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.

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.

Remember that miraculous staircase…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.