Thursday, October 1, 2009

Santa Fe

The first stop after flying into Albuquerque was to find the house where my mom lived in junior high. She was thrilled to be able to see it and I had fun seeing it too. We didn't knock on the door; she was happy just see the outside.
This is the garden at the house where my mom had lived; it was particularly fetching so I snapped it.
If you read the comment from Patrice on the post about me going to Santa Fe, you'll see that she recommended particularly the blue, pinon nut pancakes at Tacolote. As you can see from above, we went there. My mom already knew to go there. I'm here to tell you, she knew ALL the places to go!
And there they are on the menu...
...and on my plate. Wow, were they delicious and big!
Patrice also said to eat at Pasqual but I'd heard Mom talk about it more than a few times so I knew we'd be going there. Well, we did. Here we are at Pasqual for Mom's birthday breakfast.
Fab food and art. I got the greatest thermometer earrings at their gallery.
Here's mom making birthday dinner reservations. Altogether we had one of each meals there. The Shed was the other place where we ate one of each meals.
Here's my favorite corner; Pasqual on one side and Doodlet's on the other.
Doodlet's was new since the last time my mom had been to Santa Fe but, guess who, The Travel Wizard, Patrice, told me it was a must-go. There are times when I'm quite dutiful and this was one of those times!
It was so me. That's a pretty big self-compliment. I should say that Doodlet's was a total candy store to me. Everything was special, unusual, and fab. I got a few things there but could have less restraint. I knew I still had a lot more SF to see and still great places to visit in Texas too.
We went to The Basilica...
...saw so many beautiful carvings, alters,...
...a processions,...
...and the famous, miracle staircase. It was as amazing as a miracle and has to be seen in person to be believed.
We spent one full day walking the gallery area and saw so much great art it made my head spin, like the piece above.
While walking we also saw beautiful flora from afar and...
...close up. Still don't know what this is but it was sure perty.
So was this. No berry eating though.
You can't swing a dead coyote without hitting a gaudy Texan wherever you go.
This is another interesting sight; I thought it said "Hudson", Mom said it was a Cadillac Fleetwood. Either way it was a sweet ride...
...but then so is this. That's it for SF. Next up-Texas.