Winter 2024
Nevada Magazine
Dinner With a Side of History
Today, Carson City embodies geographical contrasts—sagebrush desert, tree-shrouded riverscapes, pastoral valleys, and rugged mountains. As the state capital, it also contains a unique combination of historical sites and foodie hotspots. Multitasking is a must to make the most of any visit. Check out these restaurants housed in historic buildings to get the most out of sightseeing, eating, and drinking simultaneously.
December 2023
Wild West Magazine
Hoover Dam Damned This Nevada Ghost Town
Is it hyperbolic to compare the ghost town of St. Thomas, Nev., to a phoenix rising from the ashes? Perhaps. But it’s also not too far off—if you can get past the elemental differences. For unlike the gaudily plumed bird, this once-submerged settlement has risen from water. It has on and off for decades, thanks to the fickle fluctuations of Lake Mead. Noteworthy appearances have included 1945, 1963 and 2012, and relentless aridity in recent years means lucky visitors can scope it out today. Of course, getting there requires a little work.
March/April 2020
Nevada Magazine
Rattlesnake Club: A New Spot to Sink Your Teeth Into
The Rattlesnake Club offers a new vision for elevated dining in Northern Nevada. At the helm of the project is pulmonologist and restauranteur, Dr. Jeff Bacon. He’s on a mission to bring the best in locally grown, seasonal fare to the region. The Reno restaurant has overcome numerous road bumps since opening in June 2019, making the club’s hard-won success all the sweeter.
December 2019
American Trails Magazine
Preserving Nevada’s Psychedelic Past
In 1965, long-haired draft-dodgers and drug dealers dressed as Cowboys and Indians bought and renovated the Comstock House, transforming it into the Red Dog Saloon, a hippie enclave with a light show machine and a gun-slinging psychedelic band. Today, Loren and Sue Pursel preserve its colorful history.
February 2018 to Present
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not
My work appears regularly on Ripley’s Believe It Or Not’s website in the topical articles section. I’m also the primary writer for their “Or Not” column with work appearing weekly.
May/June 2018
Nevada Magazine
Finding Bliss at Kerouac’s
By the time you reach the easternmost edge of U.S. Route 50, affectionately known as The Loneliest Road in America, Kerouac’s restaurant in Baker feels more like a mirage than a reality. The brainchild of chef Jake Cerese and architect Kate Claeys, Kerouac’s vintage décor (think 1930s Underwood typewriter) and high-end American fare represent the perfect homage to life on the American road.
March/April 2017
Nevada Magazine
4th Street Bistro
As a mainstay of Reno’s culinary culture for close to two decades, 4th Street Bistro continues to flourish. Along the way, Chef Natalie Sellers (of Chez Panisse distinction) and General Manager Carol Wilson have inspired some of northern Nevada’s most significant restaurant trends.
May/June 2015
Nevada Magazine
The Comstock Summer of Love at 50
Long before burners engulfed the playa of Nevada’s Black Rock desert or steampunkers rocked their first Comstock counterculture balls, there was the Red Dog Saloon. From June to August of 1965, this establishment-defying enclave on C Street in Virginia City made history by launching the Charlatans—a music-fused mix of rock ’n’ roll, costumes, guns, and mind-skewing substances.
Fall 2011
Pacifica
Entertaining the Comstock
Virginia City has a 150-year history of myth making, and it consciously (and unconsciously) plies its carefully crafted reputation as a lawless mining community to this day. In this unlikely setting, the most fundamental elements of the psychedelic esthetic in music, art, and personal style would be born, and many can be attributed, either in part of in full, to the influences and inspiration of the “Wild West” community into which members of the emerging counterculture scene settled.
