On to Santa Fe

September 13 - Santa Fe

We spent the few hours trying to get our previous day's post done, but the internet broadband connection that we had wasn't very good.  So after some mighty tries, we decided to rejoin our vacation.

We met some fellow Route 66 travelers -- four couples from England who were staying at the motel.  Three of the couples were driving Mustangs.  (The other had a Camaro.)  They were kind enough to take our picture in front of the homage to Elvis by the office of the motel.


Elvis and us

We spent some time talking with one of the proprietors, Gail, who hailed from Boston but worked for many years in Denver.  She is a designer; her husband worked in hospitality management.  About three years ago, they purchased the motel and have been renovating it ever since.  Even now, only about half the rooms are available for rent.

We then took some time to see the Tucumcari that we missed the night before.  It harkens back to a day when roadside commerce was creative and individualized. 

The "famous" Blue Swallow Motel

After a late breakfast at Rubee's Diner, we headed out of town at about 10.  On our way to Santa Fe, we didn't encounter much of the old road.  As it turns out, most of the old Route 66 to Santa Fe was improved in the same locations by I 40, I 25 and a good part of the refurbished Santa Fe Trail.  When we did encounter the old road -- mostly the parts west of Tucumcari before the road heads north to Santa Fe -- they were very much like the roads in Texas:  two lane roads with a thin blacktop layer over concrete.  Some of the cross-overs (or cross-unders) avoiding I 40 were "interesting driving." to say the least.


"Underpass" between Tucumcari and Santa Rosa, New Mexico

The terrain had changed markedly from the flat plains that we last saw around Amarillo.  Now we saw rolling hills and mesas.  There were some remnants of some old service stations and motels, dilapidated buildings that, as the EZ Guide says, "serve no purpose now other than as a bathroom for truckdrivers."  As we turned north, we traveled into the mountains and began to see more trees and less brush.

We got to Santa Fe around 1:45 and went immediately to our bed and breakfast, the Madeleine Inn.  We were shown to our room, the Morning Glory Room.  It is a very good sized room, with a four poster bed that has a little step stool to get in.  There is a stained glass window above the bed.  The room has both a ceiing fan and a window AC unit.  There is a bathroom with a shower.

The lady showing us around (she showed us where we go for breakfast, some maps of the area and talked about the big restaurant and activity guide books that the Inn keeps) was clearly disappointed (and probably somewhat amazed) that we were only staying for one night.  Imagine, she must have thought, how were these people going to appreciate fully "one of the largest centers of art in the country." 

We started our visit to Santa Fe with a light lunch.  As it turns out, the Madeleine Inn is close to the Plaza, where most of the shops, restaurants and galleries are.  We found a highly recommended place, called "The Shed," for lunch.  It has a nice area for dining in a small outdoor square and several rooms inside.  We ate inside.  The room where we ate was warmly decorated in "New Mexico" style with lots of bright colors and hand painted trims on the ceiling beams.  We had gazpacho and split some bean burritos.  Everything was very good.

We then started walking around town.  In the plaza are, among other things, the Palace of the Governors and the New Mexico Museum of Fine Art.  Both were closed on Mondays.  At the Palace, however, Native Americans have wares for sale, mostly silver and turquoise jewelry with some pottery thrown in.  (Yes, that's a pun.)  The plaza has old world charm, but it is quintessentially New Mexico, with adobe (or adobe look) buildings and wood awnings and doors.  The streets and sidewalks are very narrow, but everything in downtown is very close together.  Almost everything is quite walkable.

Palace of the Governors on Santa Fe's Plaza

New Mexico Museum of Fine Art

We then made our way to San Miguel Mission Church, which is reported to be the oldest church in the U.S.  It was first built in 1610 by some Indians under the tutelage of missionaries.  The church was rebuilt numerous times since then.  Some of the original altar steps can still be seen.  Mass is said twice a week (both on Sundays, with a mass in Latin and one in English).  Just down the street from the oldest church is the oldest house.

San Miguel Mission Church



Interior of San Miguel Mission Church



Oldest house in the U.S.

We walked to the Canyon Road area, which is lined with very fancy galleries.  We were particularly taken by one showing wind sculptures -- just the thing for a lakeside backyard!

Wind sculptures on Canyon Road

Walking around Santa FE is interesting, if not just for the people.  We figured out that there are four types of folks in Santa Fe:  (1) very artsy types; (2) very rich (or posing to be rich) types; (3) tourists; and (4) regular joes who work in the restaurants and shops.  The downtown is just chock full of high end retail with not one empty location. 

We made it back to the Inn around 5 and worked on the September 12 blog (downloading photos) until about 6:15 when we went next door for our complimentary wine and appetizers.  Apparently, the apps were gone, but we did manage to grub up two glasses of wine.  We thought it was interesting that the patio where they were serving was full with guests when we arrived, but by the time we got our drinks everyone had left except one couple who really weren't much interested in our presence.  We did have a nice conversation with the lady handing out the wine.  She was very helpful getting us a suggestion for dinner, which became our next order of business.

A friend had recommended to Martha that we try Cafe Pasqual, whose chef was a James Beard Award winner.   We trooped over to this very small place.  Because we didn't have reservations, we waited about an hour.  Patrons departing repeatedly told us how great the food was, so we looked forward to our meal.  David had something that was three lines on the menu, we called it enchiladas.  Martha had something that took two lines on the menu, we called it tacos.  A good time was had by all.  We'd recommend that place -- but make sure that you get reservations.