Christmas Inn and Around the Carson Valley Inn

Tis the Christmas Season at the Carson Valley Inn: Christmas is fully visible at the CVI with our exterior decorations, Candy Cane Lane and the interior décor in the hotel lobby, Katie’s and CV Steak. The tree pictured is located in the hotel lobby and is themed after the Disney musical fantasy “Frozen.” Look closely when you stop by, you will see Elsa, Anna, Olaf and Sven. As for the Hidden Mickeys from last year – and the associated contest – a funny thing happened. Seems those Hidden Mickeys use special mouse-friendly glue and, because we had such a mild winter last year, all the glue melted and many of the more elaborate “Hidden Mickey” ornaments were not usable this year. Of course a fib like that will get us on Santa’s “Naughty” list (see Because We Feel Like Mentioning It below), so please don’t believe it. Truth is that we did lose some of the decorations to normal wear and tear and, while there are still a few Hidden Mickey decorations here and there, we will not be having the contest this year.

Speaking of Candy Cane Lane: Our thanks go out to Joey Crandall at carsonvalleytimes.com who captured and posted this 30-second visual and audio “taste” of part of Candy Cane Lane.  Just pull in near our RV park entrance and drive through as often as you like this month.  Accompanying music can be heard by tuning your car radio to 89.9 FM.

Before We Wrap Up the Christmas Subject: there are quite a few local Christmas activities going on this weekend including Town Christmas Tree Lightings, Breakfast with Santa, the 20^th Annual Parade of Lights, and more. We’ve taken a page on our website and listed a multitude of Christmas activities along with a link to more information where it is available. There’s more next weekend including the KTVN 22nd Annual Share Your Christmas Drive-By Food Drive on Friday, December 11 from 6 AM to 6 PM right here at the CVI.

Poker Pitching Tops 4,000! Over 4000 days, that is . . . that’s how long we’ve been pitching cards in our Poker Room since we opened in December of 2004. So, we’re lining up two aces side by side to signify 11 years and we're having an 11^th Birthday Party next Friday, December 11 . . . cake, prizes and more! Ready to go back and look at the picture again?  Not quite right, is it!! Speaking of live poker, our monthly Ladies Only Poker Tournament is this Sunday with action starting at 4 p.m.

Race and Sports Book:

• This week you can watch and bet NFL and College Football, Horseracing, NBA and College Basketball, and NHL Hockey.
• The PRO PK’EM jackpot is $4,334 on this week’s progressive parlay card.
• The football spotlight will definitely be on the NCAA Conference Championship Games this Saturday. With multiple games happening at once, especially in the early evening, a sure way to track them all is to plant yourself in our casino bar area so you can scan them all at once.
• Our sports book crew is thinking about posting an over/under prop on how many NFL games will be decided by errant referee calls this Sunday. If we did do this (no, we won't) and we set it at 1/2, would you bet the over or the under? How about at 1 1/2? 

Cabaret Lounge Entertainment – No Cover, No Minimum – Free! John Palmore performs tonight, Tony Vee entertains Thursday thru and Saturday nights, NFL Football is on Sunday and Monday Nights and Josh Budro returns next Tuesday and Wednesday. John Palmore served as Musical Director for the late "Louis Armstrong,"  Tony Vee is an energetic and exciting four-member, all-male band filling the cabaret lounge with music from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s as they perform Rhythm & Blues, Top 40, Rock and Roll, Old & New School Medleys and even some Classic Rock. Lead Vocalist Tony Vee specializes in music from Motown, Barry White, Kool and The Gang, Huey Lewis and many other R & B artists. Vocalist, song writer and guitarist Josh Budro occasionally performs with his entire band on weekends in our cabaret lounge. We are pleased to have him here for a few nights performing solo next week with some of his own material, some country rock and some of the old country music he grew up on (Waylon, Willie, Hank, Merle). Click for a full schedule of free Cabaret Lounge entertainment for the month of December.

As Always, Interesting, Helpful and Even Useful Tidbits and News

• Tonight is Ladies’ Nights and the first 150 ladies to sign up receive a Free Christmas ornament and ladies-only drink specials. The half-dozen Hot Seat Prizes tonight are Bath and Body Works Baskets with a holiday season fragrance theme.
• Boar Friday, Prime Rib Saturday, King Crab Sunday in CV Steak: Our Friday Special this week is Beer Braised Wild Boar Shanks for $28. Saturday night its Garlic Studded Prime Rib for $26 and Sunday's special is one pound of King Crab Legs for $32. All these specials are served with fresh vegetable, choice of rice or potato (au gratin, baked, or a one-pound, twice-baked), tableside tossed salad and warm demi-loaf of bread.
• Because We Feel Like Mentioning It (all tie back to the CVI!!):
• Santa's List Day is today - a perfect reason to take your kids through Candy Cane Lane this evening. If they've been nice, it's a good reward. If they've been naughty, this might get them into the Christmas spirit and turn their behavior around (we hear it works on teenagers and adults, too!)
• Bartender Appreciation Day is also today – a great opportunity for us to thank all of our bar staff whether they are bartenders, bar backs, cocktail servers or the people who clean up all the barware.
• Dice Day is today, but we invite you to celebrate tomorrow and every Thursday with Free Craps Lessons at our dice table starting at 5 PM.
• Thursday is Repeal Day marking the day in 1933 that the 18th Amendment was repealed lifting the ban on the production and consumption of alcohol. So, if you missed Bartender Appreciation Day on Wednesday, you have two reasons celebrate on Thursday. And if you are still celebrating Bartender Appreciation Day on Thursday, carry on!!
• Tuesday is National Brownie Day. We know many people who think this should be celebrated darn near every day of the year! Whenever you choose to have your chocolate fix, we have brownies and many other baked products available for sale at the Bakery counter at the entrance to Katie's.

Comments? Have questions or comments about the CVI? Use the comments section below, shoot us an email or just pick up the phone and call us @ 775-782-9711. Hit “0” when the automated voice comes on and you'll go right to the hotel operator who can get you to the correct person or department.  We have a lot more coming up at the Carson Valley Inn so check our Blog posting every Wednesday morning!