Way West, Day Five

 We got up early so we could find decent parking near the Plaza. Stopped in some early shops and then checked out the Indian jewelry spread on blankets under the portal at the Palace of Governors. The local First People compete in a lottery for the right to sell here, and they must be juried worthy of participating first.

Then DH sat in the Plaza square while I burned my feet running store to store, mostly just to see. Everything was too expensive for my blood. I found the proverbial tourist tee shirt; in the dress shops I saw a tee top for $465!!! It stayed right there too. A knitted stocking cap was $150.

For lunch our favorite local place on the square was closed for remodeling. So someone on a park bench directed us to The Shed, local food for nearly 50 years. It was good. DH had his with no chile of course. I had mine served Christmas, that is a little red and a little green. Both chile sauces had a nice bite.

After lunch we were getting tired but drove down Canyon Road. We passed on going into the galleries and wound our way through Santa Fe’s crooked streets to our motel for some reading and resting. Later after a sandwich in our room, we went out to check out the Cowgirl Bar and Grill. The guide book said it was a good place to people watch in Santa Fe.

This was true. Since we had no desire for a full meal, we sat at the community tables with a nightcap. There we were entertained beyond belief by all local fellows. One fellow was a wee bit in his cups already, but he was interesting. He was a great great- descendent of a man who traveled with Coronado and who later received Spanish land grants. The family had raised sheep until the sheep/cattle wars when they changed to cattle. Daniel said it was safer for them! There were other great stories from the others as well, but when Daniel decided he wanted to take us home with him, we decided we better return to the motel for the rest of the night.