The Urban Market project, in planning for a piece of underutilized land in in the downtown Reno redevelopment district, is progressing well with the commitment of a dozen retail and restaurant tenants, according to a story in the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The market has been designed using an open plaza concept, where tenants will face a central pedestrian space that will be available for use for farmers markets, festivals and other events. It is located on West Street between First and Second streets, and is slated to open in October.

We live here, so we know it. And if you’ve visited here, you know it. But now the world knows it.

TripAdvisor, one of the Web’s most popular user-controlled travel sites, has ranked Lake Tahoe as the top vacation destination in the United States based on its annual “Traveler’s Choice” survey. Lake Tahoe beat out popular travel destinations like San Francisco, Hawaii and New York City, according to the survey. Our little corner of the world also ranked number 10 in worldwide destinations. Here’s the breakdown:

Top 10 U.S. destinations:
1. Lake Tahoe, California
2. Big Sur, California
3. San Francisco, California
4. Poipu, Hawaii
5. Sedona, Arizona
6. New Orleans, Louisiana
7. Carmel, California
8. Napa, California
9. Lahaina, Hawaii
10. La Jolla, Californi

Top 10 destinations worldwide:
1. Milford Sound, New Zealand
2. Queenstown, New Zealand
3. Philipsburg, St. Martin/St. Maarten
4. Cayo Largo, Cuba
5. Rhodes, Greece
6. Charlotte Amelie, USVI
7. Cruz Bay, USVI
8. Bridgetown, Barbados
9. Banff, Canada
10. Lake Tahoe, U.S.

For a complete list of top U.S. and worldwide destinations in pdf format, click here. To plan your Lake Tahoe vacation, click here.

In case you have not already heard the great news, Van Halen will be doing a concert at the Reno Events Center on April 17th.

Reno was chosen as one of only a handful of West Coast locations for this reunion tour to play in.

Tickets will go on sale 3.30.08 at 10 am and can be purchased via Ticketmaster

View the Reunion Press Conference below.

“The Tahoe Adventure Film Festival is different than any other film festival in the world. This is no stuffy film festival. This fun high-energy festival will fuel your passion for action, and ignite your senses for adventure. We highlight the best adventure sports films of the year. Most of the films are edited for this festival’s fast pace format. Our festival is exciting and entertaining on and off the screen, off the screen guest speakers, action photo displays, break-dancers, DJs, and a few surprises, on the screen the best action/adventure films of the year.”

“Directly following the Main Event of the Tahoe Adventure Film Festival, film attendees are invited to party with friends, fellow film goers, the athletes, and film makers. Festival attendees with their FULL PASS ticket stubs will be admitted to the Party at no charge. The Party is the Festival’s way of saying thank you for your support and hope your enjoyment will cause you to return next year with your family and friends! The party will go into the weee hours. Remember this event is in the state of Nevada.”

To make reservations call 800-648-5080 or check out the GSR website.

-MTB

Thursday April 5th, marked the launch party for Reno-Tahoe’s YPN group at the swanky N210. 

With over 500 people in attendance, YPN’s launch party was a huge success. The doors opened at 6pm and a line had already formed around the corner with a well dressed 20 and 30 something crowd eager for the night to begin.

The night was full of networking, food, drinks, and plenty of entertainment including flame throwers, dance performances, and a fashion show with looks from Lodo Loft, Kalifornia Jean Bar, and Reno Envy to name a few.

Photo: Lodo Loft owner’s Amanda Werbeckes and Ashley Machado (center) with YPN members and Lodo Loft models.

With Reno’s downtown makeover and refreshing new editions like The Imperial Bar & Lounge and Divine Ultra Lounge making waves, Reno is quickly becoming the "it" place for young professionals.

My friend Robert was at the YPN party last week and said that "There is undoubtedly a fantastic renaissance going on in Reno"

Watch his video - or take a look at his blog!

The hubby and I have been extra busy lately, not leaving nearly enough time for fun in our lives. That is why on Saturday night, I declared Date Night, full of surprises for the hubs.

We started off at the Siena Spa, where we were treated to a couples massage. What a better way to relax together?! The spa is open until 9:00 pm, so we were able to get their last appointment of the day as a start for our date.

The Siena has a great atmosphere, and some of the best masseuses in town. Before and after our treatments, we lounged in robes in the Serenity room. It was a piece of heaven on earth.

After our massages, we then headed to The Chocolate Bar, a new, hip hang-out located at Arlington and California Streets in Downtown Reno. The hubby ordered a white chocolate almond truffle to go with his white chocolate amaretto drink, while I enjoyed a milk chocolate caramel truffle and a white chocolate peppermint hot drink. The bar is a fun blend of a bar, cafe and a candy shop. I highly recommend it for an after-dinner stop. But don’t make that after-dinner stop too late, as the Chocolate Bar closes around 9:30 pm.

Once we got our chocolate fixes, we headed out to 3rd Street Blues, which is a newly opened and redecorated blues club located on 3rd Street by the Eldorado. The band of the night was Uncle Funkle, a well known local band, that dazzles us with subdued blues, featuring a saxaphone player that played both the alto and soprano sax at the same time.

Once Uncle Funkle went on break, we strolled along the Truckee River Riverwalk until we came upon EJ’s Jazz Cafe. The featured band was a lovely jazz quartet (the name escapes me), featuring a full size bass (the old fashioned kind!), a keyboardist, a drummer and a saxophone player. They nailed John Coltrane’s version of My Favorite Things, and offered a rather romantic setting for our last stop on our date. EJ’s also has a very unique wine list, with older and hard-to-find wines. The hubby enjoyed a glass of Bogle Phantom, which was a very full-bodied and unique petite sirah.

Overall, I’d proclaim Date Night as a success. I think that we may have to do this more often!

This past weekend was jam packed with music and great food - another side of America’s Adventure Place.

The weekend started with dinner dinner at Cafe Andreotti in Harrah’s Reno, which was some amazing Italian food. They had an incredible pianist playing during our meal, and it was a very romantic setting. We just discovered this restaurant gem, and I guarantee we’ll be back.

We then checked into our hotel room, where we saw sunset over the Sierras as the lights of downtown Reno came on. It was very picturesque. This is what it looked like (pics taken with my camera phone, so excuse the quality)…

There was a free concert going on in Harrah’s outdoor plaza, which was right below our room. We enjoyed the tunes of John Eddie from our hotel room, and after a few minutes, we decided we had to go down and check out the concert in person.

Later that night, we went to see the Harrah’s topless review show called Bareback. My hubby was extremely excited to see the show (go figure), and I had thought it would be mildly entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they also featured some men in the show, making the show much more than mildly entertaining for me — something for everyone (except the kiddies!). The show featured country songs and dance routines. There was also a great comedian during the intermissions. He did spitting image impressions of Jack Nicholson, Michael Jackson and John Wayne. My

Sunday morning, we slept in, and then had breakfast at Cafe Napa in Harrah’s.

During the day on Sunday, we swam at the outdoor pool and took a nap, getting ready for another big evening. After dinner at Asiana, featuring Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisine in the Reno Hilton, we went to see Maroon 5 at the Reno Hilton’s outdoor ampitheater.

It was a great night for an outdoor concert. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and we got to enjoy the sun setting over the Sierra Nevadas while we waited for the show to begin.

Oh, and did I mention that my husband is friends with a member of the band?! That’s right. That’s how I managed to get my hands on BACKSTAGE PASSES. And can you believe that right as I discovered we had backstage passes, I realised that my camera phone had completely died?! I went to the gift shop to purchase a disposable camera, because I definitely wanted to document such a momentous occasion.

The show was really good, and ended with some incredible fireworks over the stage. We then went to the backstage access line, and found all kinds of groupies waiting to get in. I had my Backstage Pass proudly stuck to my shirt.

A band representative then came up to the line (where I was about 5 people back from the front), and started lettting in hoards of scantily clad groupies. He’d pick one in the crowd, and then ask how many friends she had, and then girls would pipe up saying six, or eight, and all of those girls that didn’t have official backstage passes like we did were let in.

After at least 30 groupies were let in, they started asking for people with passes. That is when the hubby and I were let in, and we went and found the drummer, Matt. We hung out backstage for at least 45 minutes, and I watched the groupies in awe - it was truly a whole new sub-culture for me.

After so much excitement this weekend, I had to go back to work on Monday to recover! Come check out the gaming and nightlife adventures in Reno-Tahoe for yourself!

I had a great Memorial Day weekend here in Reno-Tahoe, America’s Adventure Place. Here are the highlights:

• Had an incredible dinner of lobster and filet mignon at MonteVigna in the Atlantis Casino Resort. This was coupled with a Frog’s Leap Zinfandel, lobster ravioli and shrimp scampi for an appetizer, and black forest cake for dessert. I am so going to have to spend a few extra hours in the gym to work it off!

• After dinner, we enjoyed the Mark Chesnutt concert at the Atlantis. The place was packed, but it was a small room, so it was very intimate. Mark Chesnutt truly has an amazingly talented band.
• The next day, the hubby and I took our three dogs on a hike at Davis Creek, which is a short 20 minute drive south of Reno. It was a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed the fresh smell of pine trees in the forrest. The trail winds along a mountain stream, which was more like a raging river due to all of the snow run off. After the hike, we let the dogs swim in Davis Pond, where they entertained a few families as they retrieved a six foot long stick from the water.

This weekend, the adventure on tap is drag racing at the Reno-Fernley Raceway. It’s me in my 2000 Trans Am Ram Air up against my brother in his 1985 Mustang. I am going to make him EAT MY DUST! I’ll post details and pictures next week!