Day 6: Albuquerque to Santa Fe, NM
What a difference a day makes. A fine sleep Chez Haycox, dicking around before getting on the road … I was back to capacity and ready to rock Santa Fe!
But first: the Frontier Restaurant. Don’t be fooled by their cafeteria-like vibe; the hash browns were the best Molly and I ever ate. Mark this historic day!
A short(ish) drive then we were in Santa Fe with our tourist dollars clutched in our sticky hands.
First stop: some culture-like stuff. We checked out the Palace of the Governors, the country’s oldest occupied structure (or something like that — my attention waxed and waned during the day’s edumacation). Our tour guide, a perky former teacher with Kokopelli earrings and brooch, talked non-stop for an hour and a half. It was a lot, a lot of information to absorb, but she was adorable. I whispered to Molly that it was the best boring lecture I had ever heard.
No pictures allowed, so here’s the bricks of the courtyard outside!
Best part of the New Mexico History Museum was the “Fashioning New Mexico” exhibit upstairs. Pure fabulousness, fashion from 1830s-1970s . The dresses were so tiny.
No pictures allowed, but I took one anyway — projected video against a curtain of a dapper man dressing.
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi was wonderful and I comported myself properly — thank goodness Molly could be my tour guide for some of the churchy stuff I needed translation for.
I’ll send a special road trip souvenir to the first person that can explain correctly what’s going on with this photo, above! No fair cheating by clicking on the picture!
Then shopping and more shopping. So good, so good! Then a pick-me-up margarita before doing the motel search, and ended up at the hardly-fun but very sensible Travelodge.
New Travelodge marketing — appealing to the Furry demographic?
Everyone here in S.F. is unusually nice — people waving from shop windows, everyone smiling. I think part of it is spring fever, as apparently today was the first warm and clear day they’ve had since before the winter.
We found drinks and dinner at the Cowgirl BBQ, a really great place with a nice mix of clientele and some local beers on tap. And big pork chops I stuffed into my mouth. Happy me.
So there you have it. Another great day.
Wait, just WAIT till tomorrow.
Molly’s quote of the day:
Everyone here is so nice.
[hisses] Stop it!
- See all the pics on my flickr photostream
- Go to Day 7
I think the garment attached to the cross represents St. Francis’s “tau cross,” in which a friar’s outstretched arms form the shape of a “T” (supposedly the actual shape of the cross used in the crucifixion).
Do we get points for originality, or are you going to be a stickler for actual fact? ‘Cause I’ve got no freakin’ idea, but it makes me think of some little ole granny coming out to check the washline and finding her winter sheets all miraculously twisted into a 100% cotton eggplant Messiah, which she instantly dispatches to be put on display at the house of the Lord. You know, like those people who see the Virgin Mary’s image seared into their morning toast? Just my two cents.
Thanks for your entries! The answer we were looking for: Jesus is covered from view during Lent, as He has not risen yet. However, Roger, I think your explanation has validity, as well, and yours, EL, was pure awesomeness. So you BOTH WIN! Congrats!!! Roger, send me your address (I have yours, Ellen). Thanks for playing.
Dammit. Dammit. DAMMIT! Catholic here. Good for all of you.
C-Girl! Are you saying you’re the only one so far able to give an 100% correct answer to this question? In that case: you win, too! Send me your address.
I mean it this time: contest is now closed.
Yes, I was saying that I knew purple is the color of Lent and that the image of the risen Lord is covered (sometimes by white gauze, as well) until Easter day, when he is, well, risen.
Hey, here’s a little Catholic trivia for ya. You are not supposed to say the word “Hallelujah” (falls off her chair as she is stricken by the hand of the Lord for typing it) during Lent.
Instead we say “Glory and praise to our Lord.”
Signed,
the winnah!
p.s. Did you catch when I wrote Dammit. Dammit. DAMMIT that it was supposed to be sung like the refrain in the Bob Marley song, “Jammin’.”
Instead of “We’re jammin’ ” it’s “Dammit, dammit, Dammit.”
No Fair! I needed a longer cut off for the trivia prize as I can’t read blogs on the weekend. Of course, I did not actually know the answer. Very cool photo, though.