesto. The tomato pesto was quite good.

"Rigo's Spanish Benedict" which is your traditional benedict but with chorizo instead of ham. The chorizo was very flavorful and a highlight of this benedict.

The whole restaurant was covered with people's doodles and names on the wall. Overall, the place was very diner-esque, which when you are used to fancy brunches in SF can be refreshing, but also not super exciting. We both enjoyed our food, but I wouldn't say it was anything to write home about.

Afterwards, we were completely stuffed, and took a stroll through downtown. We stopped for a beer at Mellow Fellow, which was a cool dive bar that serves beer and sausages. I would definitely come back to check it out on a Friday or Saturday night.

Sadly, our logical reasoning (and the long line of cars going through Truckee) told us that it was time to head back and we hit the road. North Tahoe showed us a great time, and neither of us wanted to leave.

When's the next weekend getaway?

*You've also probably noticed that I use "we" a lot when I refer to eating or getting a beer, even though "we" are ordering different things. Well, I really do mean "we" because I am a food and drink sharer (and so are most of my friends). Half the fun is in trying different things after all...