Relaxing at the Arizona Biltmore

Friday, June 12 - It's hard to believe it's the last full day of the trip. After sleeping in and going for a run, we toured the grounds of the Biltmore a bit. To explain how much I was loving being here, I gave Sandy some perspective: This is my Disney World. For those who don't know, Sandy loves the happiest place on earth, and just signed up for the Disney marathon for the 3rd year in a row.

The history and architecture here is so interesting. The hotel opened in 1929, and has been a hot spot from the beginning. Every president since Herbert Hoover has come here, Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas" here, and Marilyn Monroe called the pool here her favorite pool. I also wanted to see if we could take a look at the inside of one of the original cottages behind the main building, so the front desk gave us a key to take a look at one. One of the documents we read said the Frank Lloyd Wright "almost certainly" designed the cottages. The architecture of the lobby definitely reflects FLW's influence, and the gold leaf ceiling is second in size only to the Taj Mahal. FLW also designed the illuminated stained glass panel just inside the front entrance.

Speaking of celebrities and pools, this place isn't all about just history and architecture. It is a pretty awesome resort and spa also. It has 8 pools with a pretty cool water slide. We spent several hours in the afteroon hanging at the pool, and I walked around to get a good picture of the slide, which is housed in a very interesting structure with four spires. As I walked around the pool, I saw someone who looked familar. It took me a second to place him, but I realized that it might be Mark Consuelos. As I walked to the other side of the pool, sure enough, I heard and saw Kelly Ripa talking to one of her kids. I never would have recognized her otherwise, because she had a big hat and big sunglasses on. Mark is actually in the picture of the water slide sitting on the edge of the pool in the middle of the picture, even though I didn't even realize it was him until after I took the picture.

We had our last dinner at True Food Kitchen. The restaurant was developed in partnership with Dr. Andrew Weil, so all of the food is both delicious and healthy. We found out about it because the husband of the cousin of our friend Jim (did you get that?) is the executive chef there. Unfortunately he had already left before we arrived. Sandy had a drink called the Medicine Man with lots of antioxidants. It was made with Olivello juice (which you can only get here), pomegranate and cranberry juice, black tea, soda water and muddled blueberries. She decided to counter all of those antioxidants with a shot of vodka in it.

All in all, this was a fantastic trip. We felt that we learned from last year, and tried to do a little less driving and spend more time at each place. We spent 2 nights in 3 places this year, whereas we only spent 2 nights in one place last year. We ended up logging a little more than 2000 miles on the car. Even at this slower pace, there was not enough time to see everything! The Southwest is amazing country, and we highly recommend a visit here.

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Arriving at the Biltmore

Thursday, June 11 - All we could say was, "This is a big upgrade from the Wigwam." The Arizona Biltmore is amazing. It was designed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright's students, who also had grown up in a house designed by him, and FLW was also a consulting architect on the project.

Once we got checked in, the restaurant was closed, but fortunately you can get room service delivered anywhere on the property. So, we found a seat on the patio in the back around one of the fire pit and ordered dinner. (No, those are not flames coming out of our drinks.) Sandy got a drink called "Wright Passion", and I got the Biltmore Original Tequila Sunrise. The drink was invented here. So great to be back in civilization.

Very big hole in the ground

Thursday, June 11 - In between Winslow and Flagstaff is probably the cheesiest tourist trap we hit: The Meteor Crater. However, we knew that we couldn't drive by and not stop. It is privately owned - it is not a national park or national monument - although all of the employees wear uniforms strikingly similar to parks employees. They also have a pseudo-NASA looking pin on their collars that says "Meteor Crater" in a lighting bolt shape. Sandy cozied up to the nice man at the entrance to get a picture with him and his uniform. The New York Times even published an article about it back in January entitled "Otherworldly Arizona." If it was good enough for the Times, it was certainly good enough for us.

The crater itself is actually quite impressive. It is 60 stories deep and almost a mile across. We didn't linger very long, but it definitely was a worthwhile stop. There were also some pretty amazing views looking out from the top of the crater rim.

They even had a Subway (our default place for lunch when there were no other options) in the gift shop, so we got lunch on the run. We were literally almost "on the run," because I accidentally walked out without paying... Pretty embarrassing when the Subway employee at the Meteor Crater comes running out of the gift shop saying, "Sir! You didn't pay!"

It's Showtime Sleeping in a Wigwam

Wednesday, June 10 - We arrived at the Route 66 classic, the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ, shortly after dark. Because I thought we might get there a little late, I called earlier in the evening to let her know that we were on our way. Since the motel office closes at 9pm, she said that if we arrived after that, we would be in Teepee #6, and she'll leave the key under the mat. How great is that? Fortunately, we got there a little after 8, so we properly checked in.

After we checked in at the Wigwam, we stopped in a diner called Joe and Aggie's Cafe, which we'd read about in the Road Food guidebook. We sat down in a booth, I looked up, and across the room by the cash register was a "Showtime Free Weekend" sign on the wall. I about fell out of the booth. I asked the owner about it, and he said that many years ago Showtime shot some stuff here to promote one of our free preview weekends!

Big Night at the Ranch

Tuesday, June 9 – This evening brought one of the most highly-anticipated – or most-dreaded, depending on who you ask – activities of the trip: Horseback Riding. The mere mention of it made Sandy's palms sweat anytime the subject was brought up over the past couple of weeks. However, a horseback ride through the Sangre de Christo mountains at Bishop's Lodge just north of Santa Fe came highly recommended, so we took the plunge.


We signed up for the sunset ride, and we were lucky enough to be the only ones to do it tonight, so we essentially had a private tour with our wrangler, Matilda. When we called to reserve the tour yesterday, Sandy told her about her lack of riding experience, and she said, "I have just the horse for you." Hmmm.... what does that mean, we wondered? It turns out Sandy was appropriately given "Cadillac," a nice, gentle female horse. I got "Preacher," the tallest horse at the ranch. Fortunately, they had steps to get us up on the horses.

Matilda was great, and was very helpful - and successful, I think - at calming Sandy's nerves. She gave us a brief lesson in horseback riding basics: starting, stopping and turning. Then we went out on the path for about an hour. Heaven help us. If Sandy had a horse incident, I'd never hear the end of it.

To get a little flavor for the experience, check out the Horse Cam:

In the end, it was a beautiful night, the views were awesome, and a good time seemed to be had by all... or at least the horses.

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.

Arriving in Santa Fe

Monday, June 8 - Today was a pretty low-key day with an easy drive. A nice break after a couple of busy days. Even when just arriving in Santa Fe, you can tell that it has a great vibe to it. It's a stop on the old Route 66, and every other storefront in the center of town is an art gallery. We had dinner at La Plazuela at the La Fonda hotel on the plaza. Another location for some great margaritas...

There was a lot going on around the plaza, and there was a crowd in the center listening to musicians with some cute kids dancing. St. Francis Cathedral is at the end of San Francisco Street a couple of blocks off the plaza.

Around Taos

Monday, June 8 - Taos is a really great town. We had a really relaxing few hours today before getting back in the car for the 1.5 hour drive to Santa Fe. First off, the Taos Inn is great. Our room was really comfortable, and it was right off a courtyard with a fountain. The town plaza was just a couple of blocks away, so we walked over and had great lunch at the Bent Street Deli and Cafe sitting outside. The cafe was on the corner of a pedestrian street with a bunch of shops. There was also a pretty creative sign to prevent kids from playing in a fountain.

Historic Taos Inn

Sunday, June 7 – We ended the day by arriving at another historic hotel, the Taos Inn. After unloading, we went straight to the patio of their Adobe Bar to have one of their “legendary” margaritas.

Entering New Mexico

Sunday, June 7 – We had a nice drive today from Durango to Taos, NM, and crossing a state line and seeing the state’s “welcome” sign is always a highlight. We were counting the miles, anticipating its approach with camera ready, and then there was… NOTHING. We saw the back of the “Welcome to Colorado” sign, but no New Mexico sign. Highway US-64 is pretty weak. This picture shows where the sign should have been, so you can see the landscape. (It’s not a desert in northern New Mexico.) Fortunately, I snapped a New Mexico sign when we were at the Four Corners, so merge these two pictures in your mind.

(Sorry, no photoshopping going on tonight.) You'd think New Mexico would rather have a nice welcome sign on this beautiful green road, instead of at the bleak scene by the Four Corners.

As we got closer to Taos, we crossed the Rio Grande River Gorge. We got out of the car to take a look from the bridge. (Don’t worry, there was a safe place to park on the other side of the bridge.) It was REALLY windy out there. We saw a woman have her husband take a picture of her getting windblown, so we thought we’d reenact her photo ourselves.

Pit Stop in Silverton

Saturday, June 6 – After the 3-1/2 hour ride on the train from Durango, we had about two hours of free time in the old mining town of Silverton, which now has a year-round permanent population of about 400. For lunch we stopped at Grumpy’s Saloon in the Grand Imperial Hotel, which was complete with the man playing old sing-a-long classics on the tinny piano. In the video, make sure not to miss the guy in the red jacket at the bar who, out of the blue, just started playing his harmonica along with the piano. Also note the fine artwork on the walls.



And, talk about a literal 4-way stop, right behind the hotel…