Day 7: September 24, 2001
Exploring Santa Fe, NM

Sign on Santa Fe Electronics shop window

Both of us were tired from all the driving the day before so we decided to spend today walking around the Santa Fe downtown. First we had breakfast at the small spread provided by the Hampton Inn. It was just enough for a light breakfast, perfect. Then it was on to the most important thing of the day: laundry. We found a laundromat near the downtown (Water Street Laundry) and took care of business. As the clothes were being washed, we sat outside with Libby and read. Walendo noticed an amusing sign on the electronics store next to the laundromat that said something about living in Santa Fe (shown left -- click for larger view). As I was folding the clothes coming out of the dryer, I noticed that Walendo had washed only two pairs of underwear. I asked him about it and that's when we realized that he had a second bag that we hadn't brought in. I had also forgotten to wash the sweatshirt that Libby had thrown up on after eating too much grass. Doh! We figured we'd do another load later in the evening.

Native artists selling their wares in Santa Fe

We drove closer to the downtown and discovered that most of the public parking was full, as were the parking spots on the streets. And they say that tourism is down! It must really be bad when tourism is booming. We went to a further lot and found a spot, and then walked into the town. Santa Fe is a lovely town filled with galleries, some of them showing fine art and some of them full of souvineer art. In the main plaza there's a church with a portico where many native people display jewelry, pottery and tchatchkes on blankets laid out on the ground. We started there. You'd think that items sold that way would be cheap, but they weren't. They were asking $55 for a silver bracelet, which seemed a bit out of range for me. I did buy a little magnet for the fridge that looks like a sandstone tile. Five bucks.

Wooden vases in Santa Fe gallery

We continued to wander around the town, enjoying the shops. There are a lot of stores selling pottery, jewelry, sculpture, and paintings. I was surprised by how much I liked, even stuff that I don't think of as my style. I was really enjoying checking out the different galleries. I find it much more fun than museums because the range is wider and if you really like something, you can buy it. Also, it's free! We found the store where Walendo had bought a Kokopelli as a gift for his cousin last time we were here. They still had some displayed in that same spot, and he got another one for us. We saw some beautiful rugs, but they were very expensive so I decided that I would get one at some point, but I'd wait to find a less expensive area. We also admired some knives that had wood-carved handles with intricate designs. Too expensive, but beautiful to look at. I also lusted after some gorgeous wood vases that had interesting patterns in them. I'm a sucker for nice wood things. Instead, I took pictures, which seems almost as good cuz you can look at them again later.

Eagle sculpture, Santa Fe

As we continued meandering around the town, I took a lot of pictures of US flags and other signs of patriotism for the website I'm going to put together. In addition to the usual flags flying outside the stores, there were some creative artistic displays. We saw one huge carved eagle with an American flag, and a sign said some of the proceeds would go to help the World Trade Center victims. We also saw paintings with the American flag, and some craft work. Later in the day we saw a huge American flag next to a sculpture of a native American man in full gear. I especially looked for patriotic scenes that came from ethnic groups, which is a lot of what makes this America. We passed two older women on the street wearing matching patriotic t-shirts so I asked if I could take their picture and they happily agreed. It was a good shot.

Dog sculpture, Santa Fe

Anyway, after meandering around a while, we passed a gallery that had a little dog made out of rusted junk sitting right outside the door. It also had a bowl with rusted junk parts in it. It was very cute, so I took a picture. But then Walendo went in to look closer, and he came out asking what I'd think about buying it or one of the other ones in the shop. I went inside and agreed that it would be good to have. I liked the one outside the door best. It was $160, plus $5 for the "dog food." We decided to go for it. We figure we'll put it right outside our front door. It'll make people smile. Since it would be clunky to carry around, we asked the guy to wrap it up and we'd come back later to pick it up.

Walendo & Libby (far left) at Casa Sena at lunch

By then we were hungry, so we wandered back to a restaurant called La Casa Sena that was inside a courtyard. It looked like a pleasant place to eat, and Libby could sit with us. (They even brought over a bowl of water for her.) This turned out to be a good move because Walendo ordered some fish tacos that he loved. He couldn't believe how much he liked them. (I had a salmon dish that was also quite good, but not as amazing as his.) He asked for the recipe but they didn't have it. He vowed to figure out how to make it himself.

After lunch, we headed over to a candy shop that had chocolate-covered frozen bananas that Walendo had spotted earlier. It turned out they weren't as good as he'd hoped. But while he ate them, I found a tshirt shop that was selling really nice shirts for half price ($5) plus long-sleeved tshirts for $7.50. I bought one of each. Then we went back to pick up our rusted dog sculpture and carried it to the car. (Walendo almost bought some more stuff on the way to the car but we managed to develop a little self-control.)

Ellen & Libby in sculpture garden

I had read in a guide book that Canyon Road had a lot of nicer galleries, and we noticed that it wasn't far from where we had parked, so after we had put the box in the car, we walked over there. Indeed, Canyon Road is a really nice, narrow street with galleries on either side. We meandered through them slowely, enjoying the art. There was one place with some interesting pieces that combined mahogany and some sort of metal in pleasing shapes. If I had a lot of money, I'd get one. (These were thousands of dollars.)

Sculpture of woman bathing in earth

Another place had bronze sculptures of kids playing out in a yard, each one doing something different (fishing, reading a book with a leg swung over a chair, playing tag, etc.). Another place had beautiful glass-blown vases and plates with complex patterns. There was an interesting one that looked like a huge woman bathing in the earth. It really consisted of seperate pieces of her body that were above gound. It was getting later in the day and we finally got our fill, so we wandered back to the car again.

Entrance to Santa Fe house

Before heading back to the hotel, we drove around the neighborhood near Canyon Road just to check out the area. There were some very nice southwestern homes in a neighborhood with lots of old trees. Still, they weren't as impressive as those in Sedona. Finally we went back to the hotel. We had gotten a call from the publisher saying they had two chapters for us to review, so I started in on them as soon as we got back. After an hour or so, I finished one and we decided to take a break and do that last load of laundry. Walendo had noticed a laundromat right across from our hotel (the Hampton Inn). We walked across, but it was closed. Then I remembered there were other places along that street, so we drove down to find one. We did a quick load. While waiting, I used the change machine but it didn't return any change. It was right next to the office and the woman had seen me put in the dollar. But they told me that the manager's policy was to have them put their own dollar in and if it made change, then I don't get my money back because obviously the machine isn't broken. This was of course absurd, and when I asked them if they realized that, they agreed. So then they came up with a workaround (which they'd obviously used before) to give me a frequent buyer card and punch it all in, which entitled me to $1.25. I'd only lost $1.00, so I gave them back the extra quarter for their own use, and thanked them. I hate stupid management policies. It doesn't mean much, but if I ever go back to Santa Fe, I'll never use that laundromat. While that was happening, Walendo was talking with some kids who were admiring Libby. Later, one of them asked to see Walendo's cell phone so he handed it to him, and the kid pretended to steal it and said he wouldn't give it back. Bad idea. Walendo grabbed it from him and pulled it out of his hands. Then the kid promised not to steal it (pinky's honor) and asked to see it again. No deal. We taught him a lesson!

After the exciting adventures of the laundromat, we drove across the street so Walendo could pick up dinner at the Sonic. (I wasn't hungry and had no interest in Sonic hamburgers anyway.) We drove back to the hotel and I worked on more of the chapter while Walendo ate and watched CNN. After I had finished two chapters, he looked over one of them as well. After he was done with one, we sent that back to the publisher and told them the other one would come the next day. It's tiring to do author review, especially while on vacation, but I'm glad they're moving along with the book.

Previous   (Telluride to Santa Fe, NM)

Next   (Santa Fe & Taos)