Friday, October 17, 2008

Lovin' Lake Tahoe

I love mountain towns but Tahoe is more like a mountain city! With booming casinos, a ginormous lake for a multitude of water activities, and scenic views to die for, one could spend many happy days here. I must say that all of that stuff is great and the mountainous feeding frenzy is just as satisfying!

We stayed at the super cute Zephyr Cove Lodge in South Lake Tahoe. The weather was phenomenal so we had our morning meal the the lodge's restaurant. Sitting on the patio that overlooks the lake was quite nice as was the brisk mountain air. And the food wasn't half bad either!! I had some hearty oatmeal with a nice bowl of fruit as well as some fresh squeezed oj while Dan had his own concoction of breakfast heaven ; ) The lodge is typical Tahoe, look into the Zephyr Cove Lodge for your next jaunt up the mountain.

We hung out and drove shore side through South Tahoe, stopping for photos and assorted tourist stuff. We wandered into the Naked Fish as a light lunch sounded nice. I was going to go for my usual veggie roll but the names on the maki list made me giggle so I ordered the Fun Guy and Shitake Happens rolls! They were quite good as was the delish miso and tofu soup. Dan's not much of a sushi guy and they had some nicely portioned cooked meals for him ; ) I highly recommend the Naked Fish for good, light, healthy food and a few laughs ; )

Now, after an afternoon of running around in the thin mountain air, I had an appetite something fierce. And what better way to fill my empty tummy then with some carby Italian!! And Tep's hit the spot like you wouldn't believe. First of all, I loved the small town Italian restaurant feel of it. It felt a bit time warpish but it was oh so comforting. From the chilled salad plates at the salad bar to the red checkered table cloths and dim lighting, I was 6 years old again. And I was way impressed with their attentiveness to little old vegan me ; ) They had some real yummy salad bar ingredients and were quick to tell me that the soup was beef based (sad but glad they were knowledgeable and concerned) and my gnocchi with veggies in an eggplant marinara could have fed a small army. And fed them happily cause it was sooooo yummy ; ) Ok, so I don't want to overhype it because it's definitely not gourmet, but Tep's Villa Roma put a little birdhouse in my soul ; )

Again, our time here was short lived but I love it up here and will report from Lake Tahoe once again!!