She and Bill booked a room at Inn of the Turquoise Bear so we chose to do the same. We flew into Albuquerque airport on Friday afternoon. The airport (they call it a 'sunport') feels VERY southwest, with Saltillo tile floors, Pueblo style pots and decor all around. It's about an hour drive to Santa Fe. We arrived to find a walled compound with luminarias all around the top of the walls. It was dinner time when we got in so after finding our cozy room, we headed out to the main plaza to find some food.
All the trees in the plaza are lit up so at night it looks beautiful. The weather is cold and clear. We stopped at Thunderbird Bar for some shrimp and Frito pie (which is a New Mexico specialty). We managed to get a quick stop into the Five & Dime for some souvenirs before it closed and then headed back to the hotel and bed.
In the morning, we went to the main building to check in and get breakfast. They had a big table with a great spread of yogurt, fruit, breads, and cereals, as well as a daily special. Today was frittata, chicken sausage and tomato salad. The food was delicious. The rooms are wonderfully decorated with local art and prints. Edie's family had arrived quite late last night so we greeted each other over breakfast.
We all set out for the day to walk to the Georgia O'Keefe museum with a detour at the state capital building. Again we found local art liberally displayed throughout. It seems New Mexicans are proud to show off their local artists at every opportunity. The O'Keefe museum is small but has a wide variety of styles of her art.
After the museum, we walked back to the Inn to drive to a local donut shop, Whoo's. We met up with Vid and his daughter Mira. Next to the donut shop is a chocolate place called ChocolateSmith. From the doughnut shop, we made a brief pit stop at a local market for some more substantial eats and then headed to Canyon Rd for some gallery hopping.
The variety of art styles on display in the galleries on this street is remarkable. We stopped at about 5 galleries and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. By this time, we were all pooped out so we headed to Vid's AirBnB to rest. Eventually, Russell's family arrived to make the party complete.
Dinner that night was at Sazon. This turned out to be a remarkable meal. The restaurant is decorated (again) with art. The food is Mexican inspired but with fine dining level creativity. We started with small samples of 6 moles served with mini tortillas (which were soft and delicious). The black bean soup of the day was one of the best things I've ever eaten. The chef came to say hello to our table after our starters. We all thoroughly enjoyed our mains. Mine was duck with a rich poblano mole (not too spicy). Mei had salmon with a different sauce. The chef's special dessert was a creation that revealed different flavours as it melted on your tongue from ginger to avocado ice cream to chili. Really remarkable. The volcano cake and pastry cream with berries were both excellent as well.
We finished the night back at the BnB with whiskey and girl scout cookies.
The next morning, after another delicious breakfast of blue corn pinon pancakes and maple bacon, Mei and I said goodbye to Edie, Bill and the girls for our drive back to ABQ and flight to LAX. We had a short visit but we both decided Santa Fe is worth returning to again, but maybe in warmer weather!
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