Lake Tahoe is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern California. Every year it has attracted thousands of tourists during Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas holiday. Lake Tahoe is located at the border of California and Nevada and it is about 2 hours away from Sacramento. There are numerous ski resort built around the Lake Tahoe region and it is one of the reason why it is a popular vacation destination during the winter holiday.
During this year's Thanksgiving holiday, we took Alaska Airline flight down to Sacramento from Portland. The flight time is a bit less than 2 hours. When we got to Sacramento airport, we were surprised by how quiet the airport is. There was barely anyone there even during Thanksgiving holiday! We then rented an SUV to drive to Lake Tahoe. I really recommend to rent an SUV instead of a regular sedan since we have to drive through the mountain. On the way to Lake Tahoe, we were lucky enough to find a super market that was still open on Thanksgiving holiday and able to pick up a turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner!
After 3 hours of driving, we finally arrived at the cottage that we rented. This time we chose to stay at Cedar Crest Cottages at the West side of Lake Tahoe. The cottage is about 40 minutes away from South Lake Tahoe and Heavenly Mountain. This cottage is amazing and the staff is extremely friendly. I believe this cottage is a family owned cottage. Although the cottage is family owned, the cottage itself is very luxury. We chose a cottage with 2 rooms for 4 people and the rate is around $450 per night. The cottage itself has a TV is the living area and a TV in each bedroom. Also, the cottage uses radiant heat instead of regular heater coming out of the vent. The radiant heat comes up from the floor and this helps to keep our feet warm. In addition, the cottage really has everything that you need. It has brand new washer and dryer. All the cook wares and tools are available for user. It even has zip locks and aluminium foils in the cabinet. Outside of the cottage in the shared area, there is a bonfire with several chairs for people to sit. This is a great place for people to hang out at night and have a drink.
The next day morning we went to Fire Sign Cafe for brunch. It is North of the cottage and about 10 minutes drive. Apparently Fire Sign Cafe has been there since 1978 and it was quite crowded. We were lucky to get a table right away when we got there. The portion of each dish is gigantic as well. I could barely finish all the food.
After the brunch, we headed South to Fallen Leaf Lake. We drove around the West side of Lake Tahoe to get to Fallen Leaf Lake road. The road was filled with snow during this time of the year, but since we have an SUV, we still went to Fallen Leaf Lake. The road was wide originally, but it started to get narrower as we go further on the road. At the end the road is blocked by the sign indicating it is closed. This was very unfortunate. Thus we parked the car on the side of the road and decided to hike to the lake instead. I must say it was fun to hike in the snow. When we got to the shore of Fallen Leaf Lake, it got extremely windy and you could see the wave on the lake surface. It was extremely cold due to the strong wind.
After the hike, we went to South Lake Tahoe to walk around. South Lake Tahoe is the largest town at Lake Tahoe. There is a lot of unique shop offering crafted items. Since we got to South Lake Tahoe late, we didn't have too much time to spend there and decided the cross the state border to go to the Nevada side. We went to the Casino at Harrah's for some fun but didn't win anything of course. We were hoping to win back $10 parking fee.
At night, we decided to gather around the bonfire and grill some S'mores. This was an amazing experience. It was extremely relaxing to grill marshmallows during cold weather and having some drinks.
Next day morning we drove to South Lake Tahoe for brunch. This time we went to Driftwood Cafe. This place was very crowded as well and we had to wait for around 20 minutes. Similar to the one went the day before, each plate portion is huge and I could barely finish. After the brunch, we decided to take the gondola up to Heavenly Mountain to the observation deck. The cost for each adult ticket is $52, which is a bit expensive just for sight seeing.
The observation deck is at the middle of the mountain. It provides a perfect view of Lake Tahoe. However, it was extremely windy on that day! I felt like the wind is about to blow me away! Also, the temperature at the top of the mountain is much colder than the temperature at the village, so make sure to dress up appropriately! After visiting the observation deck, we went up to the ski resort. I must say Thanksgiving is not a good time to come to Lake Tahoe. There is barely any snow and only 1 lift is open. Snow tubing is not open either. I was quite disappointed.
When we got back down to the village, we noticed that it started snowing. We quickly wrapped up our stuff and headed back to our cottage. While we were on the road, the weather condition got worth. There was snow on the ground and we saw many cars lost traction and went into the ditch. Fortunately, we grew up in the North with experience driving in the snow and got back to the cottage safely.
Next day morning, we packed up our stuff and prepared ourselves to get back to Sacramento. When we got to our car, our car was pretty much buried in snow. Luckily the cottage staff prepared snow shovel and brush for us to clean the snow on the car. It still took us a good 30 minutes before we can get on the road.
Note: Make sure to rent an SUV with 4 wheel drive to prepare to drive in snowy condition. Audi or Subaru would be the best choice! Thanksgiving is not the best time to come here if you want to ski or snowboard.