The sun is out and everyone seems to be heading outside to play. The Outside Inn and the Broad Street Inn teamed up today to go check out the progress on the new Deer Creek Tribute Trail, in preparation for the upcoming summer guests who want to explore some of Nevada City’s trails. The Deer Creek Tribute is a connection of various trails along Deer Creek in downtown Nevada City that will soon be a total of 8 miles long.  The trail starts at Pioneer Park and will wind through town then head out along the creek off Champion Mine Road.  A new singletrack trail has been carved into the hillside ending at a picturesque foot bridge crossing Deer Creek to a loop on the other side.  We rode our bikes along the newly constructed. Champion Mine side and are looking forward … Read More »

“No Tell Motel” by Sandi Sumner is a fictional murder mystery set in the early 1950’s.  The work in progress novel is loosely based on Sandi’s pervious visits to the Outside Inn.  “I’ve stayed here many times and it always inspires my creativity.”  She is an author of several non-fiction avaition books, including Women Pilots of Alaska and Wheels Up: Celebrating the Centennial of Women Flyers, 1911 to 2011, but what she’s really excited about her first fictional book.  The book includes a cast of characters named Winifred Davenpot, Bill Harrington and Digger Browning.  Sandi sums up her love of fiction by saying “The fun of writing mysteries is solving the puzzle, that’s the challenge to engage the readers and the characters and solve the problem.”  We hope this week’s stay at the Outside Inn inspires Sandi to solve the riddle … Read More »

The Community Asian Theatre of the Sierra (CATS) is currently showcasing the play “The King and I”.  Friday night’s show was a fundraiser for the Friends of Nevada County Libraries and was almost sold out despite the rain and snow.  The musical is based on Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and features a rich cast of local talent.  Tickets on sale online or at Briar Patch, Nevada City Postal Company or the Bookseller. 

Nevada City has a number of great coffee shops within a small space.  At the top of the hill (and closest to the Outside Inn) is Broad Street Bistro.  The outdoor seating is a great place to sit and people watch.  Stop in for a yummy bagel sandwich or get a salad to go for lunch.  Open from 7am to 6pm everyday, catch up with a friend over coffee, check out the local artists displays or bring your lap top and join the folks who use the coffee shop as their virtual office.

Check out our newest flowers!  The Outside Inn has a large collection of fun and interesting yard art around our property, click here for more photos.  Today we added 3 oversized tin flowers to the mix, because we’re all sick of the rain, hail and snow!    The Margaret Taylor flowers are made of reclaimed barn wood and salvaged roof tin.  To add a little color to your yard click here.  Or feel free to stop by the Outside Inn patio and visit our colorful new art pieces.

When the rain never stops and the kids are going nuts, take them to Prosperity Lanes bowling in downtown Grass Valley.  The helpful gentlemen behind the counter gave us shoes, light weight bowling balls, and helped us set up our lane for an hour’s play.  Several other families had the same idea, so we were comfortable playing badly and bouncing our balls down the lane.  They have bumpers in some of the lanes, so the kids’ balls stay more or less on course.  Each time they knocked over a pin, they squealed with delight.  They could shout and squirm around, but were good about waiting for their next turn.  Our hour went by quickly and they all thought they were champions…. A delightful rainy day activity….

Mystery Kitchen #1

Mystery Kitchen #2

Mystery Kitchen #3

Mystery Kitchen #4

Mystery Kitchen #5

Mystery Kitchen #6

Guess the kitchen, can you correctly identify which room is which?  Post your answer on the Outside Inn Facebook page for a chance to win a prize.

S.O.A.P (Save Our Ailing Planet) in Nevada City offers a unique, eco-friendly option for soaps, bath salts, shampoos and more.  Bring in your own container and choose from some amazing products.  Lori Largent, owner of the shop, says that they have far surpassed their goal of refillable containers, having filled over 3000 bottles in the last year.  The Outside Inn embraced the California Green Lodging Program in 2009 and said goodbye to traditional bars of soaps and small plastic containers of shampoo and conditioner.  Now each room at the Inn has a soap dispenser filled with S.O.A.P’s fabulous goodies, Kiss my Face white peach soap, Shikai Natural Shampoo and Shikai Tea Tree Conditioner.  Stop by S.O.A.P at 104 Argall Way in Nevada City, they’re open Monday-Friday 10-6 and Saturdays 11-4.

Treats, the local ice cream and coffee shop in Nevada City, isn’t some place you’d find on accident, but once you discover it you’re bound to keep going back again and again. The Outside Inn testing team has decided that they like the fresh baked goodies, while the junior tasting crew has decided they are a huge fan of the ice cream and my senior tasting team chair member loves the lattes. In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day Treats is offering 25 cents off their green ice creams (Pistachio and Green Tea). You can find Treats at 110 York St in Nevada City across the street from Ike’s Quarter Cafe.

Community support is important in a small town like Nevada City and the Outside Inn tries hard to support as many local organizations as we can.  Two great events are happening this weekend, “A Matter of Taste” a fundraiser for Arts in the Nevada City School of the Arts, and “A Night on the Town” by the Gold Country Gobblers, a chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation that aims to support various members of the community to conserve, hunt and share.

A Night on the Town fundraising banquet is on Friday, March 11th at St. Canice Hall, doors open at 5:30 & a barbecue tri-tip and chicken dinner is at 7:00 with hors d’oeuvres and a no host bar. Tickets are $65 per person, $95 per couple & $30 for kids under 17.  For information and tickets, call Gary at:  530-266-9799.

A Matter … Read More »