Mountain lakes have a singular beauty. I’m not sure if it’s the depth of their waters, which oftentimes plunge hundreds of feet between ascending peaks, or those same waters’ clarity — they always seem to project mirror images of the beauty surrounding them.
Despite having taken cruises on a number of mountain lakes across the world, I had never cruised on Lake Tahoe until recently, when I was a guest of Travel Alliance Partners in May for its annual TAP Dance meeting in Reno, Nevada. If there is a more scenic mountain lake setting in America, I haven’t seen it.
We had lunch in Zephyr Cove, just outside Stateline, Nevada, and the sun was brilliant. We watched as small groups of our delegation rose from the water on multicolored parasails and shouted out to their friends in the boat below. There was still snow on the tops of the peaks beyond us, and the combination of sun, snow, water and whimsy created one of those days you can recall in an instant when you need it most. Today, in December, it’s cold and gray, and my mind races back to that memory with no trouble at all.
We concluded that afternoon with a dinner cruise on the Tahoe Queen just as the sun sank behind the Sierra Nevadas. Half our group went up top to enjoy a brisk evening with friends, while the other half remained below enjoying a band that filled the dance floor in no time at all.
It’s easy to understand how the Rat Pack could hang out here years ago. If Frank Sinatra never performed “Summer Wind” for an audience on Lake Tahoe, he definitely missed the boat.