For all the indoor sports a Casino has been erected, far enough away so that the music, dancing, the sharp clangor of bowling, the singing of extemporized glee-clubs, and the enthusiasm of audiences at amateur theatricals and the like do not disturb the peaceful slumbers of those who retire early.  While Tahoe Tavern itself is sui generis in that it is the most wonderful combination of primitive simplicity with twentieth century luxury, the Casino is even more remarkable.  Its interior finish is the work of a nature artist.  Its porches immediately overlook the Lake, and when one has wearied of dancing there is a witchery as rare and subtle as it is delightful to sit in the subdued light overlooking the ripples of the moonlit water, sipping some liquid refreshment, eating an ice or chatting with a suitable partner.

Here a fine orchestra discourses sweet music, moving pictures are regularly shown, lectures and concerts occasionally provided, besides all the conveniences for private card-parties and other pleasures that fashionable visitors expect for their entertainment.

[Illustration:  Ballroom in the Casino, Tahoe Tavern]

[Illustration:  Tahoe Tavern from Lake Tahoe]

[Illustration:  Path in the Woods by Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Tavern]

[Illustration:  Morning Service at the Chapel of the Transfiguration, Tahoe Tavern]

Ruskin has somewhere brought out the idea in his finest phraseology that nowhere can man so readily worship God as in the presence of the most beautiful of His works in Nature.  This is readily apparent at Tahoe, hence the summer visitors and others of religious trend will delight to learn that churches for both Catholic and Episcopal worshipers have been erected not far from the Tavern.  The Catholic Church was dedicated Sept. 10, 1911.  It has a seating capacity of a hundred and seventy-five.  Its location was chosen with an eye to the beautiful, being on Tahoe Heights, and is less than fifteen minutes’ walk from the Tavern.

The Episcopal “Church of the Transfiguration” is unique in that it is an open air building, the altar only being roofed.  Towering pines stand as aisles and the vaulted ceiling is the clear blue dome of heaven.  Rustic and simple, it harmonizes exquisitely with its surroundings, and strangely insensible must that worshiper be who, as he kneels in this Nature shrine, and the organ peals forth its solemn notes, with a wonderful accompaniment of hundreds of singing birds, and the ascending incense of a thousand flowers, does not feel his own soul lifted into a higher and more spiritual mental frame.