I had a glorious, full night’s sleep and woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the world. I decided that although Airbnb can be fun and…interesting, it’s worth it to splurge for a nice hotel once in a while. The previous night’s sleep alone was worth its weight in gold.
I got up, went to Walgreens to get some shaving gear and decided to hit a bakery for breakfast. I drove around a little and found a place that advertised “eggs and matzoh” on their website. When I got there, they were out of matzoh. So I asked for a bagel with lox. They were out of bagels. So I landed on an omelet with lox. Even though eggs are out of character for me, I enjoyed the omelet. I also bought a cherry and green chili filled turnover. I decided to save that for a snack later.
I came back to the hotel to catch up on writing the previous few days’ blog posts. I sat outside on the hotel patio and wrote and watched passers-by. It is a very pleasant patio for that sort of thing.
After a nap, I went for a walk around the Capitol and government buildings complex. It was a very interesting walk. The architecture of the buildings near the Capitol, the Capitol building itself and the public art were all exotic and beautiful to my eye.
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After my walkabout, I went back to the hotel and sat outside again for some more writing. I ate the cherry-chili pastry. It was disappointing.
I then took a shower and prepared to go to my parents’ friends’ house for dinner. My Dad has an old fishing buddy that recently moved to Santa Fe and he invited me over for dinner with a view. After a stop at Trader Joe’s for some flowers, I headed out into the exurbs of Santa Fe. All of the streets out there were named after animals, like "Paseo del Antilope", except for "Fin de Sentada." ]The street naming scheme seemed kind of twee. The houses and their sites were eye-poppingly gorgeous.
Scott and his wife were very welcoming and the food they served was delicious. Their house was so beautiful, with its views of the sunset and Los Alamos and mountains in the distance. Scott explained to me how their “jurassic” well water came from 800 feet below ground. He talked with pride about his talent for carpentry. The artful ladle that his wife served the beans that we had for dinner with was one of his creations.
It was a great meal and a great conversation with great hosts. I was sorry to go but before I did, I got a couple of sunset pictures from their patio. I’m glad I took them-if for no other reason than to document the evening.
By the time I got back to my hotel it was dark out. On my way in the door, I asked the hotel front desk if they had room for me for one more night. I did not want to leave Santa Fe just yet. I decided to figure out if I would stay in the morning.