Tent Rocks
Posted by Simon
We went to Tent Rocks one very windy day in October.
It was cold but very clear and we had a nice scramble up the canyon and through the very different formations in the area.
Missy the dog was a trooper and only had to be lifted up a few of the highest ledges.
If your in Santa Fe and you are interested in geology be sure to visit this unusual natural formation.
Sojourning in Santa Fe
Posted by Simon
To sojourn means to “live temporarily.” Which is what we did in Santa Fe in October. Santa Fe was a particularly nice place to sojourn but to sojourn anywhere is a particularly nice state to be in. A sojourn is longer than a vacation so there is not a sense of urgency to see and do everything. But it is not taking up permanent residence so there is no need to think about things like house maintenance or the neighbors.
Riestras at La Fonda
So our Santa Fe stay was successful at two levels. We discovered the joy of sojourning and we confirmed our love of Santa Fe.
To see an album of pictures from our trip on Flickr follow this link:
Hebrew at the Cathedral Solved
Posted by Simon
Last month I posted a picture of the Hebrew inscription above the door of the Santa Fe cathedral and promised to find out “how it got there and why.”
I asked about it at Congregation Beit Tikva in Santa Fe when we attended services there and got a bit of an answer. Beit Tikva is the new temple in Santa Fe and it suited us the best. Later in the SCKML at PJTC I found the book Jewish Pioneers of New Mexico by Tomas Jaehn. According to the excellent book “Elizabeth Nordhaus remembers that …on three different occasions Grandfather loaned money to Bishop Lamy to construct the Church…In gratitude the Bishop put the Hebrew inscription above the door of the Cathedral.”
The Grandfather was Abraham Staab a merchant in Santa Fe from 1859 until his death about 1900. Among other thing he founded the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce.
Another question answered.
An Adobe Idea
Posted by Simon
The title of this entry reminds me of the grammar rule “avoid alliteration always.”
Around the country new houses are wrapped in Tyvek before they a finished. Dupont the brands owner has convinced builder, code writers and the public that Tyvek will make houses more weather proof. It sounds true.
a new home near Santa Fe
Taken with my iphone
Here in the southwest almost all houses are colored adobe brown when they are finished. But for the few months during construction that they are in clad in Tyvek they are stark white.
The standard Santa Fe house color
Why can’t Dupont make an adobe colored Tyvek? This might be an opportunity for the maker of a competitive house wrap product to gain market share.
Public Drinking Fountains
Posted by Simon
It wasn’t many years ago that if you wanted a drink of water in public it was free at a drinking fountain. Now a store will sell you a bottle of water for a $1.00 and most of the fountains are gone.
A cause for concern?
What happened? Briefly it was the convergence of a few separate issues:
- It was chic for those who could afford it to drink Evian (spelled backwards is naive!)
- Immigrants from countries with bad public water systems demanded bottled water.
- The worrying class started being concerned about the quality of tap water.
Within a decade most of the public water fountains were gone and we were all paying for something that used to be almost free.
A very old drinking fountain in Taos
Now the same worrying class whose motto is “I worry, therefore I am (better than you)” are concerned about all of the plastic bottles that they helped to cause. This article in National Geographic Traveler is an example.
We were laughing about this worrying class dilemma one night at dinner with Dahlia and Joel G and Rebecca and came up with a brilliant solution.
The companies who sell home water filtration systems, Brita, Pur and others could sell branded fountains to cities along with contracts to change the filters regularly. With this product everybody benefits: the environment because there are many less plastic bottles, the cities because they don’t have to clean up all of the bottles and they can be green and the public because they don’t have to buy expensive bottled water.
The way for Brita etal to start this sort of program would be to choose a few already green cities (Pasadena, Seattle, Madison for example) and give them some fountains to start the program. With a good public relations firm they wouldn’t even have to advertise. It would catch on quickly and they would have a new revenue stream.
Another good idea free from “Mr B”
Dogs in Santa Fe
Posted by Simon
Missy, the dog, came to Santa Fe with us and so we take her places. Some of the places are not very dog friendly including some restaurant patios.
But at Counter Culture they accommodate nice dogs and have a sign about it:
Counter Culture has very nice sandwiches, matches and a generally nice laid back attitude. It is highly recommended with or without a dog.
In Pasadena where we have a dog door in our house we don’t try to take Missy places other than on walks. My sample size is small and not fair so I can’t really judge, but of course I will. For a supposedly casual town, Santa Fe doesn’t seem to be very dog friendly.
Oldest House in the USA
Posted by Simon
There has been a long dispute between St Augustine, Florida and Santa Fe, NM about which is the oldest European settlement in what is now the United States. West of the Mississippi we believe that it is Santa Fe and East of it they are convinced that it is St Augustine. Of course, to paraphrase Bill Clinton, it all depends on what “oldest” is. We found this house in Santa Fe that unequivocally claims to be “The Oldest House in the USA”
It sure looks old.
And of course now it is a gift shop with an ATM. To digress slightly, where in the USA is the oldest ATM?
It seems to me if the Oldest House is in Santa Fe then Santa Fe is the oldest European settled town in the USA.
In Hong Kong we went with our friends Jacky and Malcolm A to see “The Worlds Largest Outdoor Seated Bronze Buddha.” We have made it our Hyperbole Standard. I’ll post a picture of it someday.
Missy Stays at Home
Posted by Simon
Nurit and I had to fly back to Pasadena on Monday to see Gary D. who is still very ill. The trip meant we had to leave Acequia Madre at 5:45am and wouldn’t be home until midnight and because we were flying Missy, the dog, couldn’t go with us. Nurit googled (new verb) petsitters (new noun) and found NMpetsitters.com
Missy
A few phone calls led us to Sloan Cunningham of Pet Care by Sloan. We hired Sloan over the phone and she turned out to be extremely reliable, she loved animals and in all respects exceeded our expectations. We highly recommend her.
What an amazing world we live in where a need as arcane as “someone to take care of my dog for the day in a new town” can be met via the internet.
Santa Fe Restaurant Reviews
Posted by Simon
By Nurit Burrow
The Shed
113 E Palace Ave
805-982-9030
Prices $
Food 7
Ambiance 8
Service 7
We ate lunch in the very pleasant patio at this classic Santa Fe restaurant . I had a salmon salad with a lemon & olive oil dressing. Simon had a chicken salad. Both items were very good, but the best part was their dessert. We shared a piece of the mocha cake which is served semi-frozen with a dollop of whipped cream. We were please to see other guests on the patio with their dogs. Next time we will take our dog, too. (Full bar available)
La Boca
72 E Marcy
805-982-3433
Prices $$
Food 8
Ambiance 7
Service 6
This Spanish tapas restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. Tapas are small dishes that are meant to be a taste of an item or preparation.
We made reservations for dinner but still had to wait 1⁄2 hour for a table. The place is very small and tables are very close together. However, once we were seated, the service improved. We started with a glass of wine, some salted almonds and a grilled eggplant dish. We continued with a seafood stuffed cannolle, grilled asparagus, and a fantastic sliced beef tenderloin. (Beer and wine only)
Pink Adobe
406 Old Santa Fe Trail
805-983-7712
Prices $
Food 6
Ambiance 5
Service 4
We had a late lunch at this Santa Fe eclectic restaurant. We had our dog with us, so we sat in the patio. Service was very slow although the wait staff kept apologizing for it. Once we ordered it seems that our order was lost and had to be replaced. Simon had a very wonderful Gypsy Stew made with chicken, vegetables, and mild green chilies. I don’t remember what I ate. (Full bar)
Il Piatto
95 W Marcy
805-984-1091
Prices $$
Food 8
Ambiance 7
Service 8
This Northern Italian restaurant has been around for a while but has recently become very popular. The place is small with tables placed close to each other. There are also a few tables at the curb outside. We had made a reservation for dinner and were promptly seated. There was a full menu as well as a daily specials menu. Most of the dishes sounded wonderful. We shared a half bottle of Chianti and started with appetizers. I had a very nice sweet potato and sage bisque while Simon had a smallish heirloom tomato and onion salad. For our entrees we split a serving of pumpkin ravioli and a lemon roasted chicken with pine nuts. We shared a large tiramisu for dessert. Service was terrific. (Beer and wine only)
Guadalupe Café
422 Old Santa Fe Trail
805-982-9762
Prices $
Food 8
Ambiance 6
Service 5
This has become our favorite breakfast place. I love the breakfast crepe filled with fresh berries, vanilla yogurt and granola. Simon has had French toast made from the cinnamon nut bread and blueberry pancakes. Service is slow but the food is great. The place has a very nice patio, but it has either been too cold or the patio has been full when we have been at the restaurant. We tried going there for lunch but they will not allow dogs on the patio and we had Missy with us. We’ll try again.
Geronimo
724 Canyon Rd
805-982-1500
Prices $$$
Food 9
Ambiance 8
Service 9
A truly fine dining experience located on the upper part of Canyon Road.
(to be continued)
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