Summer Trip to Lake Tahoe

  We decided to take our last big family trip this July to the beautiful Lake Tahoe. It was the first time visiting for Ryan & I and our last trip as a family of 3 before baby girl arrives in September. We have friends that live out there and have been talking about visiting for a while so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Sharing a few snaps and a few things from our itinerary in today’s post!

HIKING

We went on two hikes during our trip- since I was 7 months pregnant with a toddler in town we didn’t want to get too crazy! The first was Emerald Bay located on the southwestern part of the lake. You actually start at the top so you can get your scenic photo op before you get all sweaty! Then you hike down to the beach and can go for a swim or visit Vikingsholm Castle. This hike was about 2 miles round-trip but not overly strenuous, highly recommend!

The other hike was the Kingsbury North Trail which was a woodsy loop with some great views of the lake (this connects to the Tahoe Rim Trail if you’re looking for a much longer hike). Our loop from the parking lot was about 2 miles. Porter actually fell asleep in the carrier on this hike- it was the cutest thing! A big thanks to our friends for letting us borrow their Thule Sapling hiking carrier – it was a must for this trip.

FOOD & EXPLORING

Definitely check out Heavenly Village if you’re visiting South Lake Tahoe. So many cute restaurants & shops to pop into and they have a gondola that you can ride to the top of the mountain for some scenic views (and there’s even an alpine coaster)! This area is also part of the ski resort if you’re visiting in the winter time. Highly recommend Creative Crepes if you’re looking for a yummy breakfast or lunch- we went twice!

One night our friends were nice enough to watch Porter while Ryan & I went out for a date night. We went to Chart House which I highly recommend for great seafood. It’s nestled up in the trees above the lake and luckily we got a seat by the window to watch the sunset. This mama was also very impressed with their $5 mocktail menu!

We also explored the grounds at Edgewood Resort. Our friend works there so she gave us the tour and it’s probably the nicest resort and golf course on the lake. We had a casual dinner at Brooks’ on the golf course (get the tacos!) and Ryan & Porter got to putt around on the putting green.

We stayed with our friends in South Lake Tahoe for most of our trip but we also wanted to explore the north side of the lake so we spent one night at the Hyatt Regency in Incline Village. We loved the spacious rooms and the amenities at the resort- there is a private beach only for hotel guests, multiple pools as well as a casino. We were thankful that the water was warm enough for swimming- it was crystal clear and glistened with fool’s gold.. Porter absolutely loved it!

Sand Harbor Beach

If you’ve Googled photos of Lake Tahoe it’s likely that you’ve come across Sand Harbor. It’s a beach on the north/Nevada side of the lake that has clear turquoise water and giant boulders. You can rent kayaks or paddle boards or just hang out on the beach and grab food at the on-site restaurant. One thing to know about this beach is you have to get there SUPER early… like 7am early!! I know that seems super early to go to a beach, but they only let in so many cars and once they’re at capacity they close for the entire day. So keep this in mind if you plan on visiting but it was absolutely beautiful and I would highly recommend!

 Overall we had a great trip and did a good amount of exploring, despite being my pregnant self and traveling with our toddler. Luckily Porter slept through both of the flights- he’s gotten to be quite the little jet setter. Tahoe was truly stunning and it was so nice to get outdoors and escape the Charlotte heat for the crisp mountain air.