Lake Tahoe Lovin'

It's that time... 

Part 1 of our west coast vacation recap.

The rest of the line up will be: Napa, San Francisco, and ending in Carmel.

I'm so excited to share all about our time in Lake Tahoe with you guys.
 Why? Because it was our favorite stop on our trip. 
Are you surprised? Probably not. 
If you are, then you definitely won't be surprised when you see these pictures that are just pure heaven.

I will say I am kinda bitter that I'm sitting in front of a computer screen right now about to type this recap and I'm not still there smelling the fresh breeze and staring at the most gorgeous blue, clear water and sky I have ever seen in my 27 years of existence. 

I guess that means we have to go back. And soon. 

Let me first start out by saying that doing this recap is not easy. 

It's seriously impossible to convey to all of you how beautiful Lake Tahoe is, unless of course you've been. Just do me a favor and take my word for it that you have to start planning your vacation there right now, kay? 

Looking back, I wish we would have saved it until the end of our trip because we kept comparing the other cities to it, which you just simply cannot do. They are all so different and wonderful in their own ways - which I will get into later. 

We flew into Reno (which is about an hour drive from LT) and the second we got on the road and saw mountains, we were just instantly excited. Being that we live in the flattest state in the U.S, we never see mountains! It was such a nice change. I instantly felt like I was missing out because views such as this just don't happen here....

After countless hours of research on things to do in Lake Tahoe and where to go, talking to my girlfriend Steph (who we stayed with in San Fran-she was an enormous help planning this trip!), and Natasha (from Schue Love), we decided we would head to South Lake Tahoe first. Our lodge that we were staying the night at was in North Lake Tahoe (Kings Beach, in particular), but it was really important to me to see all of the lake! I knew that there were areas we would want to see in the south, and that we had to see all of the lake while visiting.

Wow, we are so happy we did! 

It almost doesn't look real...it's that blue.

South Lake Tahoe is full of the ski resorts, the mountains are incredible, and you get to see the famous Emerald Bay. We stopped at Zephyr Cove first and walked the beach. To this day, I'm pretty sure the only words out of Billy and I's mouth the entire time spent in Lake Tahoe were, "this is unreal", "it's so blue!", or "this is amazing". 

Our next stop was Heavenly Mountain Resort.

{tshirt and denim: Old Navy, scarf: F21}

{you can see the top wayyyy up there!}

{how cute is he carrying my Jo Totes camera bag?}

Heavenly is the largest ski resort on the West coast. 
We parked our car and spent a couple hours in this area..it is absolutely gorgeous. 
Gor-geous. 
It's filled with upscale restaurants and little shops. 
Heavenly has a gondola ride that you can do for $35.00 per person (do it--don't question it, totally worth the money!) that takes you up 10,000 feet for panoramic views of the lake. We are SO glad we did this and we had the most gorgeous day to do it on. The ride has 2 stops that you can get out of the gondola and walk around-definitely get off of it for these stops! Besides, you do not want to miss any of these views, do you?

After our gondola ride, I was on my phone looking up real estate and jobs in South Lake Tahoe, so that we could start planning our move. Kidding. But we had fallen in love!
The views were breathtaking and we are still dreaming about it nightly. 

Later on in the day, we decided to start exploring the area on our own with no real direction. Billy appreciates a good recommendation here and there, but he also likes exploring things on his own to find places we enjoy together, so we just drove around and pulled over at multiple beach areas that looked pretty! This actually worked out really well because you see so much and don't miss anything. 

We were about to do a hike at Fallen Leaf which is highly recommended, but we decided we were just too exhausted from traveling since 4am (that would be why I look swollen and disgusting in most of these pictures-I didn't have a chance to shower!) that we wanted to partake in some alcoholic drinks on the lake instead.  

Enter: Beacon Bar!

{the water? perfectly clear.}

In fact, we decided we wanted to meet a gorgeous blonde bombshell blogger (how many b's can I get?) you may know and love, Natasha (from Schue Love), her husband Ryan, and their precious baby boy Ethan!! Natasha and Ryan live right by where we were (yeah, jealousy doesn't even begin to describe it) and knew of the perfect place to get drinks and sit by the water to hang out. 

Beacon Bar, as you can see, is right on the water, had a live band in the back playing music, and is known for their rum runners! Let's just say the rum runners are equal parts of delicious and lethal. I was feeling pretty high on life on just my 2nd one. 

We had such a blast hanging out with Natasha and Ryan! I was nervous slash embarrassed to meet up with them at first because I hadn't even showered yet and then I was so excited to see Natasha I was talking about 900 words per minute. She accepted me nonetheless. ;) Natasha is the most gorgeous mommy I've ever laid eyes on (and incredibly sweet) and Ryan is so charming and friendly. Ryan and Billy hit it off so well (no surprise there) that they are actually already planning their next golfing/boating/hunting trip for when we visit again. Natasha and I plan on letting the men have their day while we sip cocktails, sit by the water, shop, and gossip. Or if it's in the winter - then sitting by a fireplace is fine with me. Sounds perfect, right? 

{could they get any cuter? I think not.}

Also, it must be noted that baby Ethan is the cutest, most well behaved baby boy I've ever seen. He is a little angel!! You probably get the point by now, but we loved them and are so thankful that we had the chance to meet them. I feel so blessed to call you a friend, Natasha!

After we said goodbye, we got back in the car and traveled to Emerald Bay. 

Also known as the most gorgeous, beautiful place in the US of A. 

The views you just can't describe, so I will let the pictures do most of the talking here!
Out on the middle of the island, a lady owned a house (you can see it in my pictures if you look closely) and she used to have them come deliver her tea to her house every morning! How funny is that? I wish she knew I want to be her.
We really didn't want to leave Emerald Bay because it was so breathtaking. I would have probably slept right outside here on a trial all night long and been perfectly content (seeing as if we had no bear encounters). 

Once we forced ourselves to leave (I mean, at this point I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go to bed and who cares about showering?), we started heading to North Lake Tahoe. If you are traveling here, make sure you stop in Tahoe City and Kings Beach. Our lodge we stayed at was called Crown's Resort. All of the places in Kings Beach on the lake are very similar - they are little lodge's, but not luxury by any means. Unless you wanted to go to the Ritz or something. We just wanted a place that was clean, on the lake, and had a continental breakfast (duh). It was just enough for us! If you are looking for somewhere to stay that is inexpensive, this is your place. The rooms are outdated, but we barely spent any time in our room, so we didn't care. We really just needed a simple place to sleep. We had a balcony and it had great views! The resort has free kayak rentals and you can rent paddle boards here as well. 

Natasha recommended we eat at a place called Bite (american tapas) for dinner and it was delicious. We got risotto cheese balls to share, Billy got honey baby back ribs, and I got vegetable empanadas. Bite had a nice modern feel to it and the food was great! If we had more time (so this will be for our next trip), we would have also went paddle boarding at Kings Beach. The water was pretty cold though, too. 

To wrap up the longest post in the history of KC&CO, let's all count how many times I used the word blue, gorgeous, or beautiful. We had the most amazing time in Lake Tahoe and it really is the best of both worlds...the summer is filled with so many outdoor lake activities, and the winter you can ski/snowboard here, but it doesn't get extremely cold (I think they said 30 is the lowest it gets). That is perfection in our book! We can't believe how much we did in the time that we were there, truly felt like we saw a big portion of the lake, and absolutely loved every part of it. 

{As a roundup and some suggestions for those traveling there: explore the whole lake (we are partial to the south because there is so much to do, but the north is just as fun, laid back, and nice. You have to see them both and decide what you like best), if it's warm - go paddle boarding or take a boat cruise out on the water, the Heavenly gondola ride, go on a hike (North-Eagle falls, South-Fallen Leaf or Mt. Tallac), Beacon Bar for casual drinks and dinner by the water, eat at Sunnyside and Garwoods!} 

Next stop?

Wine Country.....
(click here to read the post!)

{PS-It's my Mom's birthday today. Happy birthday Mom, I love and miss you everday<3}

xo.

Kings Beach on Dwellable