Lake Tahoe: South Shore

July 5 - 7, 2013

As mentioned in my previous Tahoe blog about North Shore - Lake Tahoe is one of my favorite road trips to go on.  It is about 4 hours north of San Jose and such a wonderful place to relax.  This trip served a special purpose as one of my great friends from high school was getting married on Saturday.

Fourth of July is amazing in Tahoe - the fireworks over the lake are like nothing else.  But so are the crowds and since I had plans with some ex-coworkers I decided to spend the fourth on the San Francisco bay and then to head up to Tahoe on Friday morning.  This worked out wonderfully traffic wise.  We left San Jose around 845 with the dog in tow and made it up to In and Out in Placerville around 1130.  We ate lunch here then went across the street near the Burger King to the grassy area to let Ryu out to run around.  After about an hour stop we got back in the car and continued our way up.  There was zero traffic until we got into town on Stateline Blvd.  Then there were so many people and cars going to and from the beach back to the hotels.  After we checked into our pet friendly hotel, Harveys we walked over to Lakeside beach.  This is a really nice beach - however - it was not pet friendly and it had a fee of 5 dollars per person.  So we continued our walk back towards Heavenly Village to the shops and restaurants.  There I got some ice tea and cookies from the Nestle Toll House bakery.  After running around Ryu was worn out so we took him back to the hotel and went to dinner.  Ryu's favorite patch of grass was around the Embassy Suites area (across the street from Harveys).  He loved people watching and running up and down the hills collecting pine needles.

Ryu on the grass.

While Ryu was sleeping we headed over to Base Camp Pizza -- one of my favorite locations in Tahoe.  This restaurant has a great atmosphere and has awesome food.  I am obsessed with their spinach artichoke dip!  It is prob the best I have ever had so that is on my must order list and then normally who ever I am with we share different types of pizzas.  Base Camp Pizza does get pretty busy - but they are good with giving you accurate wait times and you can call ahead and get your name on the wait list (which is very convenient in the winter!).

Best dip you will ever have from Base Camp Pizza.

The next day we headed over to Kiva Beach which is the only dog friendly beach in South Lake Tahoe.  This was Ryu's first time at the beach.  He was pretty much the smallest dog on the beach and I am not sure what he thought about the water.  I think after seeing all the other dogs running around and fetching in the water he warmed up to it and started running too.  He loved the sticks from Tahoe - in fact I even brought some home for him and it is one of his favorite toys.  The beach was really clean and everyone there took good care of their dogs.  The beach got really busy around 1130 -- when we were heading out -- so my recommendation would be to get there early to get a good seat and avoid traffic!

Kiva Beach.

Life jacket + sand.

Beach dog.

Hangin' with Ryu the Pup!

Checking out the water from a log.

On the way back from the beach - a tired pup. 

At 2pm was the ceremony for Kristina and Demey's wedding at St Theresa's Catholic Church.  It was beautiful.  The church had stain glass windows and had an intimate feel.  After the ceremony we headed back to the hotel to check on Ryu and passed him over to my parents and headed over to Edgewood Golf Course for the reception.  The cocktail hour was at 4pm and the reception started at 5pm.  The location was amazing with spectacular views of the lake and was perfect for wedding pictures.  The food was delish including a salad, main meal and delish cake!  The mingling and dancing went on till 10pm.  It was such a beautiful wedding!

Edgewood view. 

View from Edgewood.

First dance. <3

Love her. 

Lovebirds. 

Sadly Sunday it was time to head home and as I learned the last time I spent Fourth of July in Tahoe - you want to leave early otherwise you will be stuck in traffic for a while.  So we packed up and headed out by 8:30 and on the way out got bagels at Rude Brothers.  It is a tastey bagel shop on the way out to highway 50.  I think I will be adding this to my routine on the way out of Tahoe.

Dreaming on the way back to San Jose. 

I cant wait to go back to Tahoe -- hopefully I'll make it up there 1 more time before the winter season.

Highlights of my Trip:
- Kiva Beach 
- Edgewood Golf Course (wedding)
- Base Camp Pizza

On my To-Do list next time:
- Kayak on the lake
- Spend more time at Kiva beach