So I know you were all just dying to hear about mini golf in Reno, but you’ll have to wait, because I forgot that our trip to the rootin’est tootin’est tourist town in the Wild Wild West came first - Virginia City.
Virginia City was a huge boomtown that sprung up around the Comstock Lode, an insanely rich silver deposit that swelled the city’s population to 25,000 at its peak in 1873. It was headed to bust-town by 1880.
What remains these days is touristy and, at times, corny, but it’s really fun. Locals come dressed in full western regalia to party here, and we regretted not putting our own Cowpoke Cosplay together.
We stopped at The Silver Queen Hotel & Saloon for a coffee and a beer. You can’t see it in the photo below, but to the right of the door is a line of bricks running the length of the building - it’s the remains of the wall that used to divide the space. On the other side was the offices of the newspaper that Mark Twain edited. It also has a wedding chapel where Captain & Tennille got married - twice!
The Silver Queen herself, made out of real silver dollars.
City Hall
The Opera House had a dressing room where we pretended to be Genteel Ladies.
The Bonanza Saloon is home to one of the more famous pieces of furniture in town:
FYI: At least 23 different people have vomited & pooped their pants simultaneously at the table on the left. Where’s that sign?
Not a Genteel Lady, but a pretty cool dame all the same!
Local band setting up at The Bucket of Blood (definitely the best of the saloon names)
After all that debauchery, we got right with God at St. Mary’s in the Mountains Catholic Church.
The interior looks quite old, but the wood and stained glass are actually carefully crafted replicas of what was ripped out by the minimalism-crazed MAD MONKS OF ST. MARY’S!
Afterwards we visited the museum in the basement.
It’s been visited by many interesting guests, including Chuck Norris and these extras from Eastern Promises.
The bulk of the museum is religious paraphernalia and mementos donated from around the world. As a big fan of religious art, I loved it.
The basement is a grotto painted with important figures to the church.
There’s a Mary statue carved and donated by an adorable woman from Washington State.
Our last stop in Virginia City was the Mackay Mansion. It was built by George Hearst and eventually sold to this Mackay guy, who wasn’t even a character on Deadwood so big whoop!
I won a “trivia contest” that involved recognizing Johnny Depp from a photograph (he stayed there while filming Dead Man). My prize was being closed inside the silver vault! Spooky.
This very cool chair was crafted by Mrs. Mackay for General Grant’s visit to their home.
She also served SERIOUS face.
The mansion is supposedly super haunted (a Ghost Adventures host - not Zak Bagans unfortunately - was pushed down the attic stairs by an entitity) and a girl on our tour who was really into the supernatural advised us to take selfies in mirrors to capture ghostly presences.
Paranormal Activity: Zero. And the spot behind that rocking chair beneath the stairs would have made the BEST creepy child-ghost hiding spot, too.
On the way back to Fernley we made a Walmart run, but I forgot to get a parking lot selfie so here’s the bag pile if you don’t believe me!
