The posting on the trip report ended with all the yucky stuff. Now I get to talk about heading to New Mexico and romping around the Santa Fe area. And yes there are pictures...
... for almost everything.
I think some background is in order here. Best to be upfront about my obsession with New Mexico in general and the Santa Fe-Taos area (high road only), in particular.
I first started wandering to Santa Fe over 20 years ago. During the years, when my kids were very young and I was somewhat stuck at home alone with little help with their care, I was "permitted," yes, I said "permitted" one trip - totaling 36 hours - once a year somewhere without having to ... (and kids you know I love you dearly)... take the kids or my husband. My itinerary always led me to Santa Fe because it was 1) wonderful, 2) one of the few places on this planet where I feel completely at home, and 3) close enough to actually have some time there with only a 36 hour window.
I would usually take my friend Chris, another stay at home mom of two boys of similar age to my kids. It was even harder for Chris to break away, albeit for completely different reasons. It wasn't because her spouse didn't want to do full-time child care so much as he was a surgeon in residence and worked insane hours. Carrying the full load of child rearing was the sacrifice she was willing to make and it paid off for her. Within a few years, she was trying to decide which half million dollar home to buy on the shores of Lake Michigan while I was trying to make rent in a two bedroom apartment.
Anyway, our trip would start early. Really early. I insisted. Because the MOST IMPORTANT part of the trip, for me, was getting to Tia Sophia's before they closed at 2 pm. This entailed leaving Denver by 6:30 am or so and driving.... FAST... to Santa Fe. The old Volvo 240 cruised quite smoothly at 90 miles an hour down Interstate 25 thank you very much. I don't want to underestimate for my readers the importance of being at the front door of this restaurant at least 45 minutes before it closed. It is all about the blue corn enchilada plate. I had to have it. It was nothing short of an obsession. And, of course, the first thing I did upon stepping out into the streets of Santa Fe this time, was walk right down to Tia Sophia's. Sure I gazed at the storefronts along the way, commenting on the loss of the Woolworths and other shops I remember from twenty years ago. But be certain of this, not at the break of my stride.
I don't have a picture of Tia Sophia's. I guess I was just a little pre-occupied after not having been there for 14 years. It was a glorious meal. Blue corn enchilada plate smothered with green chili, all as good as I remember it. And across the table I was looking at my best friend. Did I mention that I did not make this foray alone? Tia Sophia's was perfect.
With full stomachs and a Starbucks in hand, the best thing to do in Santa Fe anymore, unless you have money you want to throw at incredibly expensive art, is to look at the architecture.
The city is so pretty. I love adobe architecture. And I live in exactly the wrong part of the country for it. Some of the best modern examples include the inns and hotels in the old part of town. This is a small inn that I would love to stay at. I can only imagine the price.We stayed at Garrett's Desert Inn. It is a motor inn. And it looks like one. But it is a block off the square and easily half the price of anything else so close, before you account for the fact that you get free parking, otherwise non existent in the old part of Santa Fe.
This next building is part of the Hilton complex I believe. There used to be a great restaurant nearby call Maria Isabel's. But it is long gone.
The most famous hotel on the square is LaFonda on the Plaza. My travel companion, told me stories about how this was the only place his mother would stay. We wandered around inside quite a bit. This is a picture of one of the dining rooms.
Between the famous LaFonda and the motor inn was the Inn at Loretto. It is nothing short of exquisite. For me this was the most beautiful hotel to photograph.
On the other side of Garrett's Desert Inn was the oldest church in North America, the San Miguel Chapel. We walked around quite a bit, and I began to realize that as old as this is, the adobe bricks, mud coating, architectural features and the like, were far more modern than what I saw in Peru the year before. After all these trips to Santa Fe, being filled with a sense that I was seeing things so very old, the ruins on the Inka Trail go back so much farther in time.
This area for me has wonderful mystical qualities. I always try to drive the high road from Santa Fe to Taos, and this trip was no different. We drove to my favorite haunt, before Chimayo: El Santuario de Chimayó –
Originally a private chapel, constructed from 1814 to 1816. It was turned over to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1929. This is a nondescript church from the outside, but it attracts A LOT of visitors. In fact in the 16 years since my visit, they have added a large parking area and little shops have sprung up around the church. But the draw of this church is inside. It is a little room in the back. Enter and in the center of the dirt floor you see... a hole. This is no ordinary hole. Many have traveled to Santuario to gather dirt from this hole and have benefitted from its miraculous healing powers of the "Tierra Bendita" (sacred earth).The altar of the church is beautiful as is its murals and candles.
I liked the candles in particular. I love picking up these candles at the grocery store They burn forever and they bring back fond memories of New Mexico.
My favorite part of the church is no longer there. In the back room, next to the Tierra Bendita, was a collection of crutches, and other artifacts that were left as evidence of miracles.
Most are still there, but the room has been cleaned up and my favorite image left as evidence of a miracle - a polaroid of a tortilla with the image of Christ's face on it - is no longer on display. So I have tried to do some research on this tortilla. I think I found the origin of it thanks to the Internet. From an Aug. 14, 1978 Newsweek: "Mario Rubio is rolling a burrito when she notices skillet burns on the tortilla resembling the mournful face of Jesus Christ. Shortly thereafter, 8,000 curious pilgrims trek to the Rubios' small stucco house in rural New Mexico to view the sacred icon. Mrs. Rubio leaves her house unlocked so that visitors may freely enter and examine the tortilla."Of course there also is this more humorous retelling of the event. I wonder if having a polaroid of this tortilla in the church undermined her own tourist/pilgrim business - apparently numbering in the 100s of thousands. I have not been to her house, but I remember seeing this tortilla at Sanctuario.
How can you not love this part of the country?
Part Three coming soon.
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