DAY FIVE: 9/14/09

Today is our last full day in Santa Fe. I sent Matt down for his morning coffee (walking) and I drove to meet him later. We visited a glass gift shop (the glass blower was not there) and I tried to visit a glass bead shop but it was closed. The curse of the lack of Monday shop hours. We then drove back to the Plaza so we could see it after the close of La Fiesta.

Before visiting there, we tried to tour the Cathedral. They were having a funeral so we could not go in, but there were windows set into the wall so we could look in and listen to the service. We could also visit the gift shop, of course. In the Plaza, there was a great decrease in the number of food booths on the Plaza, but an increase in the number of individual native vendors surrounding the Plaza. So, I bought a pair of earrings for myself. Although I do love my ring, I wish somewhat that I had waited until today to look for it.

There was a fountain outside the cathedral that was dedicated to the “first European settlers”. There was a monument in the Plaza dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives to the “rebels” and “savages”, meaning, of course, the Native Americans. There was another plaque there that mentioned the monument was carved using “words of the time” and that, hopefully, times and words have changed. I hope so, too, as the use of the word “rebels” to describe the residents prior to the solders seems rather rude.

We walked to the Loretta Chapel which was open! We were allowed to take flash pictures which we took full advantage of. I took one of Matt in front of the staircase. We, again, visited the gift shop.

We walked up to the Upper Crust Pizza restaurant, which we visited for drinks only on Saturday. This place was voted best in 2009 and it lived up to its reputation (great pizza and garlic bread!). Two met two couples from Arizona and a couple with a whippet. The storm clouds were beginning to move in so the sky was spectacular.

We visited the Mission, next door to the pizza restaurant. It was closed on Saturday because we didn’t get there until after 5 PM. We were also allowed to take pictures inside and, again, could visit the gift shop. I started getting overcome with heat (the couple from Arizona said it was “cooler” in Santa Fe) so we started back to the car. Matt wanted to visit the Native American musical instrument shop he missed on Saturday so I sat in the shade while he went inside; he was disappointed in the lack of instruments and the high prices.

Back in our room, we enjoyed a little rest and air conditioning, then went in search of the Kokopele tile I didn’t buy the other day. We went to another souvenir center but it only had one in navy blue (not a color we used in our house). Despite the opportunity of buying a full-sized, rearing horse, we left and returned to the Jackalope. Good timing on our part as we only had 10 minutes to closing, but were able to find both the one we were looking for and another one with pueblos on it.

We also drove back to where we viewed the burning of Zozobra so we could see how far up we had to climb.

We talked about dinner (the possibility of eating only chips in our room didn’t appeal) and settled on Carl’s Jr., where we enjoyed tasty chicken strips and rather enjoyable fries. Alas, there was too much food to eat so we actually brought 3 of 8 chicken strips back to the room where they remain uneaten.

We found an Office Depot and picked up some bubble wrap and tape so we could protect our purchases. After returning to the room, I told Matt I wanted to pack the suitcase with clothes so I could add the bubble-wrapped purchases where they won’t get squished.

Currently, at 8:30 PM, we are ending our stay in Santa Fe watching TV and working up an appetite for chicken strips and chips.