For all the benefits that city living nets you, there’s one thing that every urban environment is missing: the stars. For that reason, a night of stargazing with Tahoe Star Tours is the perfect thing to complement any weekend up the mountain. While they’re available for private events, the easiest way take a guided tour of heavenly bodies is at Northstar Resort’s Dark Skies Cosmoarium every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:15 p.m. through Sept. 1. Tickets are $40 ($20 for kids), and will include blankets, hot chocolate and s’mores, the perfect companion pieces to an evening with Tony Berendsen, star guide and poet. The evening begins with a meet-and-greet between participants, where people can share star-related stories and hear Berendsen read his “poastronomy” (astro-poetry), and then moves on to a science presentation and space quiz. Finally, Berendsen will let guests gaze out at planets, stars and galaxies through his wide array of high-powered telescopes. If you’re able to skip work the next day (we suggest calling in sick), the best night to go is Aug. 12, when Tahoe Star Tours will conduct a viewing of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Tickets are the same price unless you want to attend Berendsen’s pre-show concert ($125, including the viewing) at the Ritz-Carlton’s Café Blue, where Berendsen and the Accent String Quartet will be performing music and poetry from his album, Inevitability, available on Spotify (no, we’re not kidding). For more info and showtimes, visit Tahoestartours.com.
**This write-up first appeared in print on page 10 of issue #270 (July 18 – Aug. 1, 2018)**
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