May 11, 2015 by Rae

Harry’s Roadhouse, Santa Fe

I was going to make dinner tonight, but John texted me at the last minute to invite me to Harry’s Roadhouse, the nearest restaurant to his place, for dinner. Why not?!

It’s another restaurant with a colourful history and is very quintessentially American with a diner feel. We ate at a counter on stools and behind us were 1950s Formica tables with matching chairs. John says that it’s not the best food in Santa Fe, but it’s very popular because of its location and the price is right.

The menu was really eclectic, everything form New Mex food like burritos to burgers and pizzas to… Moroccan stew. Seriously. I was impressed by the selection and the reasonable prices.

It was really hard to decide so when John suggested the blue corn turkey enchiladas, that was it. I thought it would be interesting to compare Mexican enchiladas to New Mexican ones. John said that I would be asked if I wanted red or green, as in the chile sauce, and I surprised him by responding, “Christmas!” Another item off my travel bucket list, ordering something Christmas in New Mexico! 😀 That means you want half red sauce and half green.

New Mexican enchiladas are more substantial than Mexican ones, which are a meat filling in corn tortillas with some consomme over top and maybe a dollop of crema and some rice and beans on the side.

These were smothered in cheese (which, if you’ve been reading my blog long enough, you know is NOT a problem *g*) and had sour cream, guacamole (SO GOOD!), tomatoes, and whole beans on the side, plus a flour tortilla for mopping up your plate. Excellent! There was a bit of kick to the green sauce, but I really can deal with that now, and, besides, the sour cream is there to cool things down if you need to. The portion was generous, but there wasn’t quite enough to make two meals and at $10.50, the price was right even if I didn’t take home leftovers.

I’m thus far really impressed with the culinary offerings in Santa Fe!

May 11, 2015 by Rae

Cleopatra’s Cafe, Santa Fe

Work was going surprisingly well this morning and by noonish, I was where I’d expected to be around 3:00. It was a gorgeous day, the first in about a week, and the last in about a week, so it was hard to stay focused. I decided to go hiking in an area that John recommended and thought about having lunch first, to have something to walk off.

The eternal optimist, I Googled ‘santa fe falafel’ and got a link for Cleopatra’s Cafe, an Egyptian/Mediterranean restaurant with two locations, one of which, on Cerrillos, was barely a detour from my destination!

Off I went and found the cafe in a little mall downtown. You order at a counter, but the server brings your food to the table on real china, not like a food court at all. I ordered the ‘Moses’ platter, with two (actually three) Egyptian-style falafel balls, chicken, garlic sauce, hummus, salad, and pita, for just under $12. Right now, $12 feels like a lot of money since I’m still coming off the high of my Mexico budget, but I will say before before I get into details that if I was going to spend $12 on a meal on this trip, I bought the right one!!!

Clockwise from the top left, we have salad with lemon vinaigrette and feta, marinated chicken, falafel (both covered with garlic sauce and paprika), and hummus with olive oil and more paprika.

Greek (thick/pocketless) pita.

Egyptian falafel is made with fava beans and is bright green!

Oh!

I won’t say this is anywhere near the top best Mediterranean meal I’ve ever had, but Cleopatra’s was an oasis in the desert and there is a very good chance I’ll be eating here again before I leave! I do have to say I’ve never had Egyptian food, so the seasonings were not as familiar to me as Greek or, my favourite, Lebanese. Cleopatra’s borrows from all these cuisines, though, so the salad, hummus, and garlic sauce were all as expected and pitch perfect.

The falafel were interesting. I actually had a choice of Lebanese or Egyptian, but have wanted to try Egyptian forever. They are made with fava beans rather than chickpeas, so they are green. They are also more mushy than crumbly. I didn’t find these nearly as flavourful as the best Lebanese or Syrian chickpea falafel I’ve had, but they had good flavour. I wouldn’t order them again, though, given a choice.

The salad was simple and perfect, with very fresh and crisp veg, a tangy lemon vinaigrette, and lots of salty feta.

The hummus was pretty basis, but the high quality olive oil that actually tasted like olives really dressed it up. The pita was very fresh and the perfect mop for both hummus and garlic sauce.

The chicken was moist and flavourful, although I did get a few bits of gristle. Really, it was just a conduit for garlic sauce, which did not disappoint!

The restaurant was doing a brisk trade at lunch today. I would like to go try the Zarafanos location as reviews for it are good while those for the Cerrillos location are middling, so I’d like to see if they are that different. Regardless, I had a dang good and satisfying meal and now know there’s no excuse for not being able to find decent and flavourful Mediterranean food south and west of the Montreal-Ottawa corridor! Santa Fe residents are dang lucky!

May 10, 2015 by Rae

A Very Full Afternoon in Santa Fe

This afternoon, I drove to downtown Santa Fe to see what was what. John gave me a few street names about a mile from downtown as possible free parking spots. On the way, my ‘you need gas’ light came on and then came a nearly hour-long search for fuel. I am throwing my GPS into the Santa Fe River! It kept directing me to gas stations that haven’t existed in years or to turn the wrong way down one ways, all the while directing me through super narrow European-style streets. Not the introduction to Santa Fe I wanted. 🙁 I finally found fuel and put in 17 gallons. HOLY MOLY. The tank holds 19.5 and I’ve never put in more than 16 gallons or so. I was running on fumes! But I’m glad I found gas early in the day because my afternoon was going to take on an unexpected twist.

But first, I parked where John told me to park and hoofed it down the Old Santa Fe Trail, a busy thoroughfare that takes you to downtown. I passed the visitors’ centre and popped in for a walking map.

Courtyard of the visitors’ centre.

Front of the visitors’ centre.

Since it was getting late in the day, I decided to go straight to the history museum. But I still passed some interesting stuff on the way.

The oldest church structure in the United States (early 17th century).

Another beautiful church.

Loretto Chapel, home of the miraculous staircase.

Remember that miraculous staircase…

Yet another gorgeous church, and very ornate inside.

The history museum.

As it turned out, my pass for the New Mexico History Museum was good not only for that museum, but also for the Palace of the Governors! I’ve already gotten more than my money’s worth out of the CulturePass!

The history museum was smaller than I expected, but that’s just a statement of fact, not a valuation. It was really good and had a lot of interesting exhibits. The main exhibit is the history of New Mexico from prehistory to now. It’s a part of North American history I’m not familiar with, but it’s really no different from the history in my part of Quebec, only with different actors.

I enjoyed an exhibit about a top secret facility related to the Manhattan project, one about the Civil War, and one about what was probably the first chain of dining and hotel establishments in the west, Harvey House. I was going through this exhibit when I got a text from John asking me to call when I could, and another saying that there was no emergency. We are on the same wavelength! 😀

I called when I could and as it turned out, he had some free time and was wondering if he could join me. We had made tentative plans to hang out on Tuesday, but he wasn’t going to be free and the weather is promising to be miserable. I told him where I was and he said he’d text when he was closer.

I then went upstairs to the temporary exhibits and saw one on camera obscuras and pinprick photography, as well as one about the Virgin Mary.

Then, I went into the courtyard to check out the printing presses and go across to the Palace of the Governors.

Courtyard between the history museum and the Palace of the Governors.

Nothing says May more to me than lilacs. I will be planting a lilac tree at Haven!

This building was originally constructed in the early 17th century to be Spain’s seat of government, and then was adapted and remodeled to suit other needs as the years went by. There was an interesting exhibit that showed different stages of development on plexiglass that you could layer to see the changing floor plan.

This was an expansive building taking up a full block and full of white plaster walls and dark ceiling beams. I’m really digging that decorating scheme. 🙂

There were lots of interesting exhibits about settlement and governance in New Mexico, religion, and, my favourite, hide paintings, that is scenes of New Mexico life painted on animal skins.

John still hadn’t arrived when I was through at the Palace of the Governors, so I headed out to explore the immediate area.

Across from the Palace of the Governors.

The area really reminded me of Plazuela Machado, only much more touristy (which will make my Maz friends laugh). John says that Santa Fe used to have a ‘real’ downtown, but now, it’s all for the tourists and full of expensive shops and restaurants.

Plaza.

Front of the Palace of the Governors.

John texted me just as I finished my tour of the plaza to let me know he was at the entrance to the history museum. We met up and headed across the street to the Museum of Art, which was once the ‘fine arts’ museum. We just did a quick tour since it was getting very late and I’ll actually be able to go back if I want.

The art museum.

Egyptian obelisk in the courtyard of the art museum.

I really liked what I saw on our dash through it. The museums in Santa Fe are all very small, but they pack in a lot! There was a photograph exhibit that we both liked that featured the subject at a young age, then as an adult.

When we came out, John asked if I was thinking about food, which I was. I hadn’t had lunch and planned on having linner after doing the museums. He suggested we go to a burger joint owned by friends of his called Santa Fe Bite. The restaurant used to be a 10-seater located outside the city limits, but now it’s a proper downtown restaurant. I wouldn’t have thought to go in since I figured it was just a basic diner attached to a hotel. It pays to play tourist with a local guide!

I ordered just a basic burger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onions. It was really good! The meat was lightly seasoned and juicy while the homemade bun was buttery and chewy. I had the whole bun, but I left most of the delicious kettle chips. John had a spicy-looking chili with cornbread. Best of all, his friend was working and they were able to have a quick catchup. Serendipity!

From the diner, it was decided that we would walk to John’s car and that he would take me back to my truck.

We stopped at the Loretto Chapel on the way and since it was past closing, we were allowed to very quickly go into the chapel and get a picture of the miraculous staircase without paying the museum admission fee.

The miraculous staircase. Can you see why?

I love spiral staircases and knew about this one, but didn’t realise it was in Santa Fe. It is an engineering marvel! Can you see why?

The chapel is lovely, too.

Another beautiful chapel.

We went into another church, the third one I saw on the way to downtown, and then made it to his car. Before going to my truck, we drove to Fort Marcy Park. It’s a sinuous uphill walk to a viewing platform on the site of an old fort, with plaques all the way up detailing the history of New Mexico.

A place I wouldn’t have found on my own.

Breathtaking views of Santa Fe.

Quite a climb, but worth the effort.

Breathtaking views of Santa Fe.

We then got back to my truck and I followed him most of the way home, where he detoured to show me the site of an old pueblo that was excavated in the 1970s. It felt like a place of immense power. What amazed me the most was all the potsherds just lying around on the ground. I had to take a picture of an incredible find, but, of course, left it behind!

Black on white potsherd. What a find!

The day didn’t start off too well, but definitely improved! It was a wonderful afternoon and I was once again grateful for a local guide.

Now, I have TONS of work to do in the next couple of days, so I will probably hunker down at home for a bit. But John’s not ready to kick me out (I think…), so I may extend my stay a bit to go on a field field trips in the environs.

May 6, 2015 by Rae

Albuquerque to Santa Fe (with stops in Madrid and Cerillos)

Both Kelly and my host in Santa Fe recommended taking highway 14 instead of the interstate and stopping in two small communities along the way. Advice from locals must be heeded! And the interstate isn’t much fun. 🙂

This part of NM really reminds me of the Okanagan.

First stop was Madrid. Not pronounced Meh-drid, but Mah-drid, an old coal mining and then ghost town that is now a quirky little shopping district.

Entering Madrid.

Shops line highway 14 on both sides.

I drove to the far end of the town and parked at the antique shop there. I went in and poked around. Near the end, I found a pair of earrings I fell in love with and the owner gave me a bit of a deal, not charging tax on them, so a flat $20. I tried to photograph them, but I didn’t manage it. They are rather like two glass marbles, a smaller one on top of a bigger one, with découpaged flowers in them. The friendly owner said I was welcome to remain parked at his shop and gave me recommendations for restaurants. I wasn’t hungry, of course, but the words ‘ice cream’ and ‘coffee’ did catch my attention. 🙂

I stopped in a few shops on the way to the ice cream, seeing tons of jewellery, but nothing I liked nearly as much as my new earrings. It’s always risky buying the first thing you see, but I tend to know what I like and recognize things that are unique.

The ice cream place had Dreyer’s ice cream or locally made gelato. I went for the latter as they had chocolate with brownie pieces.

This is their ‘child’s size’ gelato. I would have hated to see an adult one…

Amazing driveway made of… broken glass? Lots of colours.

I walked as I ate my treat, making a note of shops I would want to stop in later. I stopped at the famous Madrid Mineshaft Bar, thinking to tour their museum, but I waited for ages to buy a ticket and no one showed, so I figured it wasn’t meant to be. I wasn’t disappointed as it didn’t sound great and I would have just gone as a way to kill a little time.

Famous Mineshaft Bar.

The entrance looks like a mine shaft.

Instead, I did a few more shops, then got a coffee and sat to watch both pedestrian and vehicular traffic for a bit.

Their coffee was good! 🙂

Java Junction. No pricier than Starbucks, and tastier.

I liked their old sign.

Then, it was time to stroll back to my truck.

Old miner’s house.

This is where I got the gelato.

🙂

Name of the shop.

So many pretty buildings!

It’s sitting there on flat tires waiting for someone to love it enough to restore it…

Another pretty shop.

If the snakes don’t get you, the faeries will!

Old station wagon.

Photo park.

My last stop was a bit of a mistake, or so I thought when I walked in, as it was the Madrid grocery store, housed in, well, a house. Prettiest grocery store I’ve ever seen! Well, I found some handicrafts in the back, including Guatemalan purses that are the exact style of purse I was hoping to find in Maz this winter, basically a large wallet with a shoulder strap that can be tucked out of the way. I can throw it in my giant tote to go to Maz or use it as is around Isla. It was a little pricey ($25), but the colours were perfect and I knew I would regret not getting it.

So I definitely contributed to the Madrid economy!

I continued on through gorgeous scenery.

Really looks like the Okanagan!

Doesn’t it?

Next stop was Cerillos, as in little cerros (hills) not matches (fire sticks). This is turquoise mining country and Cerillos was once seriously considered to be the capital of New Mexico. Now, it is almost a ghost town. I followed the signs to the museum and petting zoo.

Museum and petting zoo is stretching the truth a tad. 🙂

Another quirky building.

The entrance is a jewellery shop. The owner’s son, a guy about my age, was very friendly. He wouldn’t take my money for the museum entrance or a bag of feed for the animals, so I bought another pair of earrings. 🙂 These were turquoise, beautiful small rough mismatched pieces of it on surgical steel, for just $10. My first piece of turquoise jewellery and what a place to have gotten it!

The museum is a well curated and organized collection of old stuff.

My farrier friend Charles would likely recognize all of these.

The animals were a few chickens, three goats, and a llama. One goat was hungry, and the other two just wanted to be petted! I fed them a mixture of grain and corn. I had water and soap in the truck for washing my hands after nearly getting licked to death by the goat! 🙂

The llama wasn’t friendly.

The goats were!

And so were the chickens.

But not these chickens.

Scenic overlook.

The top of the building is lined with glass telephone pole insulators.

Front of the ‘museum.’

‘Downtown’ Cerillos.

RVers would have watch out!

Rather impressive church for a small town!

Cerillos was a fun little stop along the road and I’m glad I stopped in.

It was early when I drove into Santa Fe, but I had left ABQ earlier than expected. I called my host to see if it was okay to come in early, yup! I headed out there, but had to call for help near the end since my GPS was being useless. I eventually found it!

So that’s where I am now, just outside of Santa Fe. I am staying at reader John’s spread, but I won’t say which John just to give him a modicum of privacy. 🙂 Now, get this. John has me living in his Arctic Fox trailer! I’m in an RV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John made me feel very welcome and I will likely be here a week. I don’t plan to work as hard as I did in T or C because Santa Fe is the NM city I really wanted to explore, but I will work some (and have a project due Friday). The trailer is wonderful — comfy bed, full kitchen, dinette for working, and full bathroom. I have FHU. John showed me around a the ‘neighbourhood’ a bit and then left me to my own devices.

I went back to town and bought groceries for a week, dropping more than 50USD! But this should last me the week, in addition to a couple of meals out when I’m in town. There was also a two for one deal on some white wine, so I opted for that instead of beer. 🙂 I did Panda Express for dinner though, as I was famished and too tired to cook.

Thanks for the warm welcome and hospitality, John!

May 6, 2015 by Rae

Nickel Tour of Albuquerque

Kelly and I left her house just before 9:00 this morning and headed to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. We parked and she took me on a walking tour of Old Town, a very picturesque and quaint neighbourhood.

Chiles hanging from the rafters.

This reminded me of New Orleans architecture.

Lots of quaint courtyards in Old Town.

Very ’70s stained glass in the chapel

Quite a fancy church for this style.

We loved the pigeon on the cross.

The church is quite large.

Found a prehistoric-looking wheel.

I love the adobe, the blues, and the bricks altogether. I am rethinking the style for my cabin. 🙂

The sign above the door says, in French, “the door of heaven.”

Big cog wheel.

Coral rose.

Magenta rose.

Cream rose.

Red rose.

I love the Midwest-style adobe bungalows!

This one was grey, not a good colour for adobe.

Love the colours.

Stone wall outside the museum.

She has a membership to the museum, so if it hadn’t been the free admission day, I would have still gotten in at no charge. I made a donation to support the museum.

We didn’t see everything, but we did take in two galleries. The first was a really eclectic art gallery with an incredible range of different styles of painting, including surreal, modern, and impressionist. I saw a lot that I liked.

Then, we did the new gallery about the history of ABQ. We both felt it was a little scattered, but it was interesting. We were both impressed by the giant satellite image of ABQ on the floor of the gallery’s rotunda and I was able to quickly find her neighbourhood!

Sculptures outside the museum.

Next, we headed to the Ranch Market, a Mexican grocery store. It had all the products and services I was used to seeing in Mexico. What a feast for all the senses!

Beautiful tiles outside the Ranch Market.

American-standard Mexican grocery store, if that makes sense.

It was only about 10:00 by the time we came out of the market, but we were both famished, so we headed over to a restaurant Kelly loves that she thought might be open that early, and was, Sharky’s. They are a taco joint with a beach theme (yes, in the middle of the desert)!

Sharky’s.

Historic Route 66.

Lunch was on me and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the prices were in line with what I paid for tacos in San Carlos! More expensive than Maz, but still very reasonable! We each started with two fried fish tacos (hold the mayo for me) and layered on the salsas. They were so good! The batter was very light, the fish was flaky, and the salsas, while hot, had a lot of flavour. So yum!

Fish taco.

We were still hungry, so we each had another taco. Hey, tacos are small. 🙂 Kelly had another fish one and I ordered beef al pastor, but they were out, so I switched to carnitas (shredded pork).

Carnitas (shredded pork) taco.

Our six tacos came to about 14USD for the two of us. Cheap lunch! These tacos were the real thing. ABQ is lucky to have Sharky’s!

We drove around a bit more after and then Kelly had to get to work so we returned to her place. I had already packed and loaded up the truck, so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways around 11:30.

I saw more of ABQ this morning than I would have discovered on my own and didn’t get close at all to the sprawling brown suburbia that I always thought ABQ would be. It is a sprawling city hemmed in by mountains, Native reserves, and the Rio Grande River, and has some neighbourhoods that are real gems. Thank you so much for your warm hospitality, Kelly, Kevin, Lester, and Olive!

A Life By Design

"Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!" ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

Restaurants

Harry’s Roadhouse, Santa Fe

Cleopatra’s Cafe, Santa Fe

A Very Full Afternoon in Santa Fe

Albuquerque to Santa Fe (with stops in Madrid and Cerillos)

Nickel Tour of Albuquerque