edible notables
WILL DRIVE FOR FOOD
Tour company shares fab finds.
WRITTEN BY ERIN MEYERING
PHOTO BY CANDICE NYANDO
It’s a fulfilling experience to be able to learn and then share what you know while on the job. Patty Drake, owner of Patty’s Tours, has made it a priority to expand her own knowledge of all things local while sharing her tremendous and ever-growing love for the area.
After a number of years working as a charter bus driver and large company tour leader and honing her skills, Drake tested local touring on her family and friends with an Apple Hill excursion in 2010. After success with that and with encouragement from participants and her husband, Steve, she launched her own regional tour business in January 2011.
“Travel has always been my passion,” Drake says.
Led by Drake, Patty’s Tours conducts several day tours each month (all within a two-hour travel radius of Reno). In addition, the company hosts occasional overnight tours and one large, international tour per year.
Drake also makes an effort to show off the region’s locally owned restaurants, including some in Virginia City, Truckee, Tahoe City, and Reno.
“My goal is to let everyone know how fabulous [the Reno-Tahoe area] is,” she says.
In addition to foodie destinations, Drake offers various other tours, which always are changing and growing to provide people with new experiences in diverse areas and at events.
“I just get to live my dream,” she says. “It’s a personal journey I hadn’t expected.”
Erin Meyering always has had an instinctive desire to travel but hasn’t yet experienced faraway places. In talking to Patty Drake, she realized that, oftentimes, visiting local places can bring about meaningful new experiences just as going abroad might.
For details about Patty’s Tours and upcoming trips, visit http://www.Pattystours.com
Resources
Fall Food Trips
Apple Hill Wine Tour
Saturday, Oct. 11 and Saturday, Oct. 18
Celebrate autumn by visiting Apple Hill in Camino, Calif., for shopping, wine tasting, and indulging in delicious food. Tour and taste at Madroña Vineyards and enjoy lunch at High Hill Ranch. $89 per person.
Mandarin Festival Tour
Saturday, Nov. 22
Loomis, Calif., home to historic High Hand Nursery, will be the first stop on this day tour. The High Hand Fruit Shed displays local, handmade goods, produce, and more, all for purchase. After lunch at the High Hand Café, the group will head to the Mountain Mandarin Festival in Auburn, Calif., to experience the new crop of fresh, foothills-grown Mandarin oranges. $79 per person.
