Right In Your Own Back Yard!

I live in Reno, NV. Now you might think that with all of our casinos and nightclubs, we would have an endless source of amusement for out of town visitors. That was the usual fare folks wanted when they came to visit us. It was a scramble then, when friends were due in from out of town recently and they’d indicated they did not want to do the casinos this time around. (whew!) It certainly made us happy not to squire them through an endless sea of casinos. We've been known to gamble a bit, but when our $20 is done, so are we. :-)

Besides sports (which didn’t interest them), what else did we have to offer? A bit of research was called for and we delved into many resources we hadn’t previously considered. The first thing I did was call my Chamber of Commerce. They generously sent me numerous brochures, maps and information on a wide variety of events. There are 6 Museums within easy driving distance, we discovered. We’d only ventured to 2 or 3 ourselves in the 14 years we’ve been here. What else did our community have to offer that we’d missed before? The Native American Cultural Arts center, 3 upcoming flower shows, numerous art exhibits, the symphony was putting on a special program, several sporting events, Hot August Nights would still be in full swing, and so very much more jumped right out at us from the brochure pages.

Oh, we were “aware” that some of these things went on, usually after the fact when listening to a news reporter’s segment on how wonderful it was. We’d go next year. But somehow, ‘next year’ never materialized.

We’re fortunate to have a large convention center here in town and we looked their schedule of events up online. Two events would be held during our visitor’s timespan. Good! Those went on our list too. All these were only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

Once we found that online resource, we began delving more into the information on the web. Our local newspaper had a site with a wealth of information on upcoming events. As did the sites for local television and radio stations. Then we started looking up non-profit agencies within a 50 mile radius. Several events not mentioned through other resources began to surface. Even more goodies to put on our list.

When our guests arrived, we sat around the kitchen table pouring over all the brochures and our list which had grown to 6 pages. It was such a treat to decide on an itinerary, filling our days with spectacular, innovative activities and events from dawn ‘til dusk.

The best part of all was re-discovering our own town and the wonders it holds.

Maybe it’s time you began re-discovering what’s in your own back yard?

~ Marge ~