Top 10 Best Places to Work and Travel at Emerald Bay

The lake and natural landscapes around Lake Tahoe and this region of Nevada/California are jaw-dropping. They are stunning in their clarity and color. Native plants and wildlife are abundant and protected by national and state preserves here, protecting these species for the future as well as displaying them for visitors in the present.

It is not a wonder that readers of StoodThere.com voted for part of Lake Tahoe as one of the 100 Greatest Places in America (to stand for pictures). Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe was chosen to be the Number 14 Greatest Place. You can see it in the foreground of the photograph above.

Fannette Island is the sole island in all of Lake Taho and it is located in Emerald Bay, off the southwest shoreline. Fannette Island is visible in the top photo on this page and marked on the Google Map above. It's several names have changed over the decades from Baranoff Island, Coquette Island, Dead Man's Island, Hermit's Island, and Emerald Isle to the current Fannette Island. It is also is contained within Emerald Bay State Park and accessible only by boat or swimming. Early Native Americans living around Lake Tahoe enjoyed the island as well and their story is told in the novel Who Have the Power: A Legend of the West.

The architectural structure that you can see on top of the island is a tea house in the style of the castle that sits at Vikingsholm at the end of Emerald Bay.

Vikingsholm and the tea house on Fannette Island are Scandinavian architectural design, with period dragon's-head ceiling beams. Vikingsholm was one of the very first summer homes in Lake Tahoe, constructed at Emerald Bay around 1863. Today, Vikingsholm can be reached only by private boat or a one-mile hike, but it is open for tours.

• Emerald Bay State Park is a natural wonder that should be visited by anyone that finds themselves in this region of California and Nevada. Emerald bay became an official US National Natural Landmark in 1969, because of its panoramic views and clear observations of the local mountain-producing elements of nature and the granite carvings left by glaciers of the past.
• Further, in 1994, Emerald Bay became an official Underwater State Park of California, based on its underwater landscapes and wildlife of plant and animal species. A sandy beach is located at Emerald Bay, visible in the photo at the top of this page, and camping/boating activities are permitted from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year. Scuba divers are welcomed into the underwater state park. Artifacts to view in the lake at Emerald Bay have included sunken barges, smaller boats, and even turn-of-the-20th-century automobiles.

• Sugar Pine State Park is on the western edge of Lake Tahoe, north of Emerald bay, and celebrates Living History Day of the lake region annually at the end of July on the last Saturday. This park is actually located in Tahoma, California. Mountain men and Native Americans speak to the audience, artists ply their individual fine arts and crafts, and a theater presents the history of the lake and its development. Vintage cars of the 1930s are also always on display in this event. Family and children's activites and music round out the evnts that celebrate Lake Tahoe in the 1930s.
• In the winter, park rangers lead visitors on snowshoe tours under the full moon. Not many places offer that event.

Emerald Bay is in or near South Lake Tahoe and about 70 miles from Bridgeport, California. Bridgeport's local economy is partially based in tourism that arises from interest in visits to Bodie Ghost Town. A National Historic Landmark, the town is in the Bodie Hills, east of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

Bodie Ghost Town is the Number 17 Greatest Place in America to Stand, as chosen by readers in 2009.

The photos to the right depict some of the abandoned buildings in the mining ghost town. When gold mining declined in California after the California Gold Rush, miners and merchants of this area left behind small houses, saloons, a church, a smithy's shop and others.

Bodie, although a ghost town since the 1940s, is maintained as a California State Park in order to preserve history and to provide a visitor's attraction.

The author Michael H' Piatt, in his book The Mines are Looking Well, included years of his own detailed research and his experiences in working at Bodie Ghost Town State Park for two years.

Table of Contents of the Michael H. Piatt Book (dislayed to the right):

1. A Place Called Bodie: The Setting
2. Bonanza! 1877-1878
3. "Great Scott! What a Mine!" 1879
4. "The Greatest Gold Mine the World Has Ever Seen" 1880
5. Boom and Bust on Silver Hill 1881-1882
6. "A Quiet Town Is Bodie Today" 1883-1889
7. "There Is Much Encouragement to Look Forward To" 1890-1899
8. "The Ore Was Mined at an Actual Loss" 1900-1915
9. Leasers Work the Mines 1915-1942
10. Epilogue 1942-Present

During mid-June 2011, approximately 1700 jobs were listed for the South Lake Tahoe area that includes Emerald Bay.

Emerald Bay is one in the large system of California State Parks. A plan to close many of these parks began to take shape in 2011 in order to balance the state budget, but many people would not want Emerald Bay to close down to the public. Declining gasoline prices during summer 2011 and beyond likely spur domestic travel in the US and especially to the beautiful western parks and landscapes with their summer and winter outdoor sports activities.

The highest demand jobs in the area are involved in Engineering, Technologies, and Healthcare.

1. Safeway - Groceries
2. Barton Health Care System
3. Banner Health
4. Sutter Health
5. Ceasars Lake Tahoe
6. Starbucks
7. Edward jones - Financial products and investments
8. Harrah's
9. GE Energy
10. Hyatt Corporation
11. Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare
12. Kaiser Permanente California
13. CVS/Pharmacy
14. Nevada Employee Action and Timekeeping System
15. Resort at Squaw Creek

1. Physical Therapists and Assistants
2. Travel Physical Therapists
3. Supermarket Clerks: Deli, Liquor, Meats, Courtesy, Other
4. Taco Bell Managers and Assistant Managers
5. Shift Supervisors
6. Baristas
7. Occupational Therapists
8. Lead Engineers
9. Quality Assurance Engineers
10. Electrical Technologists

Additional High Deamnd Jobs

1. Maintenance Supervisors
2. Laboratory Scientists
3. Physicians - Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Family Practice
4. Registered Nurses (RNs)