City Different Afternoon

Went this past weekend to New Mexico for one of our last weekends that was primarily relaxation.  On Saturday, we spent the weekend running some errands, but those tasks had the benefit of being run in downtown Santa Fe -- one of the last truly unique places in America.

MFA_070203

One thing that most people don't know is that it's one of the oldest cities in America, founded by the Spanish in 1610 -- just a few years after the English settled Jamestown.  It's at a pretty high elevation (7300 ft) and is pretty devoid of heavy industry, and so is really beautiful and clean -- the air, especially in winter can be breathtakingly crisp (the pic at right is the NM Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday which was a beautiful blue sky day).  It's a haven for new-agers, artists, and a fair amount of counter-culturists.  It's also a pretty popular retreat for Hollywood-types -- Val Kilmer and Julia Roberts are locals and Shirley MacLean was a couple of tables over from us at brunch on Sunday.

And that's all fun, but what makes Santa Fe (occasionally referred to tongue-in-cheek as Fanta-Say, or more proudly, The City Different) so special is the blending of cultures that are still in strong evidence there -- Hispanic, Native American, Mexican, and Anglo-American (note that Hispanic is NOT equivalent with Mexican -- Hispanic refers to the descendents of original Spanish colonists).  Santa Fe is still small enough, and the proportion of Anglos small enough, that it hasn't been completely homogenized by mainstream American culture.

Palace Vendors

Shopping in Santa Fe can be an interesting experience. There are a large number of wealthy retirees and a large number of artists in town which makes for a substantial number of expensive art, jewelry and objects d'art galleries.  But on the weekends, the place to be is on the town plaza at the Palace of the Governors, where Native American peublo people sell wares.  Its very old school -- and when I say old, I mean centuries (the palace is the oldest constantly-occupied public building in America).  The Native American line up along one wall (the one that catches the afternoon sun) and spread what they're selling out on the blankets.  There's a lot of stuff, but it tends towards pottery, jewelry, touquoise, silver and fabrics.  Some are regulars -- you can see some of the same vendors there each time you go... but more often than not you better get something when you see it, because very likely you can't count on being there the next time.  So much more fun than going to the mall...

Green_chili_stew

I think I need to say that after traveling pretty broadly that New Mexico, and Santa Fe in particular, has the best food per capita in America.  Taking its cues from its Hispanic, Mexican, Anglo-cowboy, and Native American heritages, New Mexico has incredibly diverse and flavorful food -- it is however not for the timid.  The most characteristic ingredient is green chiles -- the harvest for which is a major cause for celebration in the fall.

Frito Pie

We stopped at a local bar and treated ourselves to some classic New Mexico fare -- green chile beef stew and frito pie.  Frito pie, you ask?  Take Fritos, beans, green or red chili (I chose red -- you can choose both, that's referred to as "Christmas") and some token lettuce.  At some take out establishments, the chili-bean mixture is poured into an actual bag of Fritos -- the lettuce is ignored.  It may sound strange, but its awesomely good for lunch with a margarita, and provides plenty of sustenance for the next errand.