Santa Fe A-O'K!

July 18

We were so impressed with our quick tour of Santa Fe the night before that we were determined to wake up early so we could spend the whole day exploring. But, as it is with most days that we plan to wake up early, this didn’t work out as well as we had hoped. It turned out that we were more tired than we realized, so we slept late and didn’t make it to downtown Santa Fe until 10:30. Our first stop once we arrived: Starbucks.

Iced coffee drinks in hand, we strolled through an outdoor art show that was on a side street from the city’s central plaza. (It reminded us of Coop’s Labor Day Arts & Crafts show – only without the fudge samples.) We perused the booths, all showcasing the work of local Santa Fe painters, sketchers and photographers. B found a print she loved and decided to buy it, thus beginning the biggest shopping day of our trip.

After leaving the art show, we headed toward a boot store we had seen the night before through locked doors. The hole-in-a-wall store had shelves and shelves of cowboy boots and smelled very strongly of leather. We even saw one pair of jowboy joots (jean cowboy boots for those not familiar with janguage). We talked for a bit with the store owner who didn’t hesitate to name drop celebrities who had bought boots from his store – “Billy Bob Thorton bought a pair just like this that he keeps on display in his house.” – needless to say, the boots were all out of our price range, so we moved on.

We decided to split up to do some solo shopping around Santa Fe’s plaza. C headed up the street towards some of the shops while B & K opted for the long row of Navajo crafters who set up shop along the edge of the green. In order to sell their crafts, these vendors are required to show they can design and create all of their own products from scratch, all the way down to shaping and grinding the beads they use! We were told by our campground that because these vendors sell on Federal land, you can trust that the stones they use are legitimate. Turquoise, coral, onyx, amethyst – all the colors were beautiful! Needless to say, all three of us bought some jewelry.

C got the inside scoop from one of the jewelry-makers on a similar craft sale going on around the corner. This one featured the work of local children from the Navajo tribe. The kids ranged in ages from 4-17, and their work was of comparable quality to that of the jewelry we had seen around the corner! We met four-year-old Isabella, who showed us her specialty – brightly colored feathers that were beaded and tied on a piece of string. She told us they would bring good luck and protection to our car, so of course we bought one. It is now hanging from our rearview mirror with our collection of other “good luck” items, including a rabbit’s foot, pickle ornament, and the nail that pierced our tire.

For lunch we decided to eat at the Blue Corn Café, recommended both by locals and AAA. The margaritas, chips & guacamole, and blue corn tacos made for the best Mexican food we have had on the trip so far (see Taco Johns blog post The Day of the Biggest Mistake Ever). We were so full at the end of our meal, we could hardly move but we had an agenda to stick to: The Georgia O’Keeffe museum.

We were all fans of Ms. O’Keeffe’s work (none more so than C’s mom) and had been looking forward to this part of the trip for sometime. The museum was beautiful and was perfectly laid out – to curate an exhibition is an art form in itself. Seeing all of Georgia O’Keeffe’s use of color makes so much more sense now that we have traveled through the vast Southwest. The exhibit itself was of O’K’s lesser known, abstract works but we all agreed that she was able to capture the unique beauty of the local terrain so well that they were actually quite realistic interpretations. The museum also featured two short films detailing O’K’s life and her passion for the Santa Fe region. After spending a fair amount of time admiring the masterpieces, we perused the gift shop and selected a few choice souvenirs (details of which are unavailable as several of these items may or may not be intended as gifts…)

Our next stop was to the famous used cowboy attire store, Kowboyz. This store had it all! Racks of shirts, skirts, pants, hats, and rooms and rooms lined with shelf after shelf of authentic cowboy boots (did we mention the part about multiple rooms of just BOOTS!). We were in heaven. Each of us was on a mission to find the perfect pair boots and that obviously meant trying on every pair we came across that we even remotely liked. The storeowners were wonderful as they patiently offered advice, critiqued potential pairs and cleaned up our discarded boots without complaint. They remarked often at the dedication of these “city slickers” in their “Daisy Duke’s” (we were wearing shorts but nowhere near actual Daisy Duke style). Clearly these women had never encountered such determined shoppers. If they’re lucky, they won’t ever again anytime soon! C & B each snagged a pair of boots for the oh-so-reasonable price of under $100. (Steal!) And while K must have tried on about a million pairs, she couldn’t find the one – but not to worry, there’s plenty of trip to come!

Exhausted from our marathon-shopping spree, we were desperate for an ice cold beverage. We made our way back to the plaza and just as we began our search for the ideal watering hole, a man at a restaurant entrance called out “How would you ladies like to enjoy a cold drink & some live music?” Clearly our desire was etched across our faces. We climbed the stairs to the second floor bar/restaurant “Ore House” (a name we only later realized the implications of). Settled outside, we each ordered a drink (margaritas for C & B, and red sangria for K) and (of course) chips and dip. B’s drink was called “the 400” as a celebratory drink for Santa Fe’s 400^th birthday and the drinker was given a commemorative pint glass with the purchase. Unfortunately, the drink seemed to be more cheap tequila than anything else so the glass almost felt like a scam but any sort of swag makes B happy. All was not lost though, the chips and dip were tasty and C & K’s drinks were far more potable than B’s.

On the way back to the car, C passed a boy sporting a Villanova lacrosse t-shirt. Immediately she blurted out “Nova?!” Turns out, she was in the presence of a hopeful future wildcat (go cats go!).

The rain continued to gently fall and we spotted yet another spectacle in the Santa Fe sky, this time in the form of a double rainbow arching over the city. We tried our best to capture it on film as we were driving in the car.

With the grand finale of the day complete, we headed back to our campsite. A minor rain scare resulted in C & K overreacting and scrambling to put away everything (towels, chairs) that we had left outside. As we have come to appreciate after our many nights camping, there is no such thing as “too dry” clothes!

Mileage to Date: 5,843

States Visited: New Mexico

Yellow Car count:

C – 185

B – 208

K – 262

Highs and Lows:

Group high – boot shopping

Group low – rain threat

C high – Seeing the original Georgia O’K paintings

C low – not seeing more live music

B high – Navajo booths

B low – El Jimador

K high – Santa Fe

K low – not finding boots