Smaller than Las Vegas as it may be, Reno doesn’t lack glitter. The Flamingo Hilton Hotel, Atlantis, Pepper Mill, Eldorado and Silver Legacy, among others, are all world-class hotel-casinos, which host big-name Broadway entertainers. The city also has a lively calendar of events: parades, rodeos and festivals. And last, but far from least Reno, in combination with nearby Lake Tahoe, boasts a total of 51 golf courses a different one for almost each week of the year!

Reno’s history of gaming is part of the psyche of the old West, where risk-taking was part of everyday life for rugged prospectors looking for gold and silver in ‘them thar hills’ a chancy business if ever there was one. However, it wasn’t until the 30’s, when gaming was legalised in Nevada, that the Smith family and Bill Harrah arrived in Reno to set up the city’s first "legitimate" casinos. The rest, as they say, is history.

Aside from gaming, however, Reno has a wealth of other attractions. Browse through the National Automobile Museum with its astounding collection of antique, vintage and classic cars sleek little beauties, many of them part of Harrah’s private collection. Not far away is the enormous National Bowling Stadium, which hosts the annual Women’s Bowling Championships.

It’s a good place to take the weight off your feet while watching a feature presentation in the complex’s geodesic dome. The Wilbur May Center is worth at least an afternoon. At this ranch style building, which incorporates a museum, arboretum and botanical garden, visitors are treated to a display of fabulous objets d’art, including a collection of rare Chinese pottery. Enjoy the tranquillity of the rose garden, or the rare opportunity of viewing a pair of ancient plants whose roots run as far back as the age of dinosaurs.

Historic Virginia City is a 45-minute bus-ride away. The route runs through the outskirts of Reno-Sparks, past white-fenced horse paddocks, sprawling ranches and llama farms. Then the road begins to hairpin past precipitous gorges as it makes its ascent through the Virginia hills. These ochre-coloured, Ponderosa pine-stubbled crags are where it all began a hundred and fifty years ago, with the discovery of gold and silver ore and the opening of the Comstock mines.

In its heyday during the second half of the last century, Virginia City swarmed with miners, prospectors, gamblers, gunfighters and swaggering adventurers. It was a hard-living, hard-drinking town, where men staked their claims and brawled over whiskey and women with equal fervour. Bordellos thrived. Dancers and vaudeville artistes performed to rowdy audiences. And Piper’s Opera House, which is still open to visitors, lent a touch of class to the rough façade of the city.

The main street resembles the set of an old Western movie. Boardwalks flank balcony-fronted buildings dating from the turn-of-the century (or earlier) and old-style saloons. One half expects to see a stagecoach rumbling down the street, or a bunch of cowpokes come whoopin’ n hollerin’ around the corner to tie up their horses in front of the "Bucket of Blood" saloon.

The street is lined with gift shops, ice-cream parlours, art galleries and antique stores. Here too is the Mark Twain Museum of Memories which celebrates Virginia City’s most famous citizen who once worked in the offices of The Territorial Enterprise newspaper. The Delta Saloon, further up the street, is lively with the whirr of slot-machines, and comments about the infamous Suicide Table whereupon hangs a tale!

Several of Virginia City’s more intriguing historical sites are off the main drag and it’s worth setting aside a whole day to explore them. A tour of the mines, perhaps, or a ride on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad steam train. The old churches, richly furnished mansions and museums are redolent with moments of past glory while the headstones in the Silver Terrace Cemeteries, (grouped into areas for Catholics, Freemasons, Chinese and Jews) bear eloquent testimony to the lives and times of the city’s larger-than-life scallywags and heroes.

Getting There to Reno and Virginia City, Nevada:

Canada 3000 runs charter flights from Vancouver to Reno (and back) every Monday and Friday to December 10^th ; then every Monday and Thursday to April 3rd, 2000. Travel time: approximately 2 hours. Call Canada 3000 at (604) 609-3000 or 1-888-241-1997 for fare/flight-availability information.

For further travel information:

Reno & Lake Tahoe:
Contact the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority,
P.O. Box 837, Reno, Nevada 89504-0837.
Call toll free: 1-800-367-7366; Fax: (702) 827-7646.
Website: www.renolaketahoe.com

Virginia City:
Contact Virginia City Chamber of Commerce,
PO Box 464, Virginia City, NV 89440.
Ph: (775) 847-0311.
e-mail virginiacity.tourism@mailexcite.com.

Margaret Deefholts is a Canadian author, writer and travel writer living near Vancouver, B.C. Canada.