We got up Thursday, and availed ourselves of a fine continental breakfast. The Sage Inn has a very high-end continental breakfast, with everything but meat, and really great donuts. We set out on a walking tour of what we thought was something about trains—the new Railroad Park across the street. Turns out, the park was unfinished, and had nothing to do with trains, and a lot to do with art galleries. Walking, it seemed was not my strong suit that morning. I struggled back to the motel and had to resort to some chemical moderation for my limbs. Jerry suggested since the traffic seemed light we’d just take the car and park downtown. We loaded ourselves up, and headed for the center of Santa Fe. The first stop on our tour was Lortetto Chapel to see the Miraculous Stairway. (as seen on Unsolved Mysteries) Jerry dropped us off and went to park the car around the corner.
The Lortetto Chapel was built in 1873. You can look up the legend of the Chapel on the internet, but to make it brief: Legend has it the Miraculous Stairway to the choir loft in the chapel was built by a carpenter named Joseph using nothing but a T-square, a hammer, a saw, and tubs to soak the wood. After constructing the stairway he disappeared without seeking payment. No records have ever been found for the purchase of the materials used. Many believe the man to be an embodiment of St. Joseph the Carpenter. It was a very cool and beautiful place.
We left the chapel and by that time my chemical “help” had made walking OK again. We walked over a couple of blocks, and ended up in the city’s main square. On the way we passed a food stand that had a sign proclaiming it had been judged #1 in Santa Fe street food in 2008 serving Carnitas. We made a note to come back to it for lunch. On the right side of the square runs the Old Santa Fe Trail, which we found out started in St. Louis. It also was part of historic Rt. 66 back in the late 30’s. I walked across it and stood on the corner of Old Santa Fe and Palace Ave. Palace Ave is named for what is called The Palace of the Governors and is located on the bottom side of the square. The Palace was built in 1610 and is the oldest public building in America. It was used to house the ruling class in the early years and is now a museum.
We walked down the street beside the Palace (after going in the gift shop and getting some postcards) and came upon a hitching post in the street. The inscription on the plaque below it read: “The Roadrunner Cowbelles dedicated this hitching post at the end of the trail to American cattlemen and their horses for their glorious role in winning the West. 1776 to 1976.” Also across the street was the Inn of the Anasazi, which Jerry told me, was a tribe of Indians that disappeared. About this time we ended up back at the Plaza, and it was around lunchtime. We headed back to the street cart we had seen and ordered up four Carnitas from Roque’s. They were served by a great old man (probably Roque) who said he drove Rt. 66 in 46 in a 41 Ford. The Carnitas are marinated strips of beef, grilled along with onions and chili peppers wrapped in a flour tortilla, topped with Pico de Gallo. They were messy, hot, and wonderful.
After lunch, we headed back to the car, via many street vendors. While Vickie was talking to a guy about chili peppers, I spotted a very unusual turquoise and stone neck pendant with multiple leather straps. The price was reasonable, so I bought it for her. Then later Vickie bought an Indian cedar flute. After she bought the flute and tried playing it, Brenda asked the vendor guy how much for a knife in case she needed to slit her own throat. He said $20.
We retrieved the car from the municipal parking, and Jerry told me about a great system they had. When you park the car, the guy asks you how long you are going to be there. When you tell him, he looks up how much that will be on the card he gives you and that’s what you pay. Jerry asked him what to do if we stayed longer, and he said just come and tell him and pay the rest, sort of an honor system parking—highly unusual in this day in time.
We went back to the Inn and cleaned up a little, then decided to head out for an adventure afternoon. We took Brenda to a jewelry supply place she wanted to visit, and while she was inside, Jerry and I, sitting under a great shade tree, found this cool mountain loop on the GPS. When Brenda was done, we headed out for the scenic ride. The road wound its way up the mountain, from the Santa Fe elevation of 6400 feet to a termination of 10400 at the Santa Fe Ski Area. We didn’t realize it, but we are here at the peak time for New Mexico’s leaves. The mountains here are covered with Aspen trees, which at this time of the year are bright yellow. The mountainsides were painted with yellow and everywhere you looked artists were sitting and capturing the beauty. It was very cool and quite different than last fall when Vickie and I were in New England in the fall. Here it is green and yellow and there it was multicolored. Two very different scenes, both breathtaking.
When we arrived at the mountaintop, we found the ski area and a lot going on. They had one of the lifts running, and folks were riding it up another 1000 feet or so to the top of the summit. We decided we were not really dressed for the ride since we were already cold at the bottom, and the wind was blowing quite hard. (oh and we passed snow on the side of the road coming up) While we were walking out leaving, I noticed 12” or so of snow on the porch of the skiing day care center. I got up there and Vickie took my picture. I also made a snowball and threw it at the car when we got back to the parking lot. An interesting thing about being at 10400 feet for 30 minutes or so---we were struggling to breathe. The air is really thinner up that high, but it makes the sky really blue.
After our time at the top, we headed back down the mountain and back to the Inn. The girls asked us to stop by a local produce store they had seen down the street on the way back. The quality, price, and assortment of fruit and vegetables were unbelievable. In addition they had an old Mexican man outside custom roasting 25# burlap bags of chili peppers. He dumped them into a round wire basket thing with a motor to rotate it. On the back were four or five huge gas burners, and it literally charred the skin right off the peppers. They had pallets of different “heats” of peppers, and they were selling rapidly. Later we went out to Maria’s and had some great Mexican food (who would have thought it in Santa Fe) and then back to the room to rest up for the trip to Ruidoso tomorrow.
More later,
The Lortetto Chapel was built in 1873. You can look up the legend of the Chapel on the internet, but to make it brief: Legend has it the Miraculous Stairway to the choir loft in the chapel was built by a carpenter named Joseph using nothing but a T-square, a hammer, a saw, and tubs to soak the wood. After constructing the stairway he disappeared without seeking payment. No records have ever been found for the purchase of the materials used. Many believe the man to be an embodiment of St. Joseph the Carpenter. It was a very cool and beautiful place.
We left the chapel and by that time my chemical “help” had made walking OK again. We walked over a couple of blocks, and ended up in the city’s main square. On the way we passed a food stand that had a sign proclaiming it had been judged #1 in Santa Fe street food in 2008 serving Carnitas. We made a note to come back to it for lunch. On the right side of the square runs the Old Santa Fe Trail, which we found out started in St. Louis. It also was part of historic Rt. 66 back in the late 30’s. I walked across it and stood on the corner of Old Santa Fe and Palace Ave. Palace Ave is named for what is called The Palace of the Governors and is located on the bottom side of the square. The Palace was built in 1610 and is the oldest public building in America. It was used to house the ruling class in the early years and is now a museum.
We walked down the street beside the Palace (after going in the gift shop and getting some postcards) and came upon a hitching post in the street. The inscription on the plaque below it read: “The Roadrunner Cowbelles dedicated this hitching post at the end of the trail to American cattlemen and their horses for their glorious role in winning the West. 1776 to 1976.” Also across the street was the Inn of the Anasazi, which Jerry told me, was a tribe of Indians that disappeared. About this time we ended up back at the Plaza, and it was around lunchtime. We headed back to the street cart we had seen and ordered up four Carnitas from Roque’s. They were served by a great old man (probably Roque) who said he drove Rt. 66 in 46 in a 41 Ford. The Carnitas are marinated strips of beef, grilled along with onions and chili peppers wrapped in a flour tortilla, topped with Pico de Gallo. They were messy, hot, and wonderful.
After lunch, we headed back to the car, via many street vendors. While Vickie was talking to a guy about chili peppers, I spotted a very unusual turquoise and stone neck pendant with multiple leather straps. The price was reasonable, so I bought it for her. Then later Vickie bought an Indian cedar flute. After she bought the flute and tried playing it, Brenda asked the vendor guy how much for a knife in case she needed to slit her own throat. He said $20.
We retrieved the car from the municipal parking, and Jerry told me about a great system they had. When you park the car, the guy asks you how long you are going to be there. When you tell him, he looks up how much that will be on the card he gives you and that’s what you pay. Jerry asked him what to do if we stayed longer, and he said just come and tell him and pay the rest, sort of an honor system parking—highly unusual in this day in time.
We went back to the Inn and cleaned up a little, then decided to head out for an adventure afternoon. We took Brenda to a jewelry supply place she wanted to visit, and while she was inside, Jerry and I, sitting under a great shade tree, found this cool mountain loop on the GPS. When Brenda was done, we headed out for the scenic ride. The road wound its way up the mountain, from the Santa Fe elevation of 6400 feet to a termination of 10400 at the Santa Fe Ski Area. We didn’t realize it, but we are here at the peak time for New Mexico’s leaves. The mountains here are covered with Aspen trees, which at this time of the year are bright yellow. The mountainsides were painted with yellow and everywhere you looked artists were sitting and capturing the beauty. It was very cool and quite different than last fall when Vickie and I were in New England in the fall. Here it is green and yellow and there it was multicolored. Two very different scenes, both breathtaking.
When we arrived at the mountaintop, we found the ski area and a lot going on. They had one of the lifts running, and folks were riding it up another 1000 feet or so to the top of the summit. We decided we were not really dressed for the ride since we were already cold at the bottom, and the wind was blowing quite hard. (oh and we passed snow on the side of the road coming up) While we were walking out leaving, I noticed 12” or so of snow on the porch of the skiing day care center. I got up there and Vickie took my picture. I also made a snowball and threw it at the car when we got back to the parking lot. An interesting thing about being at 10400 feet for 30 minutes or so---we were struggling to breathe. The air is really thinner up that high, but it makes the sky really blue.
After our time at the top, we headed back down the mountain and back to the Inn. The girls asked us to stop by a local produce store they had seen down the street on the way back. The quality, price, and assortment of fruit and vegetables were unbelievable. In addition they had an old Mexican man outside custom roasting 25# burlap bags of chili peppers. He dumped them into a round wire basket thing with a motor to rotate it. On the back were four or five huge gas burners, and it literally charred the skin right off the peppers. They had pallets of different “heats” of peppers, and they were selling rapidly. Later we went out to Maria’s and had some great Mexican food (who would have thought it in Santa Fe) and then back to the room to rest up for the trip to Ruidoso tomorrow.
More later,
Wes
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