Around Santa Fe

Tuesday, June 9 – It was really great to not have to pack up the car this morning. We had breakfast at Tecolote Café, a hole-in-the-wall place that is famous for great breakfasts. To demonstrate the level of class in the parking lot of the café, we were parked next to a truck with an owner that got a bit creative when he lost his antenna.

We spent most of the morning at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, where we took a docent tour. Afterward, when we were walking around town, we bumped into this really great marimba band on the grounds of the St. Francis Cathedral . There was a good crowd around and they were selling CDs. Then we noticed a little commotion going on, and the guys started a little conference while they were still playing. It turns out that they didn’t have the right kind of permit, so the cops were kicking them out.



Next stop, the Five and Dime, the alleged home of the "famous” Frito Pie. Chili, cheese and Fritos, mixed together and served right in the Fritos bag.

This place was featured in a Frugal Traveler video on NYTimes.com.

No, we didn’t actually get a Frito Pie, since our name was on a waiting list at a great restaurant for lunch, so instead Sandy tried on a pink tiara cowboy hat – a fitting outfit for the snack bar at the Five and Dime.

Lunch was fantastic. We ate at Café Pasqual’s, which had come recommended from several sources, and it didn’t disappoint. We sat at the communal table, and got lucky by sitting next to a couple that has been coming to Santa Fe since 1988 and now have a second home here. They gave us some great advice on things to see and do, which led Sandy to a great jeweler to do one of her favorite types of shopping. I also went to some rug stores, but didn’t make a purchase. Yet.

Also at their recommendation, we went to the Loretto Chapel to see the Miraculous Staircase. No one thought a staircase to the choir loft could be built in the tight space in this small church. This famous staircase, built in 1878, appears to have had some divine intervention, since a mysterious carpenter finished the staircase and then disappeared without taking any pay, it has two 360 degree turns, and it has no supports to hold it up. It is pretty amazing.

Finally, we took a self-guided New Deal Art Legacy Tour, which features several locations around town with artwork created by artists hired by the US Government in the 1930s under the WPA.