small things...

And finally…Santa Fe

Day 3 started off with a whimper.  Neither of us had slept very well despite the super comfy beds.  We staggered down to our hotel’s continental breakfast and were welcomed by a pretty decent spread with eggs, sausage, pastries, cereals, fruit etc… and again the super nice people.  We stocked up on coffee and water – both now feeling the altitude a bit.  (Santa Fe is at about 7000 feet).  The plan for the day was all museums and the Plaza.

It was a sunny morning and about a 5 minute walk from our hotel to our first stop – The Georgia O’Keefe Museum.  The plan was to head first for the furthest point on our map and then meander our way back to the hotel all day.  On our way to the museum we passed the spot where Native American artisans set up their wares to sell all day.  It’s a great place to find turquiose and other stones as well as Native American folk art and the like.  I’m not the type of shopper who can spend any amount of time pondering my options.  If I see something that catches my eye and the price is right – I buy it.  And then I’m done.  I rarely look again or look at anything else.  I’m the same at restaurants.  As soon as I spy something on the menu that looks like what I want to eat, the menu closes.  Anyhow – that’s what happened here.  I spied a really lovely piece of cerulean- colored stone hanging from a silver chain. 

Looks a lot like this…

(source)

The Georgia O’Keefe is not a complete collection of her work as I’m the main art museum in your town has a piece or two in it’s collection, but it is dedicated to her and includes a bit of her history etc…I found really interesting.  Like did you know that she was initially really upset that people interpreted the imagery created by some of her most famous flower paintings as sexual?  Not her intention apparently.  She got the reputation for being a bit of a sensual sexpot because her husband (Alfred Steiglitz) took a bunch of nude photos of her and displayed them in a show.  Who knew.

We hit 2 more museums before stopping for lunch:

• New Mexico Museum of Arts
• Palace of the Governors

Lunch was at a restaurant I’d seen on many “Must do” lists about Santa Fe.  The Shed.  Tucked back in a courtyard behind a line of shops, it was clear lots of other folks had seen the same “must do” lists I’d seen.  We had about a 25 minute wait before being seated.  The food was good – simply prepared and freshly made.  But the most striking thing about The Shed was that the waitstaff was ridiculously good looking.  At least our waiter.  He looked like Paul Rudd’s handsomer younger brother.  blush-worthy.

After lunch we hit two more spots before heading back to the hotel for a rest

• The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
• Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

   

I took a nap after lunch and Beth did a bit more shopping.  We met for a drink at The Coyote Café in hopes we’d be able sit on their outdoor deck.  No such luck.  However – if you go try to get a table.  It has a great view of The Plaza.  We decided on Italian for dinner and found ourselves at Osteria D’Assisi a great little restaurant. 

Here is something you should know about Santa Fe.  Evereything closes early.  We were walking back to our hotel not much after 8pm (if that) and the streets were empty.  Our hotel staff said the Santa Fe way is “Open late/Close early”.  They ain’t lying.

Our last day in Santa Fe consisted of a lot of walking and art appreciation.  So much so that I gave up on the art after lunch in favor of reading a book and resting my tired dogs on our balcony.  Our first stop was the Artisan market by the railyard.  We are expecting more Native American artists, but instead found a rather run of the mill art fair.  Not worth the trek.  The views were nice though.

 

We made one last sightseeing stop before heading back towards are hotel and Canyon Road – The Loretto Chapel – home of the mysterious stairway.

What is so mysterious you ask?  Well it was built without center support and was built by a mysterious carpenter who asked for no money and left without telling anyone his name.  Architects and engineers alike cannot figure out how the staircase is able to function without collapse with no center support. (It was totally Jesus, right??)

Canyon Road is a two mile stretch lined with high end Art Galleries.  By the time we reached Canyon Road I was hungry, tired and starting to lose interest in the arts as a whole.  Sorry, Arts.  At the top of the hill we found a funky place for lunch featuring a rotating, somewhat confused/confusing waitstaff system and lavender lemonade.  the food was delish.  The Teahouse.  If you like tea they have a tea menu that looks like a small novella. 

Our last night we tried to witness the famous sunset from yet another rooftop- The Rooftop Pizzeria.  Alas, the clouds thwarted our plans.  But the food was great and we had a funny run-in on the elevator with a heavily jeweled dude who was all disgusted by the number of elevators in Santa Fe.  He was over it.

The next morning we made a relatively easy drive back to the airport and I had a super easy flight home.  Beth was waylaid in Denver for 8 hours which is a nightmare, though I think you can get a massage in that airport.  I don’t actually know what Beth did all that time...

Verdict: New Mexico has the nicest people on the planet, good food and great history and Art. And also they go to bed super early (hell yeah) and some of them are like 'elevators - I hate you', but the rest of them are like "hey - welcome to New Mexico. Let's be best friends!"

The end.

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I'll be Quirky

Month 12 wrap-up!

Turquoise Trail and Santa Fe

I’ll be Quirky

Say it out loud…

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Yup. I totally went to Albuquerque last weekend.  (My friend Simona taught me that trick!)

#3 – Travel places I’ve never been

Back in January, when I think we all had the inkling that this winter might be a doozy, I started hatching a plan to head somewhere warmer for my birthday weekend in March.  Last year I took a much loved trip to Louisville.  This year I hit up my always-up-for-a-trip friend Beth and we decided to head to New Mexico.  We stayed for 4 nights total: 1 in ABQ and 3 in Santa Fe.  I have been through both of these places on a road trip and even stayed overnight, but have never really *seen* either.

Day 1:

I flew into town first.  Picked up the car and headed into ABQ to find somewhere to eat lunch and waste a bit of time before I could check into our hotel and then pick Beth up at the airport.  Being the anxious traveller that I am (and the fact that I was now 5000 feet higher in altitude) I was pretty sure that I couldn’t get a deep breath so it took me a beat or two to relax, but I got there.  And the spot I picked for lunch helped: The Grove Café.  Their philosophy is to provide high quality local and organic foods with a kind of neighborhoody vibe.  My kind of place and they nail it.  My first impression of ABQ was a good one.  Hipsters, families, young, old – it seemed like a good crowd.  I ordered a tuna salad sandwich and a lemonade and found a spot to sit and people watch.

 

After lunch I took a drive up and down Route 66 to get my bearings.  I knew we were going to be here for such a short visit and I didn’t want to waste time trying to find stuff to do once Beth got here.  So this part of ABQ is curious.  It reminded me a lot of Reno, NV.  It seems a little down-and-out, but with little peeks of culture and history tucked in.  There were a lot of empty store fronts along this road and tons of motels (Route 66 and all).  If I go back I need to see more sides of the ABQ.

 

Our hotel was super nice inside: Hotel Parq Central and, as we were going to come to find out was true about everybody in New Mexico, the staff was incredibly nice.  The hotel is a converted hospital and with a contemporary/luxe vibe now.  (Thank bejesus, we didn’t find out it had been a hospital until the morning we checked out – I would have been convinced there were wandering sick from the beyond who were responsible for the bathroom shade I kept breaking). 

After picking Beth up we dropped off her things in the hotel and too a drive down to Albuquerque’s Old Town to walk around and find some dinner.  Old town is a bunch shops/restaurants/businesses housed in old adobe buildings all encompassing a historic church and plaza. 

After a confusing attempt to follow the moving blue ball on our “smart” phone apps and getting turned around more than once – we found our dinner spot.  It kind of sucked so I’m not going to even name it here.  But I will say, thank you world for the creation of the sopapilla.

After a drink on the roof of our hotel (there was a bar there, claro) we called it a night.

Part 2 – the Turquoise trail and Santa Fe….later skaters.

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Month 12 wrap-up!

2011, you were a year

This was not one of those years where I was counting down the minutes for the new year to arrive, but 2011 was a weird one.  I didn’t write much about the weirdness here on the blog cuz I’m not sure I even knew how to describe it.  But going through my photos of the year helped me remember that there was a lot of fun being had in between the weirdness.  Maybe your year was the same.

• i got a cat. she is smushy, though sometimes she scratches me across the neck. I think she is trying to remind not to take life for granted, mob-wife style
• I took 5 trips.  I couldn’t believe or remember that I took 5 trips this year! That is awesome: Portland, Madison, Boulder, Maine and California.
• I got these weird half-like bangs and spent most of the year with my hair bobby pinned
• You did not know this because not once did a photo of myself grace this blog in 2011
• I felt sad, happy, depressed, anxious and hopeful…all in one year!

2011 was a tricky year and here is what some of it looked like for me: 

A whole lot of food and pretty views.  This slideshow needs some tunes!  in 2012 I will learn how to add tunes to my slideshows. 

My plan this weekend is to spend some serious brain activity on thinking about 2012.  I feel like 2011 happened to me.  Like I was continually stumbling and looking back over my shoulder muttering, "what the hell was that?!" as 2011 blew past me again.  

This year I hope to give 2012 a run for it's money.

What are you plans for 2012?  I'd love a little inspiration...

xoxo

happy new year, folks.

Blog catch-up – Did I tell you I went to Boulder?

Two weeks ago (already??) I took a little trip down memory lane with some of my besties from college.  We rented a house in Boulder for a semi-long weekend to catch up with each other and catch up with Boulder.  Which has grown a bit in the last 13 years. And when I say “a bit” I mean “A LOT”.  Last time I went to Boulder I compared the city to an old boyfriend who I was finally “over”.  Apparently I’ve redeveloped some feelings. 

My friend Anna and I had originally planned on driving to and from Boulder (from Chicago) as part of this adventure.  It had seemed like a really good idea.  it used to be a good idea, back when we were 20.  Now?  Not so much.  Yet I still thought it was a good idea until Anna’s train into Chicago got in at 2am the night before our drive and all I could think about was how tired I was going to be on the 16hour drive that sat before us.  I didn’t sleep all night worrying about the drive and thinking about how I could maybe convince my friend whose barely flown in the last 15 years that buying last minute plane tickets wasn’t such a crazy idea.

I didn’t have to.  She was totally on the same page and we were able to find reasonable tickets. woot woot!. 

First thing I learned upon arriving in Boulder?  A dry heat is still freaking hot.  Why do people love a dry heat so much?  Did I used to love a dry heat?  I probably said I did.  All I know is that a dry heat makes you crazy thirsty and a little lightheaded – or was that the altitude?  Who knows anymore? (you probably know).

Second thing I learned upon arriving in Boulder?  My camera was broken. This was a serious bummer, because if you’ve been to Boulder, you know about the loveliness.  And if you haven’t been to Boulder – you would have wanted to see the loveliness!  (my cell phone also died in Boulder. rude)

So I’ve been waiting patiently for my friends to send some photos so that I could steal them and share them here. 

Enjoy:

Dinner at The Rio.  Notorious for their 3 margarita maximum.  Is that why this photo is so blurry

Amy, Beth, Anna and Reba.  My super cute girlfriends on a hike w/o me.

Somebody always has a didgeridoo and bells on their keens down on Pearl Street.

We even brought a couple of mini-Buff’s with us on this trip.

Please ignore how awkward Anna and I look in this photo and instead focus in on the majesty that is the plastic gorilla in the middle.  He is looking straight into your soul.

All our friends got even better looking and then reproduced. And that is how the world turns.

One of the highlights of this trip was a stop by this guy

Poems while you wait.  After talking with us for a little while, this is what he came up with in honor of our friend Rebecca who couldn’t make the trip.  We love you, Rebecca!

This may not make sense to you.  Unless you too spent a good portion of your formative young adult years in Boulder, then it likely makes perfect sense.

It’s all lively here.

xoxo

Erin