Santa Fe - Day 2

What a great day. I think the New Mexico spirit is rubbing off on me.

We had an excellent breakfast at the hotel. And not just because it was free. The food was good and the coffee is the best I have ever had at a hotel. By the way, we are staying at The Inn of the Governors in Santa Fe. I would recommend it to anyone. The atmosphere and the service are both excellent. I particularly have enjoyed the afternoon tea and sherry hour.

We then headed over to the farmer's market which has just moved to a new location. It is both indoors and outdoors. We picked up some wonderful breads and honey. The honey is made using tamarix or saltcedar which is actually considered a noxious weed in many states but the honey has a nice bold taste. It is a little wilder tasting than clover honey.

Next we drove north to Velarde, NM and stopped at the Black Mesa Winery. They have an excellent selection of wines that they make themselves. I would highly recommend the Black Beauty which is a chocolate flavored wine. Don't let that fool you though, it is not an overly sweet wine. An added bonus on this drive was the sighting of a bald eagle, several humming birds and a roadrunner. I also learned that humming birds make a chirping sound when they fly. I never knew this.

We came back to the hotel for a short rest and some sherry, of course. After that we walked down to the plaza to check out the fiesta. It was mainly food vendors and some live entertainment.

Now it was time for dinner so we drove over to the Los Mayas Resaurante for some New Mexican Cuisine.  Oh my god, it was all I could do not to lick the plate clean. We started out with the Nopalito Asado y Queso de Cabra which is grilled cactus with goat cheese and ezapote. I had never had this before and I would not hesitate to order it again. I followed that with the Camino Real (chicken mole enchilada and a red chile pork tamale). Evelyn had the Enchilada Tricolor (a green chile chicken enchilada, a red chile beef enchilada and a chicken mole enchilada). Both were cleanly plated without a lot of sauce. I can't begin to describe how good the mole sauce was. We topped it off with the Tres leches cake. The atmosphere, food, service and entertainment (a Spanish guitarist) makes this a "must do" if you visit Santa Fe.

After all this, we just didn't have the energy for anymore stuff today so we have retired to the hotel for the evening.

Tomorrow we plan to head south to Albuquerque to visit Old Town and the Sandia Resort and Casino.

WooHoo!