Santa Fe - Final Thoughts

The main purpose of this trip was to regroup and refuel. While I can't say it was a miraculous life changing experience, it did just what I was hoping it would do. I do feel more rested, relaxed and focused. My goal now is to keep going forward and not let myself get dragged down by life's little bumps.

As a recap, here are some of the places we visited:

The Inn of the Governors in Santa Fe

farmer's market

Black Mesa Winery

Los Mayas Resaurante

Old Town Albuquerque

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Blue Portal

Yucca Art Gallery

Pecos National Historical Park

If you make it to the Santa Fe area, any of these locations will be a welcome addition to your itinerary.

Santa Fe - Day 4

Time to go home. Boohoo!

Of course we started the day with the usual great breakfast. Then we hung out at the hotel for a while. If it hadn't been for the noon checkout time I'm not sure we would have left.

We took a leisurely drive around downtown and then took a few back roads out of town. We then headed north towards home. We stopped in Pecos, NM for gas and this led us to go by the Pecos National Historical Park. This is a very interesting site complete with the ruins of a pueblo and Franciscan mission. The sheer size of the mission building was pretty overwhelming.

From there it was a straight drive home with no more detours.

Man, is it going to be hard to get up and go to work tomorrow. 

Santa Fe - Day 3

Alright, so today we had another great breakfast then sat around the hotel lobby and read the Sunday paper.

Then we headed south to Albuquerque. First stop was Old Town. We parked in front of the San Felipe de Neri Church, which is a very impressive complex. We then headed over to the Visitor Center for a map and were soon making the rounds to the many shops. What we had hoped to be a fun afternoon of shopping in unique stores quickly became a mundane stroll through shop after shop that sold the same items. Just about every shop carried Native American jewelry and souvenirs with a few food items (salsa, etc...) thrown in. On top of that, most shopkeepers barely acknowledged you and some acted as if they could care less if you shopped there or not. I have been to Old Town San Diego and had hoped this would be an extension of that enjoyable experience but I guess not.

There were three exceptions to the above situations. If you go, I would recommend you stop at these friendly establishments: Yucca Art Gallery, Blue Portal and Red Rock Café. All three of these establishments greeted us warmly and made us feel welcome. Their kindness made us forget about the rest of the shopkeepers' indifference towards customers.

Next we headed over to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. We had planned to just quickly pop in to see what was there. 3 hours later we emerged from a highly enjoyable and educational experience. We got to see traditional Native American Indian dance performances by Zuni Olla Maidens. They have an excellent exhibit of the history, arts, crafts and pottery from the 19 pueblos of New Mexico. And they also have a cafe specializing in Native American/Southwest cuisine. The fry bread was especially enjoyable. Don't expect to find too much here about the government's forced marches to put the Indians on the reservation. This place is all about the celebration of their culture and heritage.

Next we headed back to Santa Fe and the hotel for the evening. Our biggest goal of the day was to go by the Sandia Resort and Casino for a little gambling but we decided to skip that for a nice quiet evening in.

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!