Arriving in Fair Play is an Adventure

I was thinking about how our guests get here to Lucinda's Country Inn. Like most places people visit they travel the highways and byways until they get somewhere. Or when folks travel by train they zip through previously unseen countryside until the train slows in order to arrive at the worlds biggest and most beautiful cities. When flying to those same cities the passengers don't have a clue about what lies below them. As trains are slowing to enter those famous cities they jerk and bump along the tracks past some of the most god awful places to look at: wrecking yards, empty dilapidated warehouses with graffiti everywhere, slums filled with snotty nosed kids playing in the streets, cardboard houses, piles of rubbish - some of it human excrement - and lots and lots of other unpleasant sites. What seems like forever is suddenly broken by the train station coming into view. Thank god that part of the train ride is over, is what most travelers say to themselves with their sighs of relief.

That brings us to you getting here to Fair Play. Driving from Nevada you lucky folks get to see the most beautiful site in the world; Lake Tahoe. Those drivers from the Bay Area get to drive through the largest valley and agricultural region in the US, California's Central Valley; which extends from Redding in the north to the Grapevine in the south. Here they grow almost every kind of produce and most of the world's supply of what they do grow.

Emerald Bay is on the west side of Lake Tahoe along Highway 89

Once you get closer to Fair Play you can't help but see some of those kinds of things I mentioned above. When we started Lucinda's Country Inn county approval process we met with our County Supervisor. I asked her if we had to follow the County Ordinance and she replied, of course. Then I asked if it is required that we have 6-8 cars and lots of farm implements on our property. Of course not was her reply. Then why do so many properties have that at the side of their road? I inquired. She replied, with a chuckle, that just happens and she explained that those are called "Car Gardens".Those "car gardens" appear unfortunately on the roads to get to Lucinda's.

One such "garden" is at the corner of Fair Play Rd. & Perry Creek Rd. at Pioneer Park.

When you turn on Perry Creek Rd. and slow down you can catch the complete essence of what a wonderful job this place has done in creating their "car garden". It has taken years for them to make it look this nice. A lot of people spoke to them about the junk and made snide remarks and they have gotten a million dirty looks from neighbors. The Country Authorities cannot do anything unless there is a health hazard or a toxic waste problem. So we get this beautiful "car garden".

El Dorado County is a "Right to Farm" county. That means in the Agricultural Districts farming has top priority over any other activities. If you want to build a new home next to a farming operation your home has to have at least a 200 foot set back. It also means farm equipment can be parked, kept, stored or however you want to describe it anywhere on the property. Since most land is devoted to farming that means the areas along the roads are used for storage of farm equipment and whatever else the farmer wants to put there.

Now there is mainly farm equipment here, along Perry Creek Rd., about 1/4 mile from the corner across from Pioneer Park. Ever since the owner has listed the property he has had his laborers clean the place, including a big dilapidated, dirty sign for Noah's Ark. And this guy went to one of our county hearings and complained about how bad our art & crafts house would look from Perry Creek Rd. UGH??

Wonderful part about your journey to Fair Play is when you arrive you can enjoy all the great wineriers and of course, Lucinda's Country Inn. Just some loving thoughts on Valentine's Day.

'Til next time....

Daryl