Part Two:
A trip to Virgina City on Christmas?? The abridged edition of William F. Harrah's auto collection and a wanna-be musician:
Stop laughing. Of course everything was closed in that sleepy ghost town...(except for the gambling machines, of course). But, still it was fun. The drive over was beautiful, amid the crisp air and cobalt blue skies. The high temps were in the low 50s, (lows in the teens). The former silver mining town of 35,000 now only has 1,500 residents. The church (especially the bell) was impressive (and open) and store front windows could still yield a good idea of the inside of these buildings. Signs kept telling us to visit the famous "suicide table" They must have left that out in my history courses...anyway...the streets were devoid of people, and the ride was half the fun. And even in Virginia City, a man can still get a microbrew when he need's one.
Back at the hotel, with Christmas dinner not riding well in our stomachs, we cozied down for the night, obviously well before the majority of guests did. The guy in the room next to us had the bright idea that 2AM was a wonderful time to practice his electric guitar. And Carlos Santana he was not. Called management...didn't pound on door...noise went away and sleep finally came.
"Its a Beautiful Morning" glided out of the hotel radio alarm around 7AM. The song didn't lie... We checked out of our room and Deb and I walked to the National Automobile Museum thoroughly enjoying the sunny winter day. The museum (built in 1989, I recall) is impressive. It is a few blocks out of downtown, located along the Trukee river. More than 200 cars are there, as well as a theatre and gift shop. The collection is better presented, in this much more manageable size. Standouts include a Bronze 1920 Rolls-Royce, and a 1936 silver Mercedes-Benz SLK.
Next: Off to the train station:
[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 12-31-1999).]