June 22-Santa Fe NM Day 2

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.

Cute sign at bakery on door saying

Bakery patio audio.m4a

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.

Hotel patio.m4a

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.

Dry riverbed of Santa Fe River
Door with sign saying

Elaborate hotel gate

Sign for Pink Dragon Room bar

Public art outside of New Mexico Capitol building

Circular shadow with inset projected by public art installation outside of New Mexico Capitol building

Circular sculpture public art outside of New Mexico Capitol building

Row of leafy trees leading to New Mexico Capitol building

Entrance to New Mexico Capitol building with State seal in foreground and sun and clouds in background

Curving sIde view of New Mexico Capitol building with columns

Blue metal sculpture in front of New Mexico Caputol building

Public art installation of Civilian Conservation Corps worker resting on hachet outside of New Mexico Capitol building

Plaque identifying sculpture as depicting Civilian Conservation Corps worker outside of New Mexico Capitol building

Signs saying
Photo of dry riverbed of channelized Santa Fe River]Wooden columns lining sidewalk in Downtown Santa Fe New Mexico

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.

Sunset reflected in window of house outside of Santa Fe New Mexico

Sunset outside with Los Alamos New Mexico in the distant background

Vase of flowers with sunset in the distance outside of Santa Fe New Mexico

Crickets.m4a

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.

Jacob M Brostoff @roadtrip