Santa Fe All Day

4/30/10 - Santa Fe:  At the first sound of meadowlarks, thrushes and house finches, my eyes fly open.  Ugh, 5:30 a.m.  I try to sleep in a little further since I see no light out, but it doesn't work.  I'm awake.  Might as well get the day started.

We're staying in a 100-year-old house with four apartments in it originally built for officers at the nearby fort.  These "casitas" are quaint and funky with plenty of room and a no-fuss rental policy.  Managed by Casa del Toro, they also provide an excellent and interesting homemade breakfast in the main home that serves as office and dining room.  We're only two flat blocks from the plaza, which is the best deal going for anyone who wants to stay in a home-like atmosphere near the center of town.

Time to explore again, so we set off to see the Virgin of Guadalupe Santuario, which is the oldest shrine to Our Lady in the entire country.  It was burned badly in about 1922 and was rebuilt.  A tiny museum just to the left of the altar area depicts the sanctuary in its various iterations through the years.  It's plain and simple and lovely in its way, with creaking old floorboards in the main structure.

A few blocks away is a legendary wooden staircase at the Loretto Chapel.  The staircase goes in two complete 360-degree spirals, is built entirely of beautiful varnished wood without the use of any nails.  Originally, it had no bannister and looked like the stairway to heaven, connecting the main floor to the choir loft.  A mysterious anonymous carpenter built the structure very quickly, according to legend, and then dispappeared. This, after much praying for help to build a staircase by the mother superior of the Order of Loretto.  It's beautiful and mystifies engineers and woodworkers alike as it is capable of holding a full choir of nuns -- There's a photograph in the gift shop to prove it.  We take a few zillion photos and browse the large gift shop.

It's cold outside and a brisk wind is gusting now and again.  A man selling woolen scarves and pashminas is doing a brisk business outside.  $13 and your neck is happy again, wrapped in soft wool.

We browse more small shops and buy some souvenirs and gifts.  Santa Fe is a very easy walking town, and it looks a rustic yet sturdy combination of cowboy western and adobe pueblo.  Riestras - huge bundles of dried red chili peppers hang from worn exposed beams of pine jutting from the building's brown plaster fronts.  The city is celebrating 400 years of history this very year.  It shines and twinkles when the sun comes out, but most of the time we are peppered with small "corn" snow that bounces off our jackets.  I feel like I'm in a big southwestern snow globe, very glad I have brought clothes I can layer to stay warm.  For once I packed really well and feel comfortable until the wind chills my face to a standstill.

As we're walking up and down the streets, The Monroe Gallery - one of many hundreds of galleries in the city - boasts a huge collection of very significant journalistic black and white photographs, many taken during the 60s for Life Magazine by Steve Shapiro.  It seems Mr. Shapiro was at virutally every single important moment back then.  We take some time to savor the images and appreciate the amount of history represented in them.

The Monroe has whetted our appetite for another gallery, one of the stars in the firmament of arts presentations available in the city:  The Georgia O'Keefe Gallery.  It is relatively small but displays a representation of the works of the artist throughout her life span of 99 years.  Three short films showing her life, philosophy and approach to her work are excellent and inspiring; you are invited to form your own opinions about her artistic statements and abstractions of her beloved New Mexico highlands.

Since the day is so cold, the gallery has attracted a healthy number of museum goers, and we are grateful as well to be in out of the wintry air, but we decide to leave after a good look at the collection so we can have lunch.

Right next door is the luscious and very sophisticated-looking O'Keefe Cafe where we have a roasted eggplant sandwich with a cup of creamy lentil soup.  We sigh and look around for St. Peter because we know we are in heaven.  It's top-quality food, robust and flavorful, layered southwestern zinginess combined with French classic recipes.

After a stop back at our funky casita right around the corner, off we walk to see the State Capitol building across town, a building shaped like the Navajo Sun symbol, much different in appearance than other capitol buildings I've seen in other states.  A short avenue leading to the building is lined with flowering mock pears and other spring blooms, very pretty in contrast to the official-looking cement and plaster buildings nearby.  Inside the atrium of the main building is an exhibit paying tribute to African-American people of note who have lived in New Mexico.  We learn about Esteban the Black who was one of the pre-eminent explorers, trackers and interpreters in the whole country, especially the southwest.  I'll bet you've never heard of him in your "accurate" history books, have you?  Neither had I.

Beyond the center of the state's government is a famous part of Santa Fe called Canyon Road, a long narrow winding road lined with galleries of all kinds, sculpture gardens and a few cafes sprinkled among the galleries.  Probably someone has counted all the places to buy art along the road, but I never saw the end of them.  It's fascinating to imagine all the creativity gathered into such a concentration - where do you start?  We walked about a mile along the road with one stop at Les Artistes, a tiny cafe boasting espresso, cappucino and tea.  Refreshed by a short stop there served by a friendly and amusing Frenchman, we find our way to the Santa Fe River and walk back to town along its rushing stream.

Back in the Plaza, we see that The Food Channel is in the middle of producing a new reality show for TV starring Tyler Florence in which it appears that five teams of contestants who happen to own speciality food trucks (aka "roach coaches) are competing for title of, well, they wouldn't tell us, but it's coming up this summer or fall probably.  Camera booms, sound guys, Tyler himself and a few dozen contestants cheering and yelling on cue were all busy making TV real.  Or reality into TV.  Something like that.

After all that walking, we need to take a real break and go to the Plaza Cafe, a well-established eatery that is both charmingly old fashioned, dating back to 1905, and so tasty that we forget all about everything except what is set before us.  Which is posole with pork, green chile and sopapillas on the side.  Good lord, it is so good.  One insanely good meal after another; you're right.  I begin to sing an aria, but stop myself just in time.  I am so hooked on green chile sauce now it's ridiculous.  I think it's the cold and the snow that put me in a mood to savor hearty food with tons of flavor.  I wonder how I've lived all this time without it.

Not to waste any opportunity to see a world-class museum for free, we take advantage of Free Friday and walk two blocks over to see the New Mexico History Museum, a new jewel in the crown of Santa Fe's array of museums and galleries.  It's state of the art and depicts the history of the state, a span of a few millenia including the ancient ancestors to modern-day Indians.

My feet are really barking at me now, so we stumble back to the casita.  Just as we arrive, one final show blazes across the western sky, a stupendous sunset with roiling and dramatic clouds and rays of light shooting across the universe.  A fluting wood thrush serenades me as I snap photos, just like he had at dawn this morning.  What a day; I am enchanted by New Mexico in all its changing glory, but I am really, really tired.  No complaints at all, not one.