May 9, 2015 by Rae

New Mexico CulturePass and the Santa Fe Museums of International Folk Art and Indian Arts & Culture

John told me about a $20 pass to several Santa Fe museums. I looked it up and it didn’t seem like a sure deal to me. I’d have to tour three museums to get my money’s worth and I’d only have four days to do it. Well, my information was out of date. I learned at my first stop today that there is now a $25 (out of state resident price) New Mexico CulturePass that gives admission to 15 museums throughout the state. I won’t be hitting any more beyond Santa Fe, but if I visit at least three museums here, I’ll have saved $2 and if I hit all four, I’ll have saved $9 (so basically pay for three admissions, get one free).

But the best part is that the pass is good until this day next year. So when (because it is nearly surely a when) I come through NM next year, I can use the pass in Las Cruces and a few other places! I actually didn’t miss anything not having the pass earlier this month; the museums are really scattered. I think ABQ is the only place I passed that had a museum where I could have used the pass and I visited the museum anyway!

Two of the museums for which I could use my pass were located across from each other, so I visited both today. There are other museums in the immediate vicinity (walking distance), but unfortunately they are not included with the pass.

Museum courtyard, International Folk Art to the right, Indian to the left.

Entrance to the museum of International Folk Art.

I started my day at the Museum of International Folk Art, recommended by John. It was a lot smaller than I expected, but if you read everything, you could be there all day.

I started in a gallery about pottery from the Southern US, mainly the Carolinas, and got hypnotized by a video of a potter at work. There were lots of really gorgeous pieces and these are just some of my favourites.

Face jug.

I love the detailing. The drips are semi-intentional and come in the firing process.

Exquisite!

Gorgeous pitchers.

This is a jug that may have been designed to be tied to a saddle.

Next, there was a small exhibit about the immigrant experience. There was a gut wrenching poem by a teenage girl who came to Santa Fe with her family from Mexico and has experienced discrimination. It finished with, and I am paraphrasing, “You call us wetbacks for coming across the river. What should we call you for coming across an ocean?”

Then came the most important collection, from the Girard family, a collection of toys, textiles, and other memorabilia from around the world (but mostly Mexico) arranged in thoughtful vignettes. This is where you could lose most of a day!

These are just a few things that caught my eye:

Gorgeous textiles.

Cabinet after cabinet of wonders in the Girard wing.

Angels on top, demons below.

No placards in the Girard exhibit. Instead, you use a catalogue to look up the exhibits that interest you.

Beautiful tapestry from Ethiopia.

I spent about an hour at this museum, but actually went through twice. It was really more of a museum for me to feast my eyes on than to spend a lot of time reading. I’d consider it a must visit if you like quirky objects, textiles, and handicrafts. The gift shop is really interesting to poke through, too, and I found some Mexican blouses for only 40USD that are similar to the one I bought at the Mercado for 19USD… 😀

Next, I checked out the museum café, but there was a long line up and the current exchange rate made it rather pricey (eg. $12 for a hamburger and fries), so I decided to pass. My budget is fine, and I can’t stress that enough, but I have two late invoices that are awaiting payment and so I must remain extremely frugal. And even if I wasn’t experiencing cash flow crunch, I’d rather spend 20CAD on a pretty souvenir, like earrings, or a memory, like visits to museums. So I decided I could wait to eat and headed to the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture.

Entrance to the Museum of Indian Art & Culture

Entrance to the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

No photography is allowed in this museum, so I’m going a little by memory. The first gallery is about the history and present day situation of all the Native New Mexican tribes. It’s a really beautiful part of the museum, but full of tight little alcoves where you have to wait for people to read everything before you can do the same. The museum wasn’t crowded today and I still had to wait in line at every single exhibit in this gallery. It got a little tedious.

Next, there was a small gallery with Native pottery. Different techniques from the European tradition, but equally beautiful.

Then, there was my favourite exhibit, art by David Bradley. He paints vibrant pictures that look very cheerful until you examine them more closely and realise that they are scathing commentary on how Natives are treated in the US today.

After, there was a small gallery about Native music, drums, rattles, flutes, and the like. There was another hypnotic film. I love the drumming!

Finally, there was an exhibit about turquoise, where I learned a lot about the mineral/gem and ogled a lot of jewelery made with it, silver, and coral. I was once again really glad that I bought my turquoise earrings in Cerillo!

This was another excellent museum well worth visiting. I like that it presented a balanced view of the Native American experience.

It was snowy and cold when I came out, but I made one final stop at the sculpture garden, which featured statues of strong beautiful women.

Entrance into the sculpture garden.

I was struck by her obvious strength.

And hers.

Today was museum weather. I hope that the promised warmth tomorrow materializes so I can check out downtown! There is another museum there I’d like to do, in addition to just walking around.

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!

January 12, 2013 by Rae

City Tour of New Orleans

When I come to a big city, I like to take a city tour to get my bearings. I had pamphlets for a bunch of them here in New Orleans and picked the one that seemed to offer the best value, then I searched for online reviews to solidify my choice. I went with the Louisiana Tour Company, offering a three-hour tour for $44 (plus a $5 tip to the driver).

This tour is really a full three hours. They do not count the time it takes to pick up everyone at their hotels and drop them off again as being part of the tour. I was picked up in Gretna on the Westbank at about 1:20 for the 1:30 tour. By the time we’d picked up everybody and payment had been taken, it was well past 2:00. We finished the tour past 5:00 and I didn’t get back to my car in Gretna until 6:30.

The tour offers a general overview of the main areas of the city that are of interest to tourists, including the Central Business District; the French Quarter; and the Lower 9th Ward, the area most devastated by Hurricane Katrina. We also got out of the bus to explore a Catholic Cemetery and took a break for beignets in City Park.

Our tour guide, Eugene, is a New Orleans native whose love and knowledge of his city was obvious. I couldn’t even begin to get into all the information he gave us, from talking about famous landmarks to pointing out little architectural details I would never have otherwise noticed. He was very friendly, professional, and spun a good yarn without sounding like he was full of bull. I’ve been on city tours where the drivers liked to feed cockamamie stories to gullible tourists and this was not the case here.

The best part of the tour was definitely the visit to the Lower 9th Ward where Eugene gave us the scoop on what really happened down there by sharing the story of a man who chose to ride out the storm with his family. This man has returned to his neighborhood and lives in one of the Brad Pitt foundation homes.

The Lower 9th Ward, being the poorest area of the city, is the slowest to come back to life and is still full of blighted homes. But the community that is rising from the ruins appears to be full of promise. The tour companies are not allowed to actually go into the community, as per a federal decree, but apparently the residents liked having the tour groups go through as they made money selling lemonade, cookies, and pralines to the tourists.

We covered a lot of ground today, but I am now well prepared to explore the French Quarter (possibly tomorrow) having seen where the Algier Ferry docks (right in front of Harrah’s) and being armed with a list of good restaurants that won’t break the bank.

Eugene and I had a nice chat about my RVing life on the way back to Gretna and he pointed out a few restaurants I could try, but admitted that he drives into the city to eat as the Westbank options are uninspiring.

I’m really glad I did the city tour offered by the Louisiana Tour Company!

The following pictures are the best I was able to take on a moving bus through glass! I really wish I had been able to get a few good ones of the ginormous magnificent homes along St. Charles Avenue.

The architecture feels very French.

I like the mix of old and new architecture.

This 50-story tall building used to be Shell Headquarters, which have now moved to Houston, Texas.

These bleachers are for the Mardi Gras parades.

Robert E Lee

One of Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants.

The streetcars are good value for getting to some parts of the city. I witnessed a ton of construction going on to prolong this line.

There were Mardi Gras beads hanging from the trees on St. Charles Avenue. I couldn’t believe that nearly eight years ago, St. Charles Avenue was under 16 feet of water.

The owner of this house dresses up his stone pigs for every possible occasion.

A lemon tree!!!

This house that looks like it was cut in half was built on a property line.

This building with a lighthouse sticking out of it is for sale.

US. Marshal parking only!

The Harrah’s casino. Gambling is illegal in the area, so there is no gambling in the casino, only gaming. 🙂

The Riverwalk shopping centre.

Driving down Decatur Street in the French Quarter.

You can rent these hilarious little cars.

These are mules, which are hardier than horses.

The Central Grocery, home of the Muffuleta sandwich.

A statue of Joan of Arc.

One of the many beautiful statues in a Catholic cemetery.

Everyone is buried above ground in New Orleans.

Perpetual care means that extra money was paid in the 18th century for the church diocese to maintain the tombs forever!

This new tomb is a monstrosity, methinks. Some people have more money than sense.

Masons sneaked into this cemetery and built a tomb, but only one person was ever allowed to be interred here.

This tomb is getting a new door.

City Park

This little boy was catching small flat silver fishes.

We stopped at the Morning Call café for refreshments, including beignets and café au lait. I was unable to get service and didn’t really want to eat there anyway since the place did not feel clean.

The New Orleans Museum of Art.

Statue of Beauregard, the guy who fired the first shot of the US Civil War.

The rich parts of New Orleans look like nothing happened. But when you reach the 9th Ward, you see many houses that need repair or to simply be bulldozed.

This is where the levee broke that flooded the Lower 9th Ward.

All those colourful houses were built by the Brad Pitt Foundation. He promised to build 150 homes and 90 have been built so far. To qualify for a home, you had to have a home in the Lower 9th Ward with a clear title. The homes cost $125,000 and up and the residents have a 10-year interest free loan on them, which is about $700 a month in payments. They all have solar panels to reduce the monthly power bills.

The water levels in the Lower 9th Ward rose to over 25′ feet, then settled at 16′, which is the top of the tallest blue post.

December 15, 2012 by Rae

Colonial Williamsburg, Part Eight: The Museums

This is the final part about my tour of Colonial Williamsburg.

From the weaver, I returned to the 21st century and headed across busy streets to visit the museums.

The museums are housed in two buildings and are perhaps a bit of a misnomer. Each ‘museum’ is a gallery of themed artifacts contained within one main building. It’s really well done, with which museum having its own look and feel, avoiding that hodge podge, we threw together whatever we had, type of feel.

You could easily spend half a day or even more at the museums. I was exhausted and famished by the time I got to them, so I did not spend a lot of time in exhibits that did not interest me.

I had thought to grab a period dinner at one of the taverns, but you need to reserve and by the time I learned this, I could not have had dinner before 8PM. Moreover, the choices were unappealing and quite expensive. I’ve had much more authentic period meals before (I’m still traumatized by the 13th-century lettuce soup I ate 15 years ago) so I didn’t mind missing this step. I had also considered going on a ghost walk, but it was $12 extra and my day had been plenty full.

It was dusk when I came out of the museums. On the way to the bus stop I hesitated between heading home or checking out the shopping district, but it was getting to be so cold and dark that that option wasn’t appealing in the least. The bus arrived quickly and that settled it for me. I got back to my truck at about 6PM, a full nine hours after I had parked!

I had a wonderful day in Colonial Williamsburg. The town is worth a visit!

: Heading out into Williamsburg on a street where cars can drive.

: Colonial Williamsburg residents have to park their cars in lots and hoof it over to their houses.

: The sign gives the impression that there are two museums, one for decorative arts and one for folk art, but this is inaccurate.

: This is a reconstruction of the hospital for the mentally ill.

: The hospital was built in the late 1700s and was the first of its kind on the continent to be devoted to the treatment of mental disorders.

: The hospital felt more like a jail.

: In 1773, patients of the mental hospital were called inmates.

: They were chained like animals and slept on pallets on the floor. They had good food, but little access to fresh air and exercise. It’s no wonder Patrick Henry did not want to bring his wife here!

: Documents about admission to the hospital.

: By 1845, conditions in asylums had improved slightly and patients now lived in cozy ‘apartments.’

: This is a big improvement over the cells!

: A patient writes a letter home, regretting having missed Christmas.

: Doctor’s diary.

: Chart of a man who hears voices. Laudanum does not help.

: This image really conveys the tone of the hospital.

: Patients could be placed in these coffin-like boxes if they posed a threat to themselves or others!

: The box was called a Utica Crib.

: About the ‘tranquilizer chair.’

: I have a hard time believing anyone could be tranquilized in this chair!

: The foundation of the hospital.

: The folk museum collection comes from Abby Aldrich Rockefeller.

: The decorative arts artifacts come from Dewitt Wallace.

: Lovely desk.

: Photo of a giant dollhouse featured in the window of FAO Schwartz (a toy store in NYC) at some point in the ’60s.

: The giant dollhouse.

: A buffoon thought he would make a killing hoarding paper money during the revolutionary war. He soon learned it was only worth the paper it was printed on.

: The coffeehouse I so enjoyed was built by museum artisans.

: All the locks and keys were made by the blacksmith.

: Shingles just like those being made at the Hopes plantation.

: Framing the building.

: Many different types of nails.

: Impressive silverware exhibit.

: A silverware dinner set.

: A secretary.

: This portrait is possibly of the subject on her wedding day.

: Typical furniture of each of the 13 colonies.

: Lots and lots and lots of keyed instruments were on display.

: I believe this is a square piano.

: A tin box to hold a map.

: And here’s that coloured Mitchell map the interpreter at the Capitol mentioned!

: Just some of the tall clocks on display.

: This panel gave information about timekeeping in history. Until the 16th century, people could keep time down to quarter hour increments. After, it became possible tell time to the minute, but very few people needed that sort of precision.

: Another gorgeous secretary.

: Pigments for paint could be imported from England and would be mixed into oil by local artisans. Prepared paint would be available to Americans after the Civil War. I remember a scene in the Anne of Green Gables series, set in the very late 1800s, where I was surprised to read of the characters looking at paint chips and then having their paint mixed, just like we still do today.

: A rare piece of painted furniture.

: Top floor of the museum looking towards the Christmas tree in the café.

: A room warmer (stove).

: I’m not crazy about 17th century fashion.

: I do like these toile-like handkerchiefs.

: Another handkerchief. A lady could stuff one in her bosom for modesty.

: Women at the time wore cloaks rather than coats.

: These are mens’ stockings.

: Women would wear these shawls over their shoulder. These bonnets were very fashionable.

: Two more examples of the fashionable bonnets. They would sit on the lady’s shoulders and were quite high to accommodate her hair do. Moreover, they were retractable like a carriage cover, so they could fold them down to expose their head without having to remove the bonnet (I learned most of this at the milliner).

: It’s the glasses that really make his look!

: This apron would match my kitchen perfectly. I wish I could find one!

: Whitework, which is fine white cloth embroidered with white thread. The exhibit was backlit to show the stitching.

: Throughout history, most people have enjoyed hot drinks.

: Lots and lots of coffees and teas.

: A portrait of Mrs. Rockefeller in her 80s.

: A snake weathervane.

: A folksy picture of three sisters. The middle one is holding a candy cane.

: I touched. The one on the left is rough and the one on the right is smooth.

: I had never before heard of tramp art. It is made with trash, like cigar boxes.

: A little rolltop desk (perhaps for a dollhouse) made of cigar boxes.

: I discovered a new painter. Lovely work.

: Steve Harley.

: I’m pretty sure this is Mount Hood.

: Lovely quilts.

: Another beautiful quilt.

: This carousel cat has a big fish in its mouth!

: The carousel was gorgeous.

: This hippotamus-type creature hides a phonograph!

: People in the 17th century had access to fewer goods than people did in the 18th century. By the time of the American Revolution, people of genteel upbringing were expected to have many more things on hand, like nice candlesticks. 100 years later, after the Industrial Revolution allowed for mass production, consumerism began.

: Pewter is probably my favourite metal. It has a lovely patina and looks so soft

: Back in the old days, even guns were works of art.

: I was so glad I did not have to walk back to the Visitors’ Centre!

May 11, 2012 by Rae

A Day in Richmond, VA, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (and Amuse Restaurant)

Ooh, it’s been a long day and it’s not over yet. I’m at a Starbucks somewhere in Virginia, maybe Hopewell. I’ve got some pictures at the bottom of this post.

A nasty couple of leg cramps during the night meant that my early start today was on about an hour of sleep. Gah. I headed north out of Petersburg, stopped for breakfast, and then pointed the car towards Richmond for my appointment.

Minutes after leaving the Starbucks where I posted this morning, the phone rang. I was shocked that it was my adjuster at Aviva; it was 7:30 in Vancouver! She confirmed that they will be filing a claim with the moron’s insurance company to cover the repairs, my deductible, and the tow bill. The repairs are coming in at $5,600… HOLY MOLY.

She, of course, couldn’t resist chastising me again for continuing without having a thorough inspection made of the rig. I maintain that discovering the damage during an inspection is a big what if. One of the guys at the salvage yard in West Virginia actually got under the rig with me and said that there was no visible damage. Who’s to say that an inspector would have even thought to look for a weak axle? I maintain that the moron’s insurance company got off lucky because I would have put them on the hook for kennel fees, a rental car, a hotel, and three square meals a day, minimum, to salvage my vacation had I been stuck in West Virginia.

I asked her how long I can have a hotel room (thinking that I might need it again Monday) and she said that as long as I’m within the prescribed limits, it can be until Miranda is road ready. She was concerned that I’m staying at home this weekend, saying that if I cause extra damage to the axle by living in the rig, the extra repairs won’t be covered. *shakes head and reminds herself that not everyone RVs*

Anyway, she gets points for calling me early! 😀

By the time I hung up with her, it was about 10:50. I couldn’t believe I was now concerned about being late for my appointment! I knew I had plenty of time to get to the address, but was worried about parking. The options got more dismal the closer I got to Capitol Mac, so I was relieved to find a spot right across from the store. I popped in, handed over my computer, and was out of there in less than 10 minutes. I guessed, correctly, that I’d need to charge the new battery, which justifies ending the day at another Starbucks.

From Capitol Mac, it was just a couple of blocks to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia’s answer to New York’s Met. Now, nothing compares to the Met, but this was a fine museum and the perfect place to kill several hours. Best of all, it’s free! I had fun leisurely roaming through the exhibits, which cover the span of human history. I did pretty much skip over the modern stuff, however.

Many of the reviews I read said that lunch at the Amuse restaurant on the top level is a must. I was leery about eating at a museum, figuring the prices would be astronomical, but a couple of reviews claimed the prices were reasonable. I decided to give it a shot. I got a nice table on the balcony and glanced through the menu, relieved to find that just about everything was $15 or less. The offerings are very fancy/gourmet.

The first thing that caught my eye was a tuna tartar, but I already had raw tuna this week, so I kept looking. Ooh, crab cakes with a horse radish sauce and fingerling potatoes! And then I came to seafood chorizo. Hmm. Now, that sounded different. I decided to try it out. While I waited for my food, I was brought a hunk of delicious herb bread.

A picture of my lunch is below. As I said to the server, “There are no words to convey how delicious this is.” The seafood chorizo was, of course, a sausage, thickly sliced and deliciously caramelized. It smelled strongly of the sea, but the taste was much more mild and quite sweet. The sausage was served with cubed and herbed Yukon Gold potatoes. Finally, there was a slaw made of julienned apples, red onion, radish, and fennel, topped with Parmesan shavings. I’ve always avoided fennel since I don’t like licorice, but it turns out that the plant is completely inoffensive, offering a bit of bite with a lot of crunch and not that much licorice flavour. All for $14.

I’d had my fill of the VMOFA by about 2:30. I decided to find a mall since I needed an outfit to wear to the party next Saturday. I picked the first one my GPS listed, drove all the way there, and discovered it had been razed. This is when I remembered that my phone has internet so I Googled ‘Richmond Mall’ and got a hit for the Regency. My GPS got me there without incident.

In Canada, I would have headed for a Reitmans, but I didn’t know what stores in the US would have clothes in my price range. So I was happy to see a JC Penney at the mall; it was the perfect place to start looking. I wound up finding a ton of things I liked, so there was no need to go anywhere else. I spent about an hour putting together an outfit then headed to the Payless next door for some dressy sandals. I wandered through the mall for a bit, but was quickly reaching burnout so I returned to the car.

I asked the GPS to take me to the nearest movie theatre, but when I arrived at the location, there was no cinema. I’d just about had enough, so I decided to drive by home and see if Miranda was level. It was only 5:00, so I was actually a little relieved to see that she was still tilted. This gave me the impression that perhaps work wasn’t done for the day. I decided to try the movie theatre idea again. The GPS took me here, where the cinema has been shut down for some time. *sighs* At least, there was a Starbucks right there.

$5,600 worth of damage

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

now, this was interesting: that lady is sculpting a statue that is part of a series, one of which is at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport (the one where I thought the men were wrestling a penguin)

I just wanted to hug this little fellow; notice that his tongue is sticking out

hilarious!

lovely view (which I would revisit at lunch)

this image of a futuristic Marine World (with all the animals being deformed) was rather disturbing!

“An Athenian woman asks a Spartan woman, Why are you the only women to rule your men? In which the Spartan woman replies, Beause we are the only women who give birth to men.”