The Thunderbird Lodge Tour...a MUST-Do

After getting past "Plan G," (will go into that later!), we decided to go on the tour of the famous Thunderbird Lodge.

A beautiful shot of Lake Tahoe, water is SO beautiful!

I made the photo extra-large because anything smaller wouldn't do it justice.

The main house of the Thunderbird Lodge.

Those aren't "real" chimneys...the one on the left is actually a safe (we learned on our tour that Mr. Whittle kept $5 million cash at the house) and the other "chimney" is a single-person elevator to the third floor.

Another shot of the main house.

The main room, called the "Party Room".

One of our three docents on our walking tour.  This house has so much history, it's been restored to its original condition after a previous owner whitewashed all this beautiful wood. 

Some of the intricate framework. 

Although Mr. Whittle didn't hunt, someone gave him these skins. 

Downstairs in the servant's quarters.

"Hey, is this a 1930's cell phone?" 

Inside the 600-foot tunnel under the house that connects to the boathouse.  It was quite cold down there.

I'm trying to do my "cheesey" pose.

The fireplace grill of the Opium Room, a small room with several niches with mattresses and a small window looking out to the dock. 

The indoor pool that was never completed.

The story is that a worker fell to his death while plastering the ceiling and Mr. Whittle was quite superstitious and had the room closed up and locked.  Upon restoring the house for tours, they opened the doorway and everything is just as it had been when the man died, including the fallen ladder in the pool. 

The "dungeon."

Legend is that if you passed out while partying at the Lodge, you were put into this dungeon by the servants, along with Bill, Mr. Whittle's pet lion.

Can you imagine waking up from a hangover to see this lion staring at you?

And then, THE boat!

The Thunderbird boat.
Painstakingly refurbished by volunteers, they hand sanded and polished for 4 months.
This boat is so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes.

Solid mahogany, it sports two 1150hp airplane engines as its motors.
Been clocked at 50mph in Lake Tahoe, 70mph in SF Bay.

Available for private functions for $40,000/day.

This stairway led up a landing where you can overlook the private dock. 

A shot of the private dock.  The glass block wall is the indoor swimming pool. 

A better shot of the pool "wall."

George Whittell with Bill, his lion, his constant companion. Bill had free rein of roaming the house and often went with George to the bar.

To learn more about Mr. Whittell, Google him...its very interesting.

 Coming out of the boat house.

Looking back at the boathouse.

A model of the Thunderbird.

After we left the lodge, we went to Incline Village to eat lunch at a lakeside restaurant called "Gar Wood."

 "The water's not too cold," but then I was standing in only 3 inches of water!

After we left Incline Village, we went back to our AirBnB, took a nap and then went to Truckee Thursday!

That's another posting!