People don't always get why Chris and I love Reno so much.
To most Californians, Reno is a trashy little city that you pass through on your way to all points East (it is on the Highway 80), maybe stopping to eat bad food at a casino buffet and watch people gamble away their social security checks.
I used to feel that way, too, but things changed after I lived in Grass Valley for a few years. Suddenly I saw Reno in a whole new light, and now I am an ambassador for The Biggest Little City On Earth.
So here is my official rundown on Why I Love Reno. Let me make a convert of you!
1. It really IS the biggest little city, if not on earth, certainly within driving distance of my house. The other closest major city, San Francisco, is also one of the most expensive cities in the U.S., and you will never, ever get a hotel there for under $100 a night. In Reno, you can have the grit and glamor of a big city (live music, shows, people on benders, people on vacations, conventions and bachelor parties and cowboys and showgirls) and stay right in the middle of it all for as low as $20 a night. We have even gotten free hotel rooms during the off season.
2. Reno is not pretentious. As a Reno resident put it, "this is the only place where you will see a cowboy, a hipster, a gangster, and a homeless person standing side by side on the street- and they are talking to each other." If Reno was ever cool, that era is long past, and these days it pretends to be nothing that it isn't. Once we played a show in Reno and afterwards we walked to a sports bar with a friend to get a drink at 3am, and I was wearing a red dress and I had a huge beehive (for the record, Amy Winehouse, RIP, totally ripped off my stage 'do), and Sports Bars have never been welcoming to me in the best of circumstances. Chris and our other friend looked like total Indie Rockers.... in any other place, this would have been a Very Bad Idea. Instead we walked in and no one in the entire place batted an eye. Reno has seen it all. Reno is not moved by your exterior.
3. Reno has no Last Call. The party can go for 24 hours. Even if you are not up for it, there is a certain air of excitement just being in a city where the fun doesn't have to stop. This also means that the annual Santa Pub Crawl is the largest and the craziest in the West. People actually fly in to witness the spectacle.
4. Reno actually has a lovely River Walk (see photo below), and the river has been set up so that people can learn kayaking and rafting on it. Right in the middle of town!
5. Reno has the biggest Whole Foods I have ever seen. We have a great Co-op in Grass Valley, but come on- vegan donuts. Enough said.
6. Reno has the best vintage clothing store in the world, Junkees on South Virginia.
7. Reno has the best guitar store on the West Coast, Bizarre Guitar on Odie Boulevard (right next to Bizarre Gun). The key is to talk your way into the basement, where they have every rare and amazing guitar that you have only heard about or seen in a guitar magazine centerfold.
8. Reno has almost no ambient humidity at all, so if you have curly hair (like Chris) you will look like you have just ironed it straight and it's grown four inches. I think this is considered a fashion advantage.
9. Things are legal in Nevada that are illegal almost everywhere else in the U.S., namely, gambling and prostitution. This gives it an edgy, lawless feeling that is unmatched by any other city on the West Coast. That's why we call it the New Orleans of the West!
10. New discovery: Reno has these amazing murals along the River Walk.
I hope I have won the heart of at least one of you out there... Reno is just waiting for you to fall for it. It won't let you down, brave voyagers!
On our most recent Reno weekend getaway, we made a Horoscopes video for the demo of our song "Triphopscotch" (we are working on our EP right now in a real studio! Hooray!.) This is filmed in the window of The Sands hotel in the heart of downtown (our favorite place to stay).
Enjoy!
I feel the love.. we willhave to venture over to this land of thrills and excitement and see for our selves the adventures it holds .
Posted by: *winter | 08/19/2011 at 11:20 AM
You are the cutest...I love reading your Blogs!
Posted by: Melinda Roth | 08/19/2011 at 01:17 PM
I love Reno!!!
Posted by: HollyB | 08/19/2011 at 05:08 PM
i got married in reno at the starlight wedding chapel, where huey newton (of the black panther party) also got married, and john davidson once stood as witness to a friend's wedding in a patchwork madras suit. those facts, and its proximity to the office that issues licenses, were all i needed to know....
p.s. check out the metro hotel in sf in lower haight. small, clean, no frills, but budget friendly.
p.p.s. you going to make it to the bizarre? was thinking i would bring your necklace....
Posted by: nicole | 08/20/2011 at 08:28 AM
Oh MAN! I bet you had so much fun making that video. I think I was almost - literally - hypnotized watching it.
And lady. I am sold. Reno is definitely going on my TO VISIT BEFORE I DIE list!
Posted by: mlle ghoul | 08/22/2011 at 07:18 PM
that sounds like a lot of fun! i'd love to go someday! it's wonderful to see something with fresh eyes (when the majority of folks see it completely opposite) :)
also, I HAVE THE SAME DRESS AS YOU!!!! so awesome!!! except the pattern on the top is different on mine :) amazing!
Posted by: Galine | 08/25/2011 at 07:07 AM
Yep Reno can definitely be such a cool place to hang for cheap, and don't forget the mondo cheap buffets! Plus the hotels are as you say just the best price wise and they always have CLEAN rooms and are nice to stay in!
But... Shhhh! We have to keep Bizarre Guitar a secret!!!
Ultra fun pics, cool video, fun song, looks like a great time making it too!!! Keep it coming...
Posted by: mikail | 09/01/2011 at 11:16 AM
I LOVE your blog Sasha. x
Posted by: Anna Maria | 09/06/2011 at 04:34 AM