Santa Fe is only an hours drive away from Albuquerque so we decided we'd head up there today to check it out.
We decided to take the 'back way' and really take our time on the drive up and then spend the night so we would have lots of time.
I saw this on my phone this morning - I thought it was neat - it made the CTV news and we got to see it in person.
Looks like mass ascension was a go again this morning - those are all hot air balloons in the sky there.
These must have been among the first to take flight because they were quite far away from the rest of the pack.
Before we left town, we picked another spot from our list to have breakfast at this morning.
Garcias Kitchen.
It was located in the downtown area, not that far really from our hotel.
I'm not sure if these colorful decorations were for the balloon fiesta or if they are always here.
Looks nice and festive though.
Looks like they've won a few awards.
There are quite a few Garcia's around town now but this seems to be the original location.
I had a sopapilla with green chile sauce on it.
It was delicious but it was too spicy for me, so I had to stop eating it.
My Honey had, surprise, surprise, juevos rancheros.
They had chicharron so you know I had to try that.
It was really tasty.
Then we hit the highway.
We took the Turquoise Trail.
There is another highway that is faster but we figured this one would be more interesting.
We could still see all the balloons up in the sky.
There were a few lone ones here and there too - off by themselves.
How tranquil it must be up there.
We drove through a residential area on the outskirts of town and saw some more lovely homes.
This one looked pretty fancy.
There were the adobe style ones.
And more traditional ones too.
I think if I lived here, I'd want to go with one of the adobe style, they kind of melt right into their surroundings.
Some of the places were huge.
It was a gorgeous area with a nice view of the mountain range.
We continued on our way and the first stop we made was at Tinkertown.
It is a museum of sorts.
There wasn't a huge amount of parking but we found a spot.
This is all the work of one man and they've made it into a museum so others can enjoy his work as well.
This bottle wall looks pretty cool.
There was just so much to look at every where.
Neat fence.
There were signs of his work everywhere.
I like this sign.
Interesting door.
More bottle work.
The biggest thing this gentleman did was wood carvings and his work is so cool.
He did other stuff too - he had quite the imagination.
Some of them moved and did things.
They are so tiny and yet there is still so much attention to detail.
There were bigger carvings too.
A little hill billy country scene.
He created this whole space to house it all in too.
Maybe some unfinished works?
Quite the hobby if you ask me.
These were behind glass so there is a bit of reflection but just look at these scenes he created.
The General Store.
A saloon.
A hotel.
He even carved the horses and buggy's.
Just look at the details on this horse.
The fiddler on the roof.
The blacksmith.
I love the old covered wagon.
This one was being pulled by oxen.
Another Saloon scene.
The Wells Fargo Express.
Another covered wagon being pulled by horses.
He even had a Trading Post.
Just a close up so you could see some of the details - amazing.
I can't decide which I like better, the horses or the oxen.
A street food vendor.
A Laundry.
Ha ha - The Wing Nut Co.
This was another moving piece.
Emily - jumping rope for over 50 years.
Just look at the details on this place.
I like the names he gave to his places, like Perry's Polar Pantry.
There was a photography studio.
A close up of inside the photography studio.
Even a house under construction.
His vultures were cartoony & creepy.
Soot & Cinders the chimney sweeps.
The Lawyers - I love the building.
A Pharmacy.
Love the couple getting hitched.
There were all these wedding toppers - I don't think he made all these, I think this is a collection.
There were some neat ones in there.
There was a wild west scene.
With an old graveyard.
A life size carving.
A few more.
He painted this as well and I just love it.
His wife was there and said that painting signs and buildings for the Circus was his actual job.
So of course there was a circus scene too.
There was a cotton candy stall.
I think the 'side show' signs are just amazing.
It makes sense seeing as this is what he did for a living.
Percilla the Monkey Girl.
The Fat Lady
Queen of the Reptiles and Fire Eater.
World's Smallest Human Being.
Even cage cars for the animals.
The entrance and the ticket booth.
Another popcorn vendor.
Even some giraffes.
Elephants.
Tigers, acrobats, dancing dogs.
Even trapeze artists.
He just thought of everything.
I'm not sure if he carved these clowns or just collected them?
I love the carousel horse - I think he did make that.
This is him actually painting one.
Another carousel horse and circus posters.
Loui Moilanew was a real person.
Here he is standing next to a 'regular' person.
Some of his clothes were there on display.
These were his shoes.
Just for perspective, this is his footprint , mine is about half the size and I'm a size 8.
Another picture of him.
Another larger carving.
There was just so much to see everywhere you looked.
This area housed a boat.
A 35 foot wooden cutter to be exact.
She was named the Theodora.
She belonged to his brother who sailed her around the world for 10 years.
What an adventure that must have been.
It was a nice size boat.
But I couldn't imagine spending 10 years living on it though.
Some of the ports he visited.
Now it's resting here in New Mexico
In case you are wondering where Fritz is now.
I remember when you used to get cool stuff in cereal boxes.
Right?
Absolutely.
Holy Cow, lol!
The good and the bad.
What a legacy he created.
The artist, R Ward, ended up getting Alzheimer's at a younger age and to keep him busy, his family came up with this vehicle project for him.
He spent his final years working on it.
It was an interesting spot.
His wife still lives here and runs the museum in his memory.
We thought it was pretty great.
We got back on the road and came across another gorgeous residential area that we drove around and checked out.
So many beautiful homes just tucked into the hillside and they look so good there.
They just fit right in.
This was pretty much the scenery the whole way.
We came to this little town called Madrid.
We found a spot to park then went in to check it out.
The first place we went to was the town general store.
The lady was a race car driver in her youth, had a picture hanging of her younger self with the cars.
Said the male race car drivers didn't like it but she didn't care, she did it anyway.
She also had a framed letter to her husband from a company he'd represented in a law suit against Trump (he was a lawyer), thanking him because they'd won.
She was really interesting to talk to.
I felt like I should buy something so picked out a hand dipped candle which My Honey later pointed out looked just like a penis.
I didn't notice at first but it most definitely does and now I can't unsee it.
It was an artist's community you could see that right away.
Most of the homes along the main street were actually shops.
You could tell they weren't afraid to use a little color.
We went into a few of them and they had some lovely things.
I like the color of this little shop.
Like the sign.
There were these little demonic chihuahua's that I really like.
Cattle made of paper I thought was cool.
Another chihuahua.
We missed the Bug Show yesterday.
A well known movie artist who is famous for working with bugs was here yesterday.
He makes art with hissing cockroaches and other bugs.
The artwork is kind of cool looking.
The owner of the store was telling us about it and about his movie that he is currently working on.
I was looking forward to checking out this steampunk store.
The owner was very friendly and talkative in here as well.
She makes jewellery from old watch pieces.
They are actually quite beautiful.
Great cobra.
This place sold wood carvings.
They were huge and amazing.
These benches are awesome.
I'm always in awe of what people can create - so talented.
I thought this dragon was funky and cool
Just store upon store of creative works.
Cowgirl Red.
I love the color of this place.
Another cool piece on display.
We stopped in here for a coffee.
There were tons of people all over town just wandering around, checking things out.
The Mine Shaft Tavern.
It was a pretty funky looking place.
We stopped in there to use their facilities.
Then figured we'd stay and grab some lunch.
There was a big lovely outdoor deck full of seating.
The shade covers were doing their work, they were blocking out the sun and I actually didn't like it, I was a little chilly and would have preferred to have the sun beating down on me.
I'm weird like that though - I'm sure everyone else there appreciated them.
We always take advantage of the weather and eat outside when we can.
We likely wouldn't be able to do this back at home this time of year.
My Honey got another green chile burger with beer battered onion rings.
The beer flavor was so strong that I couldn't even eat them (I don't like beer).
I had the nachos.
They were really good and there were a lot of them - I wasn't able to finish.
After we finished eating we headed back to the car and saw some more interesting pieces on the way like this deer.
This ram.
These ones were pretty cute.
Another cool dragon.
These are some of the homes in behind the main street.
It really was a small little town.
This is the back of the general store - it sure doesn't look this big from the front.
I really like the mailboxes.
We hit the road again until we got to the next town.
There wasn't much in the town but there was this one shop we stopped to check out.
I love this dressed up skeleton.
Even the dog was a skeleton.
Then we were on the road again.
It seemed like in no time, we were in Sante Fe.
We headed right to the place My Honey had rented tonight.
It wasn't really a hotel, it was more of a condo rental.
We had a whole two story place to ourselves.
It was in a nice neighbourhood on a quiet street.
There were these adobe places right across that street.
We were pleasantly surprised when we went inside.
It had a big open concept kitchen and living room.
The fireplace made the living room cozy.
The kitchen had a low ceiling but I liked it.
The couch was super comfy.
There was a half bath off the living room, I really liked the sink.
Then we had to go check out the upstairs.
There were two bedrooms, the first had a double bed.
The second had two double beds.
This sink area was right in the bedroom.
Then one door led to a closet and the other to a toilet room.
It had a balcony off it with a lovely view.
We sat out there for a bit to take it all in.
Tested out the bed for a minute too.
There was a full bath upstairs as well and it had a cool sink too.
I liked this dresser.
I really liked this cabinet too.
We were tired from all the driving today so we just hung out and watched tv for a bit.
We took a walk over to check out the pool on the property - this was at the back of the place we were staying on.
It was very pretty.
Love this plant.
We decided to take a drive around town and just see what was around.
I love these big old trees.
They have autumn colors here too which I was not expecting.
It just looked so beautiful with the sun shining through it.
This was the best picture I could capture of this tree as we drove by.
It was stunning.
We were driving and we happened upon Santa Fe's "Old Town".
It looked like a cool place so we looked for a spot to park so we could check it out.
Another lovely tree.
The Old Town in Santa Fe had mainly adobe style buildings too and there's a pop of that blue that I love.
There were lots of restaurants with outdoor seating areas.
This rooftop one looked like a spot I'd enjoy.
I took a picture of the hotel across from the parking lot we parked in so we would be able to find the car after.
More gorgeous fall colors.
This looked like a giant topiary.
Oooh, I love the color of the door.
I love this bench.
I liked this tile - especially the large one on the door.
More of my favorite color.
I like all the wooden posts.
We found out that they make the mouths open on these clay pieces so the air can escape when they are baking.
There was a central park/plaza area in this old town too.
There was a really pretty church down at the end of the street so we walked over to it to have a closer look.
I think I like this old town even more than the one in Albuquerque.
It was quiet - a few people here and there but not huge crowds which was nice.
There was a performer here playing music and singing.
I really like how these buildings look.
This is just across the street from the church.
This was closed but if we ever come back, I'd check it out.
I really like those painted posts.
There was another huge park area just next to the church.
The sun was starting to set and it just cast a really pretty glow on the church.
We got there at the perfect time.
It was The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
There were a few statues in front of the church, this was one of them.
The front doors were very beautiful.
This is a close up of just a few of the carvings on the door.
Each section had a different scene, beautifully carved and so intricate.
It had these great lanterns on the side of it too.
We walked through the park and it was very peaceful and pretty.
It is still so surprising to me that they have a 'fall' here.
This was a fountain in the park.
This is looking back at the church from the park with the setting sun off in the distance there.
Gorgeous spot.
Isn't that dragon on top of the building great?
Love his eyes.
Just a very pretty tree I saw.
An art sculpture piece that I actually liked.
A fancy hotel we walked through the grounds of.
I didn't know what this statue was at first.
Pretty much everything was closing up by this time.
We did find a Christmas store that was open.
It had some beautiful things in it but we didn't get anything.
We did come across an ice cream place so we each had an ice cream.
Then we headed back to the car so we could go to supper.
We had a heck of a time finding it - it's a good thing we took that picture so we could ask for directions otherwise we'd have been looking all night.
We had just watched an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives last night and Guy went to this place in Sante Fe so we knew we just had to try it while we were here.
Dr Field Goods Kitchen.
It was smaller than I expected and the bar was quite prominent, more so than the tables anyway.
Photobomb!
Ha ha - he made me laugh when he did this.
We tried the Carne Avada
The peanut sauce is what sold me but they were way too spicy for me.
We shared the Bad Ass BLT.
This is what we came for.
They don't just put bacon on their BLT, that's a whole BACON PATTY and it was just as delicious as you would expect.
We were not disappointed in the least.
I loved these little ketchup packets they had.
We headed back to our condo that we had for the night and we picked this room to sleep in.
We had a full day again so we were ready to hit the hay but we did watch a bit of tv before heading to dreamland.
I just love seeing all that green!
That's all for today, until next time, be happy!
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