Betcha thought Reno was a sleazy little town north of Las Vegas where you went to get a divorce. You would be WRONG!
I spent a couple of days this week in this city of 350,000 and was wowed by its cleanliness, crispness, and beauty. When I arrived at Reno Tahoe International Airport, I wasn’t crushed by tens of thousands trying to get somewhere. It was like stepping back to a time when air travel was fun.
This city could be called a city of trees. While Las Vegas is a city of desert, Reno has trees everywhere. It’s beautiful. Its also cool, well cooler. We think of Nevada, and Las Vegas in particular, and we think of heat, 110 every day. Reno is high. Forty five hundred feet nestled in the foothills of the high Sierras. That makes it about 15- 20 degrees cooler than its big brother to the south.
The downtown center has been revitalized. The high rises are modern, the hotels refurbished, but still reminiscent of those yesterdays of Diamond Jim, quick draws, and thick steaks.
There are a number of ‘destination’ hotels that remind you of the Las Vegas ‘strip’ spread throughout the area that have all amenities one expects in a gambling resort. Fine restaurants, pools, shopping, and of course, casinos.
If you want more than to split aces at the tables, you can drive half an hour to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, Lake Tahoe. Pristine beaches, water skiing, hiking, fantastic views. This is an outdoors paradise. Plus, want to try out those new Skis, within 45 minutes is world class skiing, 8 months out of the year.
Reno has the largest collection of Classic Cars in the world and hosts “Hot August Nights” when tens of thousands of Classic Car enthusiasts from around the world bring their cars and polish to show just how wonderful cars of yesterday can be.
Remember Bonanza? Virginia City is just down the road. Once a bustling metropolis of 25,000, now only 1,000 live in this almost a ghost town. Great for experiencing the history and finding out how mining, cattle and railroads built the American West.
Has JVH become a card carrying member of the Reno chamber of commerce? Not really, but we are looking at this ‘Biggest Little City in the World” as a possible venue for the Parking Industry Exhibition. No decision has been made, but after San Diego in 2020 and Chicago in 2021, we have an open date.
Who knows? We’ve been known to roll the dice.
JVH
