BeachGirl247

As far as I know Sup has not closed unless it's happened in the last couple of weeks. They have just opened another location at the hospital as they are very popular. If you went on a Sunday they are closed. Yikes! I like that place so I hope all is well with them.

I hear you on Maria's -- they are known for their 200+ margaritas. And, yes, they are also known for how potent they are. I can barely have one of them -- they are too much for me and I like margaritas! Food is just ok and isn't anything that I want to go back for. My favorite margarita is the Don de Oro at The Shed. There is one that is made with St. Germaine called St. Rita that is pretty darn good, too.

If it's a pretty day you can try dining outdoors at Gabriel's. It's just north of Santa Fe by 10 minutes or so. Their outdoor patio has a great view of the ski mountain. Mexican fare and made-to-order guacamole made table side. It's by Camel Rock if you are familiar with that landmark.

BeachGirl247

I'm asking around about SUP -- that bugs me that they may have closed (any why since they were so busy!) Santa Fe is a quirky place.

In the meantime, try Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen (1512 Pacheco). Geared towards vegetarian serving fresh ingredients. We haven't tried it yet but our neighbors love it. Very SoHo they say.

annetti

HelloBG1247: Thanks for scouting around abt SUP - with this new warm weather system coming through, a nice hot bowl of soup may not be so inviting as it was last week.

Today, another drive -- this time out to Ghost Ranch. Yesterday's museum's docent recommended the drive; she declared a house tour unnecessary and since neither of us are big GO'K afficianados, we decided that was probably good advice, though I suppose I will hear different thoughts from Fodorites who have been there.

The ride proved longer than the hr our GPS indicated; there was road work, and we traveled through several small towns with 40mph speed limits. We passed numerous Indian casinos along the way. Occasional rural homes/trailers appeared in disarray with car parts and various unattractive motors in their front yards, although this was not often directly visible from the rd.

However, the ride is lovely, the colors on the nearby mountains change as you drive and as we approached Ghost Ranch, the nearby cliffs were bright red contrasted with green shrubbery. I believe the hills are greener now than they were a wk ago. At times the multilayers of orange, red, purple, green also reminded me of drives near the Grand Canyon.

At a roadside picnic table we took several pictures of the Pedernal, the famous mesa that Georgia O'Keffee painted numerous times.

We stopped in the small village of Aibiquiu and walked inside the tiny church. There were no paved roads in the village. We walked inside at what first appeared a store front for a used bookstore. This turned out to be the village library.We spent a few moments talking with the librarians at this tiny library. How it survives is a mystery. It is not part of a larger system according to the librarian. There were people using the small computer room. We left a small donation.

I can't say it was our best excursion outside SF, but the occasional colors of the mountains did redeem it at times.
And it was an absolutely beautiful day, with blue skies filling the horizon, a sight we seldom see at home.

BeachGirl247

I'm glad you made it to Abiquiu and sorry it wasn't a great outing. We like to drive up early and hike the trails at Ghost Ranch before it gets too hot. The colors at sunset are incredible on the colored rocks. Were you greeted by the resident donkeys? They are quite friendly.

Where's your next drive? Have you driven to Jemez Springs yet?

annetti

Today was a very pleasant day; the weather was warm and the breezes soft. We had anticipated rain so we had set aside today to return to The Museum of International Folk Art, otherwise I imagine we would have been on the road.

Typically, we arrive late, that is past 1:00, but not too late to attach ourselves to another docent tour. Every docent apparently chooses to concentrate on what interests him or her, so though we repeated the Sunday tour in principle, its focus was different, added to the element of different people asking different questions. The guide seemed to enjoy her tour a great deal and she extended it over the alloted two hours to include the wing with Hispanic food and the discussion of chocolate.

Past 3:00, we stopped at the cafe in the Milner's Plaza, in its pretty location overlooking the city. Lunch was museum fare, but pleasant and a nice break before we returned to the museum. I particularly enjoyed the (overlooked, I imagine) Amish quilts, but everything in the musuem is top-quality and worthy of your time. Even the gift shop is fun to spend a half hour or so.

We drove down Canyon Avenue (not very far away) to see the Criso de Rey church, but it was roped off.

An another trip to TJ's (the crowds always amaze me) and then home to a very relaxed and late dinner.

BG, I don't know if we'll make it to Jemez Springs, but Taos is waiting in the wings and a few other side trips should the weather cooperate. Also, there are one or two more museums I want to visit.

BeachGirl247

I'm enjoying reading your daily journal -- you are seeing so much at a leisurely pace. The best!

I came across an article today with lots of vegan restaurant choices that you may find helpful:

http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/ar...5-feed-me.html

annetti

Thanks, Beachgirl. Some of the vegan places look interesting.

The forecast was for rain and I know, Lee Ann,you said just wait and the weather will change, but old habits die hard. So another long excursion was postponed.

One of our guide books suggested Tesuque as a short excursion. It writes something to the effect, that it is "one of the loveliest small towns near Santa Fe." Apparently, a lot of artists have settled there, and the Village Market sounded like a funky place to have lunch.

It is pretty, lots of unexpected greenery, maybe 20 minutes from Santa Fe, not that our GPS had any knowledge that Tesuque existed. We finally pulled into a Starbucks where a local directed us. Pretty, yes, interesting not especially and food-wise, may be fine, but the place did not appeal, maybe just not hungry enough.

So we drove back to town, out of ideas and ate at Cloufoutis, a French bakery/small cafe, which was okay, but I liked it better the first day, maybe bec we didn't buy pastries this time round.

One of the museum docents, a couple days back, suggested we visit the New Mexico Capitol Bldg, lots of nice art and a pleasant place to wander. It was now close to three, so it seemed a good way to spend the late afternoon. Everyone we asked as we walked toward the Capitol bldg,said, "only 10 minutes away," but, after being told three times that we were only 10 minutes away; we found it, also saw a part of town we had not visited before. Noticed lots of hotels near the Capitol. It seems a popular place to walk around with a map in your hand and a camera around your neck.

You can register in advance to take a guided tour of the Capitol Bldg(we had not), otherwise it is self-guided for three floors. (All Free) There are paintings everywhere, some very good, some mediocre, and some you imagine the painters must be the friend of someone in influential places. Seriously, though the very mediocre ptgs are not frequent. We sat down for while in one of the chambers and watched democracy in progress while a number of congress people debated horse racing's future in NM.

The Capitol closes at 6:00 pm, and we made our way through relatively desolate streets, overcast, cool weather, and skies threatening rain. SF seems to close up early, maybe just taking a break before evening sets in? Lately, we have noticed more than a few homeless people on the streets, though nowhere does it compare with what we saw in Victoria, BC a few yrs back.

ElendilPickle

If you're up for another visit to Tesuque on a Saturday, go to Shidoni Foundry and watch them pour bronze. http://www.shidoni.com/html/home.asp Their gallery and sculpture garden is interesting, and there is a glass blowing workshop and gallery right next door. We've been there a couple of times and always find it interesting.

Lee Ann

annetti

It looks like I have gotten a bit behind in my posting. I was using my Home Exchangers' computer and when I readjusted the monitor, I lost access. I did not, rather could not post on our tablet, so posting ended for a while. I will try to catch up, but the last few days feel like a blurr.

annetti

Our home exchangers had an unexpected change in their plans, so we ended our stay in Santa Fe on Sunday not making the three week claim in my title, about 17 days in all.

On Friday, we drove to Taos, made it half-way when I realized, I did not have my handbag, so we returned. (yes, it seems crazy to turn back, but let's just say, I needed some of those items and did not want to travel without them!) It was too bad, we had gotten off to an early start for once.

We returned to town and decided to try one of the vegetarian restaurants that BeachGirl had found for us above:

Annapurna's
1620 St Michaels Dr
www.chaishoppe.com

We had read various reviews before we tried it, a couple people noted that the staff was unfriendly and the food, so, so, but when I telephoned for more information, they seemed friendly enough. The prices average around $10-11 and the food was quite good, surprisingly not very hot (in the spicy sense) more like Indian food we had in France or more recently in Toronto, which pleased my husband. The place was fairly crowded at 1:00 PM. Ambiance pleasant, but not gorgeous. There are two locations in ABQ. Sorry, we waited so long to try it, since as it turned out, our trip was almost over. And we would have returned had we more time.

annetti

The weather as I recall was beautiful; we decided we would give Canyon Drive another chance. I can't say, I really like the galleries, though having entered only a few, it is probably not a fair statement, though I did enjoy seeing the sculpture and flowers as we wandered the street. I saw very few paintings that really caught my eye, hardly worth the enormous prices, but again I only entered a few galleries. There is something off-putting about the galleries, a bit pretentious, sort of reminds me of La Cienega in LA. I'm sorry to offend anyone, but I just did not enjoy them: I saw little that I would call original or interesting. And I love looking at paintings.

Friday, we made a second stab for Taos, had an early start, took the high road, recommended by our Home Exchangers. I wanted to see the weaving and especially the wood workers. Only one weaver was open and when we entered his shop, he was busy with a client. We wandered around a bit, saw one absolutely lovely rug ($50,000!) browsed at bit more, and left. The wood workers were all closed. Perhpas, summer or at least the weekend is the best time to visit.

We wandered around Taos; N wanted to see the Kit Carson house. We went shopping for a friend (had a picture of the requested item) and just meandered. The town appeared to have sprawled, but one's memories or at least mine always contradict what I remember and what I see. I'm not sure it was worth the drive at least not for us.

annetti

Since our plans were to leave the following day,Sunday we packed early, did some rudimentary cleaning and then walked over
to the New Mexico Museum of Art housed in a lovely Adobe building. Admission is $9.00.

We arrived in time for a docent tour. We spent a good twenty minutes in the church-like auditorium hearing a history of the 1920 building, though built as a museum, the NMMoA often confuses you. It looks like a church with its interior courtyard, almost cloister-like and the stained glass windows. In some ways it reminds me of the early California missions.

After the docent tour of the permanent collection, we saw a wonderful photographic exhibit on Shiprock and St. Michael, interesting juxtaposing the two places. I'm glad we made time for the museum before we left SF.

annetti

Briefly, we cleaned Sunday morning, Both sides of the exchange had agreed in advance not to do any serious cleaning, just general straightening, empty dishwasher, etc and strip the beds.

We packed our car and started the long drive home. There were a lot more trucks and trailers on the road than I remembered coming up, but by 6:00 or so we arrived at La Posada where we spent the night. In retrospect, we probably should have driven further the first day, since the second day's drive seemed interminable, but we were home yesterday evening around 8:30pm. And very happy to be out of the car. As you turn the key in the front door lock, fear overtakes you that there will be a big stain on the hardwood floor or some such thing, but other than our house was a bit dustier that when we left home, all was in order.

Some observations to follow later. . .

annetti

Some minor observations and conclusions in no particular order:

Santa Fe proved an interesting exchange for us, far enough away to feel we traveled far from home and close enough to make it inexpensive and avoid jet lag. We had been to SF, over 30 yrs ago, but somehow our memories did not coincide with what we saw in the last few weeks.

We enjoyed the Southwest history, great museums, good restaurants, (I like the New Mexico Mexican tastes), beautiful scenery, great side trips, Native American culture, interesting architecture and landscaping, gracious people, and no overkill in the galleries or shops.

I was surprised by the huge number of retirees everywhere, not only tourists, but people who had transplanted themselves. One of our docents was a San Francisco native who had moved to SF five yrs ago.

The air felt clean and it was wonderful to see wide blue horizons on our excursions.

Prices appeared cheaper than So California; certainly we never would have been able to visit a city museum for $9. We had the good fortune to pick up some wonderful docent tours.

Restaurants were not exorbitant, but then we tend to stay away from the upscale places. We loved the humble Bumblebee, close to our exchange which had a nice vegan menu and catered to our eating schedules, meaning it did not close at 2 pm until 5pm.

We were exceedingly lucky in our exchange, less than 5 blocks to the Central plaza, yet away from the tourist hubbub. Our exchangers were wonderfully accommodating and wrote us a pleasant thank you note.

I usually end my journal-like trip report saying, how lucky we were to visit such and such a place, and this was no exception. Santa Fe was a terrific exchange for us and again I remark we were fortunate to spend almost 3 wks in such a wonderful place.

Thanks, everyone for all the help provided along the way. I'm sorry we never had a chance to meet some of these helpful Fodorites. Good traveling to all! Annetti

BeachGirl247

I enjoyed reading your notes along your 3-week visit to Santa Fe. You saw so much!

You are correct about the air quality in Santa Fe. American Lung Association just rated
Santa Fe in the cleanest cities rating:
#1 in Ozone Pollution
#2 in Year-Round Particle Pollution

I like Bumble Bee's, too. (And, if you go between 2-5 you get a discount for "happy hour" dining time. Nothing fancy but it's pretty good and affordable, too.)

I'm glad you had such a wonderful visit to one of my favorite places. I hope you return again soon.

annetti

Thanks, Beachgirl for plodding through my journal. Bumble Bee was even more attractive during its "happy hour!" Interesting pollution fact: I guess it was not my imagination that the air appeared so clean.