Slept great and the day looked beautiful. I wanted to go to Santa Fe to see the city and Keith was onboard. After a breakfast of leftover pizza, we headed out. Ironically google maps took us on the road right outside the campground and it was aptly named the Turquoise Trail (Hwy 14). It was a really pretty drive and was actually in my guidebook so we were able to follow and see some of the things she recommended. We went through one town, Madrid, that was having a street kind of festival to raise money for the fire dept. It looked really fun and Keith wanted to stop but I wanted to get to Santa Fe and we decided to stop on the way back. We did however give a donation to the dept. Never know when you might need a fireperson.
We had a plan, to see the Palace of Governors and the Santa Fe Plaza. As we drove, since it was Sunday, we decided to park as soon as we found a parking place. Good thing we did because they were also having multiple art and craft fairs around town and there were a lot of people. We started walking toward the square. It was incredible. There were shops that sold the coolest stuff, restaurants that smelled incredible and people everywhere. But fun people, nice people, PEOPLE WEARING MASKS. And museums, it seemed like every other building was a museum. I would have loved to explore them all but we had Joey so we were limited in where we could go. We did pass a small courtyard restaurant that had outdoor seating for Joey so we kind of bookmarked that for later. We finally made it to the Palace of the Governors and it is now filled with shops. Beautiful, glorious shops.
Now Santa Fe is the oldest capital in the US, having been a captial for the Spanish new world. The Palace pf the Governors was constucted in 1610 as an administrative building and has evolved into a museum and Native American market. And it was awesome. The craftmanship was really amazing. We went into one inner courtyard and it was filled with ceramics. Pots and figurines and peppers. Lots pf peppers. I wanted a pot and asked Keith which one he liked. Of course he picks the one that looks like a jack o lantern. Well it’s hard to put a plant in a jack o lantern so i picked out 2 small pots I liked and asked him to choose between then. He picked the correct one.
From there we walked to the square where they had booths set up selling all kinds of crafts. I could have spent a fortune. There was jewelry and art, clothes and pottery. There was one booth in particular that had pencil drawings of the Santa Fe area. I asked Keith to go over and look at them. I wanted the one of the church that was right behind the square. Well he went over and started talking to the artst and ended up talking for 20 minutes. I was finally able to pull him away but not before he had chosen 2 drawings. That was fine but now we had to find an ATM to get money out.
We did but the found another aquare that had live music. It was all awesome. We got the drawings, listened to music and then headed back to the outdoor courtyard for a cold drink. They had a bunch of choices to get food, one piece of pizza doesn’t last long, so I got a green chili cheese hotdog. OMG was it good. Joey liked it too but I think she liked the fries and the dog behind us more. I managed to find our way back to the car and off we went back to Albuquerque.
But first we had to stop in Madrid. Because it was later, a lot of the crowd was gone. Keith wanted something to eat or drink since he didn’t eat much of the chili dog or the fries. So he stopped at Maggie’s Diner. Well it actually turned out not to be a diner but a gift shop kind of place. Apparently the shop was built for the movie “Wild Hogs”. Never saw the movie but I guess I’ll have to watch it now. We found a place to park. The taverns were jumping with live music and the smell of bbq. And a lot of “hogs”. Keith decided on ice cream so we went to the Jessica’s Ice Cream and Gifts. They had the most beautiful stuff. But really pricey. I saw a stained glass hanging I would have loved but it was $750. TOO MUCH. But it was fun to look. Keith bought me a very large ice cream I shared with Joey and still couldn’t eat it all. It was fun to see but back on the road and back to camp. After burgers and beans for dinner, we are embracing camp food, and an evening walk for Joey, we went to bed. Big travel day tomorrow.
Artsy Day 13