Our Adventures in Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 26 thru November 1, 2013
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Uneventful travel day.
TYJ. Our flight was right on
time. It’s only an hour flight from
Phoenix to Albuquerque. The shuttle to
the rental-car-row was waiting at the curb.
We had reserved an Ford Explorer.
Paul is going to be in the market for a new SUV soon so he wanted to
check it out. Mr. Budget Counter Man
said “we have a Nissan Pathfinder for you”.
:disappointed:. He said he’d
check to see of one of their partners had an Explorer because they share the
inventory. Sure enough Avis had one so
made the change. He also gave us a few
flyers for restaurants that when you present the flyer they give you a “surprise”
(either an appetizer or a dessert - their choice). Paul
hadn’t eaten and I had a half of PB&J before we left the house so we
decided to have lunch in Albuquerque before heading to Santa Fe. Mr. Budget recommended El Pinto and said it
was only about 5 minutes off the freeway.
We were wondering thru the area which was very old and run down. Broken down homes with lots of weeds and little old houses that had
been converted to restaurants, beauty salons, insurance offices, etc. Half of them were out of business. When we turned into the parking lot for El
Pinto it was like a little jewel in the run down area.
The entry was beautiful and the restaurant was huge. It’s been there for 50 years and very well
maintained.
Our surprise was an appetizer – El Pinto Chile Con Queso, hot cheese dip with green chills served
with chips and salsa. It was really
good. They don’t have a lunch menu on
weekends so all the entrees were dinner size with rice and beans. I ordered two tacos from their side dish menu
and Paul had an enchilada platter. Food,
service and ambiance were very nice.
Back on the road and north bound to Santa Fe. The directions to the resort were spot
on. We went into the lobby of Villas de Santa Fe and Maria was
on duty. She was the very incredibly
helpful lady I spoke with on the phone who took my request for a balcony unit. We have a timeshare and they had blocked the
week but hadn’t released our name. They
couldn’t take a request until our name was attached. The management company sends that information
anywhere from two weeks to three days prior to arrival. I had been calling for two weeks because we
really must have/need/want a balcony.
Maria finally spoke with the assistant manager and manager and they
determined the hold must be ours so she took the request. Yeah!
She asked me if we had any other requests besides the balcony. I had been reading reviews and several people
recommended requesting an upper unit in the newly renovated section of the
resort. I told her my wish list would be an
upper unit in the newly renovated section with a balcony but the most important
part was the balcony regardless of the location. When we first
walked up and I gave our last name to the registration clerk, Maria came out of
the side room and said “Patti?” I said “Maria?” Then she said we got everything we wanted. We are on the third floor (top), newly renovated,
balcony unit. Thank you Maria! We schlepped our luggage to the room which is
nice, the balcony is small but who cares.
We only need space for two chairs. After we unpacked we went to
Sprouts for coffee and Baileys plus bananas and water for me, beer and ice cream for Paul and
a few other snacks. We came back and
unpacked.
I spent way too much time with internet issues. They charge for wifi here. They have two computers in the lobby that are
free to use but that doesn’t work for me.
I don’t want to wait while someone else is using them and I don’t want
someone hanging over my shoulder while I’m using one. Besides I enjoy sitting on the balcony,
drinking my morning coffee and updating my TravelBlog. Anyhow, back to wifi, I got a Verizon card
from work and it was reactivated so I could use it. I downloaded Verizon Access Manager at the
airport but when I tried to connect it said the device was not found. I switched the gadget to another port and it
still said device not found. I tried
again when we got settled into our room.
Same message. I called technical
support and after automated message run-a-round it said to call Monday thru
Friday. I tried mobile hot spot on my cell.
I downloaded the “FREE” app and after it downloaded it gave me a message
that it’s $29.99. I guess the download is free but if you want to use it you
have to pay. What? Since mobile hot spot sucks the life out of your cell phone I went
down to the lobby and got the info on how to connect to AT&T paid service,
which BTW is $29.99. It works like a
charm. If I paid myself by the hour, I've already spent more than 30 bucks of my time.
We ventured down to the Plaza (main square in Santa Fe). There was a concert on the state.
There were quite a few people gathered but I made my way to the front of the crowd for the photo. We mowsied
around the stores. Half of them were
already closed for the night. Neither
one of us were very hungry so we wondered the streets, bobbing in and out of
stores and reading menus along the way.
These are wood carving pillars in a parking garage:
These are painted columns down a side street:
We ending up going to an Italian restaurant, il piatto. Very charming. I decided I’d have an appetizer and dessert. Our server brought warm bread and balsamic vinegar
and herbed oil for dipping. Del-lish. I had a lemon cocktail with basil, God only
knows what was in it but it was perfect. Getting my fruits and veggies (and herbs)!
I ordered soup instead of an entree. River Valley Oyster Mushroom Bisque
with Basil Pesto. It was really
good. Paul had the duck special. We split a Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake with a Swirl
of Strawberry Glaze and fresh berries on the side.
It was a starry-starry night.
Overall this a very good Day 1.
Oh – Fitbit says 12,751 Steps for the day. Apparently I got a little exercise too!
Sunday October 27, 2013
I’m on my patio and it’s 35°. Brrrrr. I put on my UGGS and my hoodie and ventured
into the cold. My fingertips are frozen
and my coffee got cold in minutes, but I still love it! It's supposed to be 58°today.
We haven’t made a plan for today yet. We talked about just checking out Santa Fe
before venturing out of the area.
I’ll let you know.
Monday October 28, 2013
Monday morning and another beautiful albeit chilly morning
my mi-patio`.
Yesterday morning we didn’t leave the resort until
10:30. We walked over to a little French
Restaurant/Bakery that got great reviews on TripAdvisor. They aren’t open on Sundays. We’ll try again during the week. Down the road and across the street was the
New York Deli so we figured what the heck.
When in New Mexico you might as well go to a restaurant that wants you to feel like your are in New York! I had my favorite, bagel with
lox and cream cheese. It was pretty
good.
Paul had an omelet. We left there and walked to the plaza.
I think it’s about a mile or so from where we are
staying. I found my ass:
I walked thru a few stores while Paul read the historical
monuments in the Plaza. There were a
bunch of street vendors out so I browsed thru there. I read somewhere in my pre-trip research that
if you want to support the local artists you should buy from the street vendors
because the stores carry merchandise that is not necessary made by natives. In fact some if it is made in
China, Japan, etc. Nothing against Asian goods but when in Rome...
I liked a really beautiful turquoise and pearl
necklace (strand) but I didn’t buy it.
It was pretty pricy and I really haven’t shopped around much. The lady called me "Lady in Red" and pointed out that her signature mark on her work is one tiny red bead on the strand. I think she was trying to say it was meant to be. I'm sure she'll be there again before we leave if I decide I really want it. We went to the Museum of New Mexico. The exhibit on display is Cowboys Real and
Imagined.
It had Esponon Blanc (pure agave tequila), triple sec, prickly pear puree, fresh lime and agave nectar. It was pretty darn tasty.
Disclaimer: I rarely drink when we’re at home but on vacation I like a toddy or two! No guilt. Don't judge!
Paul had a couple of Porters. We walked back to the resort for a little R&R.
We decided to go to Coyote Café (as seen on TV’s Chuck Eats the Street). We got a little lost finding the place (there are two Water Streets in town and of course we were on the wrong one, don’t ask). Reviews said food was excellent but service was poor. I agree. Using TripAdvisor and Urban Spoon’s ratings of 5 stars is best, I would give the food a 5, the bus boy a 5 and the server a 2. I had lobster and it was amazing.
Mesquite Grilled Maine Lobster Tails with Handmade Pappardelle Pasta, Organic Spring Onions, Spicy Creamy Chili Sauce. The spring onions were in the pasta and not overwhelming. Paul had a filet which is not on their on-line menu so I can’t give the mouth-watering description but it was on a bed of roasted fingerling potatoes and squash and drizzled with some delicious sauce. I gave him one of my tails and he gave me a piece of his steak and it was truly melt-in-mouth tender and completely delicious. For dessert we split a Banana Cream Pie. I thought of my sister with every bite! (It's her favorite.) Caramelized Bananas, Italian Meringue and Cappuccino Ice Cream. It was in a tart crust. We both agreed the Ice Cream (which was a mini scoop) really didn’t seem to belong but it was still delicious. Paul ordered a Port and the manager brought it with a “complimentary Orange Muscat”. The server later confessed that he poured the Muscat by mistake so they gave it us to enjoy. I’m not sure how that man got a job in this upscale restaurant. Must be a relative of the owner!
We don’t really have a plan for today yet. We talked about maybe venturing up to
Taos.
Talk to you manana.
Tuesday October 29, 2013
What time is it? Time for morning coffee and blog updating on the patio. :bliss:
Taos it was. We
decided to skip breakfast and eat in Taos.
I had a banana to hold me over.
We took a little detour (wrong way again). The maps are not very detailed and the road
signs are not great either.
Anyhow, we meandered our way to the visitor center and
picked up a street map of Taos. Our
first choice of restaurant was out of business.
Sign of the times? We went to the
Gorge Bar & Grill and had a burger.
It was okay, a little overcooked.
It was huge. I cut it in half and
couldn’t even finish that. We checked
out the La Fonda Hotel just for the heck of it.
Nice rooms. Paul thought maybe we
should pack an overnight bag and go up there and spend the night. That would have been a good thing to do today
but I don’t think we’ll go back this trip.
We zoomed though a few stores then walked over to the Kit
Carson Museum. On the way I saw some wall art that reminded me of Connie. She has beautiful alley art in her neighborhood.
The Kit Carson Museum doesn’t look very well
maintained in comparison to the other Museums.
I like the courtyard but landscaping leaves a lot to be desired.
Then we went to Bent Road (Bent as in the former Governor’s
name, not the angle of the street). We
went into the lobby area of the Bent Museum and the man working there gave a
veryyyyyyyyyy longggggggggg history lesson about Governor Bent. I
didn’t think he was going to let us leave.
After weaving in and out of a few more stores we went back to the car
and found our way to the Taos Pueblo. The map showed a hotel on each side of the
street about an inch apart on the map which would be about half a block, with a street to hair-pin-turn on between them.
In reality the hotels are directly across the street from each other and
the road to hair-pin-turn on is about a block north of the hotels, no touristy signs telling you where to turn. Anyhow, this is a great place to
visit if you are ever in the area. It’s in the oldest working pueblo in the United
Stated (as in people still live there like they did hundreds of years ago with
no utilities). They had a tour starting
in 15 minutes so we waited for that to start.
I wondered into the Church. So
beautiful.
A couple of ladies were making a Horno (oven).
We had a nice tour from a young man who was
raised on the Pueblo. I have a lot of pictures from the Pueblo but I'll throw them into a Smilebox when we get home and post it at the end of this blog. Time
to head back after a few wrong turns.
Ei-Yi-Yi, we need to hire a tour guide to find our way around these
towns!
~above - not my photo, snatched it from the web but I think we will see this sometime during our trip.
We stopped at the Fruit Basket,
a road side stand.
They had mostly baskets of apples and lots of dried peppers and various
jams and pickled things. I could have bought some of the jams and pickled veggies
if it was local but I don’t like to deal with packing those for the flight
home. I bought a little bag of dried apricots and dried peaches. So de-lish.
We went back to the resort and watched a little
football. Then we ventured down the
street to the Santa Fe Bar & Grill.
The food was good, the service – not so much. My water arrived with a cocktail again
;~} Raspberry Margarita. Light on the raspberry, heavy on the
tequila.
Today I think we might take the open trolley that goes
around the Plaza and surrounding area pointing out more history. I also want to go to the church with the
mysterious staircase. More on that after
the visit.
BTW Fitbit says over 10,000 steps and walking about 5 miles every day.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Yesterday morning we walked over and had breakfast at Clafoutis, the French
Restaurant/Bakery that I had read several good reviews of. It was excellent. Paul had French Toast like I’ve never seen
before. It was stuffed with all kinds of
fresh fruit: bananas, berries, grapes, melon.
I had
a Croque-Madame (grilled ham and cheese with
béchamel sauce topped with an egg).
I highly recommend it. We
will definitely go back again this week.
Paul said he could eat there every day!
Next time he’ll try a crepe. We
walked down to the Plaza but along the way we found the cooking school I’m
going to Thursday. I had Paul snap
my picture since he won’t be with me Thursday.
It was the late 1800’s when the Chapel was built. The contractors put a ladder to the loft for the choir. The nuns didn’t want to climb the ladder due to their heavy garments so they asked the contractor for a staircase. The contractor said they could put in a staircase but it would cut down on the prayer space. The Sisters didn’t want to give up prayer space. Legend has it the Sisters made a Novena (nine days of prayer) to St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of Carpenters. On the ninth day a man appeared with a toolbox and said he would build the staircase but he had to work alone. They gave him his privacy and when the staircase was completed the carpenter disappeared without being paid. The Sisters wanted to do right by the man so after they looked for the carpenter to no avail they decided at least they could pay for the wood. They went to all the lumber yards in the area but no trace of a purchase of the wood. The Sisters came to the conclusion that their prayers had been answered and the staircase was built by none other than St. Joseph himself.
It is very impressive looking. The staircase has no center or ‘visible’ means of support. It was built without nails, just wooden pegs.
We went into several other
churches. I dabbed a lot of Holy Water, lit
a few candles and said a lot of prayers.
Cathedral Basilica of St.
Francis Assisi (commonly known as St. Francis Cathedral) had another
interesting story. Here’s the short
version (ha) of their funding.
The pastor borrowed money from the Jews to build the Cathedral. He ran out of money and couldn’t repay the loan. He went back asked for more money to finish the Cathedral. When it came time to repay the loan he still had no funds. He went back to the Jews and explained the situation. The Jews gifted the loan. In honor of their generosity there is a triangle in the arch with a Chai (Jewish symbol for life).
My Jewish husband says they must have gotten a tax credit for the gifted money! Bada-Bing!
The pastor borrowed money from the Jews to build the Cathedral. He ran out of money and couldn’t repay the loan. He went back asked for more money to finish the Cathedral. When it came time to repay the loan he still had no funds. He went back to the Jews and explained the situation. The Jews gifted the loan. In honor of their generosity there is a triangle in the arch with a Chai (Jewish symbol for life).
My Jewish husband says they must have gotten a tax credit for the gifted money! Bada-Bing!
BTW
the Cathedral still is not finished to this day. The funding story was told to us by our tour guide who was baptized in that church. The man at the donation box said they had funding from several sources and admitted the Jewish Merchants in the area donated as well.
That's probably enough history for the
day but I have more! After that we wondered around until we found a shuttle stop to go
back to Canyon Road. We walked around the galleries for a while and checked out the menus of a couple of restaurants the tour guide had recommended. They have the most amazing wind sculptures. Image these all spinning at the same
time. It was mystical. If we go back I'll take a video and see if I can figure out how to post it because the still shots do not do them justice. (We didn't go back.) So you think I can get one in my carry-on bag?
We caught the shuttle back to
the Plaza and had dinner at the Bull Ring.
Fabulous. We split a Porter House
and still had leftovers. We took a nice
walk back to the resort. The weather has
been perfect. 60's during the day and
50-ish in the evening. Right now it’s 39°
as I’m enjoying my morning coffee on the balcony (UGGS on and hoodie zipped!).
My Fitbit went bonkers with over
15,000 steps and over 6
miles . I wonder if it thinks I let someone else borrow it for the week. ;~} I received a
text from Fitbit with some kind of award but since it doesn’t involve money or a trophy I
didn’t pay attention.
I also received a text from my dog watcher last night. My munchkins are doing great and she's in love with my Romeo.
No idea what the day will bring but we still have plenty of territory to explore.
Thursday October 31,
2013
Wishing you a Spooky Halloween.
Yesterday started off with a slow and lazy morning. Paul woke up and wasn’t all that energetic and
we didn’t have any plans for the day so no rush.
We left around 11 and walked to the Plaza. The La Fonda has a buffet brunch in their bar
so we decided to try it. The Albondigas Soup was really
good. I could have just had that instead
of the buffet if I had known. The buffet
was nice and also reasonably priced. The
server brought us each a sugar cookie with the bill. Being the sugar whore I am ~ that was a very
nice touch! We walked over to the San
Miguel Church which is the oldest Church in the United States.
"It is said that the bell, cast from the gold and silver jewelry and
household items of Spain’s devout Catholics, had the sweetest peal in all
Christendom. Test it for yourself! There’s a mallet provided for just that
purpose. But be forewarned: legend says that anyone who rings San Miguel’s bell
will always return to Santa Fe”.
I rang the bell. Truth be told I didn't know that was the legend until after I rang it.
I rang the bell. Truth be told I didn't know that was the legend until after I rang it.
Guess I’ll be
going back to Santa Fe someday. After we
were finished there we saw a sign for a Visitor’s Center. First one we had seen in Santa Fe all
week! We went in and gathered some
propaganda. I was pretty tired. I never sleep well but the night before was
pretty bad. I told Paul I wanted to go
back to the resort and take a nap. On
the way back we stopped and looked at the models at a condo complex we’ve been
walking by every day. Every time we go
on vacation Paul wants to move there (with the exception of Virginia Beach, Virginia
last year, he is not a fan of that destination, too crowded). Anyhow, in typical fashion he’d like to
retire near Santa Fe (which has nothing to do with me ringing the bell!). We wouldn’t get a condo but we still wanted
to look at them. They were very nice but
not regular condos, more like an elaborate timeshare that you can stay at
whenever there is availability but not more than 30 days at a time. They are pretty expensive and the HOA fees
are crazy expensive. The salesman said a
lot of doctors from Texas buy them to get out of the heat in July and August
and enjoy the New Mexico Christmas weather.
I think it would be cheaper to rent a place for a month or two. We got back to the room around 2-ish and Paul headed out to the patio
(cigar and beer time) while I hit the pillow. When I woke up
he had fallen asleep on the sofa with my laptop on his chest. I went down to the lobby and got a double
espresso. Love their 24 hour self serve coffee bar. Shortly thereafter it started
raining. Not bad, just a light
drizzle. We decided to stay in and eat
leftovers. Not because of the rain (we
could have driven or take the resort shuttle) but because neither one of us
were really hungry enough to go out.
That being said yesterday was an R&R day, which is what vacation is
supposed to be all about, right? Later
in the evening I bundled up and went back to the lobby to get some chamomile tea
(thank you for the indirect suggestion Anna). The lobby is in the building across from the building we are in. Have I mentioned their
complementary beverage machines? They
have a juice machine with orange, apple and lemonade and a hot beverage machine
that makes espresso, coffee, hot chocolate or tea on demand. They have about eight choices of teas.
Today is my cooking class. I’m really looking forward to
it. I’ll walk there and then met Paul
down at the Plaza after the class. When
I made the reservations several people asked me what Paul was going to do. I found this Husband Daycare bar sign on the
internet:
He’s actually going to go back to the Museum of New Mexico
and go thru the Cowboys Real and Imagined exhibit again to see what he
missed. We’ll meet after my class at the
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. At least that’s
the plan.
Speaking of Georgia O'Keeffe, tomorrow (our last full day here) we plan on going to Abiquiu. That’s where Georgia O’Keeffe’s house and
studio is but the Visitor Center lady said you have to make reservations MONTHS
in advance because they only take up small groups. She said to check to see if
they had any cancellations or no-shows when we arrive. She also said they close around October/November so she’s not sure if it’s even still open.
It would be nice to see but I won’t be disappointed if we can’t
take the tour. There is also a Ghost
Ranch a little north of there so that’s on the to-do list. BTW the Ghost Ranch has a Georgia O'Keeffe Landscape Tour. I'm not sure what that's all about since there are 14 miles between the two locations.
Friday November 1, 2013
Greetings from the sofa this morning. A tad too chilly for me on the balcony today.
I completely lost track of time yesterday morning and all of
a sudden looked at the clock and had to hustle.
I had planned on stopping at Clafoutis for
a croissant but grabbed a banana and ate it while I walked down the street and
around the corner to the Santa Fe Cooking School. I actually got there with a half hour to kill
so I would have had time but I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take me to get there. I mowsied around the store while
waiting and picked out some cooking pottery. The class was New Mexico
Traditional III. The menu was: New Mexican Green Chile Stew, Blue Corn and Green Chile
Muffins, Pinon* Butter, Quesadillas, Salsa Fresca and Natillas. It was Halloween so anything is possible.
The class was fabulous!
We lucked out and our chef/teacher was James Beard Award Winner and Cookbook
author Lois Ellen Frank. She only teaches there once a month.
Her side kick
was Rafael. They did a great job. I sat at a table with a really nice couple
from St. Louis. Chef Lois started off with a little history lesson of herself and the local cuisine. The Green Chili Stew was
amazing. She improvised on the muffin
recipe because she was doubling and Rafael had misread the recipe and tripled
the milk. She added more dry ingredients
but didn’t alter the eggs or butter ratio.
Someone asked if these were her recipes and she said “no, my recipes
work. That’s why I won the James Beard
Award”. She was being funny not
snooty. She subbed pecans* for the
pinons in the butter since pinons are out of season. The quesadillas had chicken, cheese and
chilies with the Salsa Fresca on top with some sour cream. She altered the recipe by adding onions
(sautéed and then tossed with the chicken and spices). There was red cabbage for garnish which she
altered by adding some salt, apple cider vinegar and lime juice (like a slaw). We thought the cabbage could have used a pinch
or two of sugar but everything was amazingly delicious.
The natilla was good. It’s like a pudding. She added some Santa Fe Sweet Spice and
garnished with a couple of thin apple slices. If/when we
return to Santa Fe I would definitely take another cooking class. I bought two
pieces of clay pottery. A 6 quart soup
pot and square baking dish. I also
bought some blue corn flour to make the muffins. I’m going to have a Santa Fe Dinner Party in
a couple of weeks and I’ll be using this menu (except probably not the natilla).
I’ll do something else for dessert. I
liked the natilla but that’s more work than I want take on (for pudding). And of course, I will post the recipes and pictures on my Food Porn Blog after I make them. ETA: Done. Also, ETA: I don't love the clay pottery.
Lois gave us a good tip. She's not a fan of aluminum (cookware or foil) due to research of it's connection to Alzheimer Disease. She said anything you can cook in foil you can cook in nature's alternative: wet corn husk.
Lois gave us a good tip. She's not a fan of aluminum (cookware or foil) due to research of it's connection to Alzheimer Disease. She said anything you can cook in foil you can cook in nature's alternative: wet corn husk.
Okay, class was over, oh look, there’s Paul, shipping order
placed and on our way. He had been at
the New Mexico Museum and still wasn’t finished exploring. He said as soon as he got there a tour was
starting so he joined the tour and wanted to go back and finish the other areas. He really wasn’t interested in going to the
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and I was finished with the New Mexico Museum so he went back to finish the Cowboy exhibit and I went
to Georgia O’Keeffe by myself. It was 1:20
so we decided to meet at the plaza square at 3.
That worked out great because I must say I was really disappointed in the Georgia O’K Museum. When I walked in there weren't any employees at the
desk or the lobby area so I walked into the exhibit area and into the room immediately off the lobby where the video of
Georgia’s life story was playing. This was the best part of the museum (IMO). All of a sudden I
saw a security guard look into the room and walk down the hall. A few minutes later I saw the security guard
and a lady look into the room and then down the hall. I was sure they were looking for 'someone' and I was sitting there thinking “I’m going to
get arrested for not paying and will have no way to let Paul know that I won’t be meeting him
because I’m in jail”. It's not like I snuck in, there was nobody there. As soon as the
video was over I went back to the front desk where the money-taking-lady had
returned and paid the admission fee. Woooo, that was a close call! She said you can take pictures in areas 1 to 3
but not in areas 4 thru 9. So I walked
thru one area into another area and as I took a picture another security man
said “no photos ma’am”. I said “oh, the
lady up front said..” he cut me off and said “you can take photos in areas 1 to
3. You are in area 5". Who knew?
That's my contraband. Not one of her better vagina flowers (hi Julie). I better get out of this place before they kick me out. So, the reason I wasn’t impressed with the
museum was there weren’t many of her famous pieces on display. There was a lot of photography including a
nude of Georgia that her husband (a photographer) had taken. Kind of racy for the times. At lot of the art on display was photography. Now, if you have been to this museum before
and loved the exhibits it was probably different (or we don't have the same taste in art). They rotate the exhibits and actually the tour
lady said that in February they will be bringing in an Andy Warhol exhibit for
about five or six months. Anyhow, I left
there and mowsied thru some stores and looked at the street merchant’s goods
until it was time to meet Paul. Check out this cool dude and I'm pretty sure it wasn't his Halloween costume. Opps, he gave me the side eye.
We went
back to the Thunderbird Bar & Grill for a cocktail. I had the Halloween special cocktail called a candied
apple. It was basically a White Russian
with Apple Liquor. Not bad. We walked back to the resort for a while
before taking the resort shuttle to dinner. They offer a free ‘on-demand’
shuttle service. We went to Osteria
d’Assasi. Our server:
We split a Caesar Salad. I ordered Veal and Mushroom Ravioli and Paul had Osso
Bucco. Both were very good. We split a piece of Lemon Meringue Pie that
could win any pie contest imaginable.
*Oh*So*Good*. I called the resort
and Maria picked us up in a matter of minutes.
When we got back to the resort I went into the lobby to grab a cup of
tea. My pick-of-the-night was Enchanting
Moments, herbal tea with chamomile, hibiscus, peppermint, spearmint, cinnamon
and orange blossoms. Yummmmm.
Today we are changing the plan. We’ll have breakfast at Clafoutis and then head north but instead of the Ghost
Town we’re going to some monument with nature trails. We wanted to get an early start but Sleeping Beauty is still snoozing...
Saturday November 2, 2013
Welcome
to our last day in New Mexico and my last entry from Santa Fe.
Yesterday
we had breakfast at Clafoutis which was fabulous again. I wish I could have brought home some of their beautiful pastries. I had L’assiette Francaise (French
Plate). This is my kind of
breakfast. Ham, prosciutto, salami,
cheeses, salad and a chunk of bread. M-M-Good.
Paul
had a more traditional breakfast of bacon and eggs with a croissant. Then we ventured to the Bandelier
National Monument.
It’s a hike through various
archeological sites along a main trail.
There are petroglyphs and dwellings carved into the rock cliffs. The red circles are people on the trail. Oy!
If there is a ladder you can climb up and peek in.
And me peeking
out a window from inside the remains of a home.
Back to
the resort for an hour or two and then off to our last meal in Santa Fe at
Dinner For Two. This was recommended by
the man working the front desk (Maria has the day off). It’s also in the flyer we received from the
Budget Rental Car dude. I checked my usual*trusty*source
TripAdvisor and it had several great reviews and only a couple of curmudgeons. Sometimes
I think the stinker reviews are their competitors and the raving reviews are the owners so I toss out the best and the worst and take in the rest. We took the resort shuttle there. The place has no curb appeal but inside is a
hidden gem and everything was fabulous.
Our “surprise” from the Budget Rental Car flyer was a complementary Crab
Cake appetizer. So de-lish. They also bake their own bread daily which was
a warm onion loaf with soft butter. Paul ordered French Onion Soup. I had a couple of bites and it was very
flavorful. I had King Clip which is a
fish I have never heard of. The server said it’s a mild firm white fish similar
to sea bass. It was served with Pumpkin
Risotto and a Cranberry Compote. The server
said it was the most flavorful paring on the menu. I don’t normally order fish in a town that’s
landlocked but this place prides itself on serving only the freshest
ingredients and the fish option changes constantly.
Besides, sea bass always reminds me of fishing with my Dear Ole Dad. It was excellent. Isn't it pretty?
Paul
had Veal Picatta which he enjoyed. We
split a Bananas Foster (prepared tableside). Don't try this at home!
After all that food we decided to walk back to the resort instead of calling for the shuttle. I went into the office to get my hot tea and
tip the shuttle driver. I thought we
were going to take the shuttle back so I hadn’t tipped him when he dropped us
off. He was out shuttling other
guests. We went upstairs and I kept checking
the parking area for him to return (we can see the lobby from our balcony). Just
as I was about to give up and put on my PJs he pulled back in so I went back
down. He was all “oh, you don’t have to
do that. Are you sure?” "Yes, I’m
sure." Tipping should be customary for
shuttling people around for free, don’tchathink? We chit chatted for about 30 minutes. He wanted to know what we thought of the
restaurant and what we ordered. Then he
asked me if there was anything during our stay that could have used
improvement. I told him everything was great, the only thing was our unit smelled
like someone had cooked Indian Food in it the entire week before we
arrived. He said I should have let them
know, they could have put in an ozone bomb.
I told him I only notice it when we first walk in but after a little bit
of time we get used to it so it wasn't a big deal.
He made a note of it so they will ozone bomb it after we leave. The entire staff here has been really nice
and I would not hesitate to recommend the place or to stay here again.
This
morning we have to check out at 10. We’re
going to load up the car and walk down to the plaza (parking there sucks) to
see if the little jewelry lady is on the plaza today that had the necklace I
liked. I haven’t seen anything like it
in all our travels. Then we’ll come back
for the car and head to Albuquerque. We’ll
have lunch there and mowsie around Old Town Albuquerque until it’s time to head
to the airport.
Now it’s
time to SF&P (shower, fluff and puff) and then start packing. Blah.
I strongly dislike packing but I’m looking forward to being at home and
seeing my sister and my dogs.
Sunday November 3, 2013
And good morning from Phoenix,
Arizona. Home Sweet Home.
Yesterday morning after we packed
and loaded the car we went down to the Plaza and the jewelry lady wasn’t
there. Paul felt bad but I told him not big deal. He said we were
going to take a detour to Albuquerque and go thru the Turquoise Trail. There are some trading posts and shopping
areas along the way. We stopped at the
Cerrillos Ghost Town. The yellow plaque on the wall
says “The Palace Hotel”.
We had lunch at the Mine
Shaft. Paul got a big ole burger and I
was debating between a buffalo burger or a cobb salad. I decided on the salad which was nice and fresh and really good.
We left there and went to Old Town Albuquerque to kill some time before heading
to the airport. We went into the San
Felipe De Neri Church, built in 1706. An
elderly lady in a wheel chair was coming in as we were going out. She smiled, pointed at my necklace and then put her had over hear heart and said “Santa
Domingo”. Interesting. We went into another store where
I found some little turquoise studs I liked.
When I went to pay for them the sales lady said “that’s a beautiful
necklace. Santa Domingo”. I said “emmm, I don’t know”. She said “yes, that’s turquoise from the Santa
Domingo Pueblo, very old and very fine.” I
guess it must be Santa Domingo! Hi-Ho,
Hi-Ho, its back to the airport we go.
The airport was very quiet. There
was only one person in front of us checking baggage. There was nobody in front of us going through
security. Our flight left about 15
minutes late. By the time we walked thru
the airport and got our bags my sister had been waiting for about 30
minutes. Sorry Sissy.
Overall I rate this trip high on
the vacay scale. The traffic wasn’t bad,
we only went through one small section of road construction; our accommodations
were great; the food was delicious and not overpriced as you would except in such a
touristy area and there was plenty to do.
That being said *there’s no place like home*.
As I said before I’ll put more
pictures into a Smilebox sometime this week.
I know - who wants to look at
someone else’s vacation photos. I
promise there are many beautiful churches and pueblos and ruins and even a
tarantula!
BTW I was shocked to see the scale this morning. Maintenance Baby! All that food and alcohol must have been balanced out by the 90,000 steps and million miles we walked (okay closer to 40 miles but it felt like a million). Actually of all the food, I ate about half of all my meals. Except for dessert. I always finish the dessert! At least we split them so there’s that.
Until next time...
BTW I was shocked to see the scale this morning. Maintenance Baby! All that food and alcohol must have been balanced out by the 90,000 steps and million miles we walked (okay closer to 40 miles but it felt like a million). Actually of all the food, I ate about half of all my meals. Except for dessert. I always finish the dessert! At least we split them so there’s that.
Until next time...
