6 - 2007 | ***Dave Does the Blog

Santa Fe – Wednesday

It was a somewhat restless night, not because of street noise, but because of the downdraft from the swamp cooler (which did, indeed, keep things cool) and the very firm…

It was a somewhat restless night, not because of street noise, but because of the downdraft from the swamp cooler (which did, indeed, keep things cool) and the very firm mattress.

Breakfast at the Inn was nummy — a big bowl of granola and a lovely light waffle. Ate on the porch, which was almost cool. That said, the weather during the course of the day was warm-bordering-hot, but not miserable. Margie’d done some checking, and it was likely to be the coolest day of the week, hence our doing Canyon Road.

Then … off to Canyon Road, one of the key art districts in Santa Fe. When we were here last time, we bought the Gary Mauro watercolor we have over the fireplace. This time …

… well, I’ve already written about what searching for art is like in Santa Fe. And we, indeed, did not buy anything, but made copious notes over the ten grand worth of artwork (well, maybe twenty if we went hog-wild) we really wanted. Really-truly.

Gah.

And that’s not counting the Nambé store.

It took us pretty much the whole day to do Canyon Rd. from top to bottom — and, of course, that doesn’t count a lot of the side streets, parallel streets, and other keen locales one can find spiffy art. Some of the highlights of what we found (some of which (cough) may end up being shipped to us …)

Some amazing watercolors by Robert Highsmith at Marigold Arts.
Amazing kinetics by Lyman Whitaker at Wiford Gallery.
Remarkable patina art by Nathan Bennett at Meyer-Munson.
The usual fantastic lithographs of Michael Parkes at Chalk Farm Gallery (he’s going to be at an opening of theirs on Friday).
Some spiffy ink/oil pieces by Amy Ringholz at Gallery 822.
Just gorgeous bronze animals by Tim Cherry at McLarry.
Nifty decorative art glass by Melissa Haid at La Mesa of Santa Fe.
A very cool octopus by/at Bogdanoff.
Some charming animal totems by Molly Heizer at Canyon Road Contemporary.
Fun stoneware tiles/plaques/pots by Polly Whitcomb at Canyon Road Pottery.
Even more fun cowgirl oils by Donna Howell-Sickles at McLarry.

Yes, we have, in fact, gone insane. No, we are not in fact buying all (or even most) of the above, though “some” seems fairly certain.

If nothing else, the above indicates our current taste in art (which is not to take away from other lists thereof) and how our eyes are bigger than our pocketbooks. The fact of which we are well aware of.

The number of eateries along Canyon Road has dwindled a bit (even as the number of homes converted to galleries has increased in the last decade). We skipped some overly-busy places, and went to the Tea House, up at the top of Canyon Road. They had a very nice sandwich menu, and an astonishing list of teas. Margie ended up with a fun ice chai; I had a coffee/red chili blend that was both tasty and a scosh too hot when all was said and done. Still, it was uncrowded, pleasant, tasty, and (like most of Santa Fe) a bit on the pricy side.

Got back to the Inn about 4:30p (having gotten a lot more discriminating about the places we went into on the hike back down), and rested for an hour or two, then headed out to dinner. After that, despite the impending thunderstorms (and the actual sprinkles, though most of the spectacular lightning/thunder was away north), we wandered downtown Santa Fe, took in a few shops, and stopped for a drink/dessert before heading back to the barn.

Tomorrow we’ll probably wrap up the Art Quest, and hopefully do a few other things. Friday is looking to be a busy Santa Fe day — the opera starts back up, so the gallery folks (a) are holding Many Openings and Shows, and (b) are suggesting we make sure we have reservations for dinner (which we’ve done).

Long day. Time to sleep, etc.

Restaurant review: Osteria d’Assisi (Santa Fe)

Recommended by my folks in their various peregrinations to Santa Fe, this Italian restaurant is located north of the Plaza, just across the street from the Federal Courthouse. Overall Food…

Recommended by my folks in their various peregrinations to Santa Fe, this Italian restaurant is located north of the Plaza, just across the street from the Federal Courthouse.

Overall
Food		Service
Ambience		Prices

Food: Mmmmmmm. Full course Italian dinners are available (each course a la carte) and everything sounded fabulous. We opted for a more abbreviated, less bloated dinner. Margie had a nice carpaccio antepasta, while I had a Caesar Salad (listed as a house specialty, but only nice, not great). We skipped the terribly tempting pasta course, and went straight to the “second” entrees. Margie had a rib-eye steak which was flavorful-to-die-for (and huge); I had the osso bucco (because, really, given the choice, how could I not?) which was melt-in-your-mouth savory and sweet.

Yum.

There was a long wine list — mostly Italian (red and white) but with various Californian (more expensive), too.

Service: We got there around 6:30p on a Wednesday, and were promptly seated. Waitstaff scurried about, and everything appeared quickly, was taken away quickly, and/or was dealt with quickly. Friendly and professional.

Ambience: A pretty little dwelling in downtown Santa Fe, done up nicely. There was also patio seating (which we didn’t ask for, as thunderstorms were a-brewin_.

Prices: Dinner — entrees plus one extra course each, plus a bottle of house wine — set us back $120. I didn’t feel cheated, but didn’t think we were getting any particular bargain. A same-vintage same-location Silver Oak that was $95 at El Nido was $125 here. Didn’t feel things were priced extravagantly, and no complaints about food or portion, but the prices weren’t any bargain, either.

Overall: It’s not tops in any of the guide books, but I could easily visit here multiple times and have something different each time (and almost certainly enjoy it). A nice experience.

Osteria d’Assisi – just two blocks from the Santa Fe Plaza at 58 South Federal Place, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, (505) 986-5858

Mayan S’more

At the Coyote Cantina. Dark … UPDATE: After we wandered around downtown Santa Fe after dinner, we stopped at the Coyote Cantina (a rooftop bar over the Coyote Cafe)….

At the Coyote Cantina. Dark …

UPDATE: After we wandered around downtown Santa Fe after dinner, we stopped at the Coyote Cantina (a rooftop bar over the Coyote Cafe). I had a very tasty margarita, and Margie had this concoction — which had a Mayan/unsweetened chocolate sauce, a creamy marshmallow layer, some dark chocolate, and a dark chocolate mousse on the bottom. Very nice.

Santa Fe – Tuesday

It was up and at ’em waaaaaaaay too early Tuesday, as we had a 6:45a flight out of SNA. Not much to say about that, except we got there in…

It was up and at ’em waaaaaaaay too early Tuesday, as we had a 6:45a flight out of SNA. Not much to say about that, except we got there in plenty of time (thanks, Jim & Ginger) and were able to secure exit row seats (as were Stan and Jackie).

Parted ways with those two at DIA and had lunch at the surprisingly tasty Chef Jimmy’s on Concourse A. It had been too busy on the way out, but we got a seat for two with no wait and had some very yummy (pricy, but worth it) food. Though it’s on A, I’ll make a point of swinging by there in the future even when flying out of B.

Then came a couple of hours of sitting and … sitting, waiting for our Albuquerque flight. Which eventually did come, and we boarded the little 2×2 CanadAir jet for the cramped but mercifully-but-an-hour hop to ABQ.

Bright and sunbleached, yet, ironically, greener than the San Joaquin Valley in California. That’s the summary panorama view of New Mexico right now.

Hit a disappointing snag at Hertz. I’d done a special rental request online for a Subaru Outback, a vehicle that’s on our current “hmmmm, do we want to buy that?” list. Instead, we got a Forester, which was not on the list (though, to be honest, it drove nicer than I remember in test drives — though, again, when test driving last car purchase, I was looking for what ended up to be the Impreza). More on the Forester some other time.

Drove the hour-or-so up to Santa Fe, and found (once again) the Inn on the Paseo. This is where we stayed last time (which was, cough, about a decade ago), but where my parents have been staying on their Grand Loops to Denver since. Though the room we had was on the street, the noise level was not bad. And it was a queen-size, not the king-size we requested — but that’s not bad either. 🙂

The Santa Fe art scene

It’s amazing how quickly, with exposure, things go from “that’s an outrageous price” to “hmmmmm, fairly reasonable …” UPDATE: The picture is unfair to the Santa Fe art scene,…

It’s amazing how quickly, with exposure, things go from “that’s an outrageous price” to “hmmmmm, fairly reasonable …”

UPDATE: The picture is unfair to the Santa Fe art scene, as there is an amazing variety of different styles, eras, cultures, media, and schools of art represented. Except nudes. There are always nudes. And expensiveness. There is always with the expensiveness.

The comment, to expand, is that one starts off at the foot of Canyon Road (the big art street in town) and looks at some Amazingly Beautiful and/or Impressively Crafted Pieces, considers how they would look in one’s living room, then looks at the price and wonders how they would look in the refrigerator box one would have to move into if one actually tried to buy them. Four figures minimum, for most stuff, going up into the five figures. Yikes.

Then you find something you like. That you really like.

And then something else.

And after the tenth or twelfth gallery, even though the prices haven’t changed, your sense of perspective has, such that a $2800 sculpture is no longer utterly absurd for something that small, but is, in fact, a relatively good price, all things considered.

I think it’s called the Stockholm Syndrome, where you start to sympathize with your captors …

Anyway, it’s an excellent reason to not impulse buy, but to write down everything you like and go ponder it overnight (or over dinner). And then go and max out the credit cards the next day, but more selectively. After all, why does the kid need a college education when there’s pretty art in the house for her to learn to appreciate?

Restaurant Review: El Nido (Santa Fe)

Overall Food Service Ambience Prices El Nido touts itself as an old-style steak house, and that fits perfectly. Nothing trendy here, nothing avant’garde or challenging — just big chunks…

Overall
Food		Service
Ambience		Prices

El Nido touts itself as an old-style steak house, and that fits perfectly. Nothing trendy here, nothing avant’garde or challenging — just big chunks of food, well prepared, served they way they would have been served decades ago.

Food: The menu is pretty simple. There weren’t any starters that caught our eye (except for their traditionalism — how long since you saw Oysters Rockafeller on the menu?), but there was a long line of steaks, roast, lamb, and sea food, which all came with veggies, a salad (Margie’s house salad was tasty; I upgraded to the Caesar which was both large and very garlicky, yum) and a side potato. You could also get specialty upgrades to the meats — I went for the green chiles, which were nicely sauteed and added a pleasantly spicy (but not hot) flavor to my New York. Margie went for roast beef and scallops, and had no complaints.

The specials were all sea food, and looked good.

The wine list was of moderate size, but had a wide varety, priced non-exploitatively, including Silver Oak ($95) and Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin ($28, our selection).

We passed on the desserts, as we were full.

Service: We were greeted nicely, and the staff were friendly and fairly attentive. Been a while since we had a separate cocktail waitress from our “regular” waiter. Glasses were kept full, food was served and cleared promptly.

Ambience: The exterior is a nice, low-slung adobe style, but the interior looks like a very mellow 1970s New Mexico decor — nothing garish, but nothing very interesting. It neither detracts nor adds to the experience.

Prices: Two sizable entrées (with some upgrades) and a lower-end bottle of wine set us back about $100. It felt like pretty good value for the food quality.

Overall: The place is supposed to be a favorite of Santa Fe opera-goers, and it certainly is a location we’d return to again. It’s not wildly creative or distinctly Santa Fean or a place where all the
in crowd and hot celebs are going to hang, but it’s good, well-cooked, well-served food, which is frankly mostly what we’re looking for.

El Nido is part of the 999Dine network of New Mexico (and Durango) restaurants, which lets you buy discounted vouchers beforehand. We got a $40 voucher online for $26 (with a day-of-week limitation), which was a nice discount.

El Nido is located north of Santa Fe about 5-7 minutes on Bishops Lodge Road, just a bit beyond Shidoni Foundry.

El Nido Restaurant, Tesuque, NM – Located at County Rd. 591 at Bishops Lodge Rd. 505-988-4340

KOA 2007 – The Big Summary Post

Because a big summary post worked last year … Had another great time this year, as usual. We had 49 along — nobody came up the second day, though a…

Because a big summary post worked last year …

Had another great time this year, as usual. We had 49 along — nobody came up the second day, though a few left on Sunday. Both Stan and Jackie decided to come out, and we were all on the same flights coming and going, which was fun (and convenient). Keith and Cass and their kids came down, too.

Katherine had a pretty fun time with most of the kids, though there was some “Oooh, icky girls” shenanigans from some of the boys.

Weather: Hot, as always, but not as bad as some years. Probably in the 90s or so. Got cool, not cold, in the evening (with sweat pants and a t-shirt I was fine at night).

Water: I only got out on the boat once, on Sunday morning, with Katherine. Watched her get on the inner tube three different times, but never managed to get out there myself with her (let alone on my own). Trade-off for …

Wine: Yeah, we did some wine tasting. Next year I suspect we’ll go out just one day, but we did make some very nice finds, and Jackie got to show her quick reflexes by avoiding a deer, so it was all good.

Whatever: This year’s theme was “Sports Camp,” so Friday night was “Tailgaiting” for dinner (taco bar, chips, brats, etc.), and Saturday afternoon we had “games” (marshmallow gun distance, word searches, sift out the safety pins blindfolded from a bucket of rice). Fun. Big hunks of beef and chicken Saturday night, lamb Sunday night. More than enough food, as always.

A very nice time. Minimal after-dinner gameplaying or anything (need to do something about that next year), but it was a blast having both Jackie and Stan out (and perhaps we can entice more Denverites to follow next year).

Pictures (such as they were) to follow.

UPDATE: BD has his version up.

Winetasting in Paso Robles

Okay, the rest of the trip was a lot of fun, too. Let’s get to the nitty-gritty. We ended up going tasting on both Saturday and Sunday — ostensibly…

Okay, the rest of the trip was a lot of fun, too. Let’s get to the nitty-gritty.

We ended up going tasting on both Saturday and Sunday — ostensibly to help Stan catch up with all the years that he didn’t come, but definitely abetted (all too well) by Jackie being the designated driver (and Margie the designated taster for Jackie).

SATURDAY:

Headed off in two cars — Mary, Lori, my folks, Margie, me, Stan, and Jackie.

Wild Horse: Lori wanted to go here, so here’s where we started. It’s way down in the SE corner of the Paso Robles area, and, as I decided last time, it’s a great place for swag, not much good for wine. The wine’s not bad, just not my cuppa. To each their own. Prices around $22.

Hansen: We headed over here next, remembering our visit last year with Bruce. And the visit did not disappoint. After some yummy tasting in the front room, he dragged everyone back into the tasting room, where we spent about the next hour doing barrel tastings. Some absolutely faboo stuff, with some added stuff coming soon. Not cheap — average is about $40 (pre-discount), but definitely worth it. Very glad we revisited. And, again, most of the folks who weren’t already wine club members signed up on the spot.

Our intent had been to do other East-side wineries, but in conversation with Bruce he recommended several others, all of which were in the West. And, honestly, if someone whose wine you really like recommends other places, that’s probably a good place to start.

Zin Alley. As soon as we walked in, I realized I had a bottle of their port. As soon as I tasted their port, I realized what a treasure that was. It’s sweet, sure, but it has a huge spicy Zin kick to it, like drinking cinnamon candy. Faboo. And their Zin is just as impressive (and, at $42, just as expensive a bottle — high for a Zin, but, IMO, worth it). Need to order some (Margie and I tried to avoid actually ordering wine to bring home, luggage constraints as they were.)

The dessert wine they were serving (Nerelli After Hour) was nice, but undistinguished, definitely suffering in comparison to the port (though priced the same).

Dover Canyon: Another Bruce recommendation — but one we’ve been to before which I’ve never really warmed up to. Sporting a big St Bernard on the cover, I find their wines — mostly, but by no means solely Zinfandels — to be a bit light and insubstantial, or just a bit off my preferred palate to be worth the $20-30 range. Margie did pick up a 2005 Tre Noce Zin-Syrah blend.

Pasolivo: Not a winery, but an olive oil place, estate grown and (for those who like that sort of thing) quite tasty.

And, with that, it was getting late (since camp games started at 4:30ish), so we headed back.

SUNDAY:

Oh, my, this was the whirlwind day. We talked Ginger into coming with us, and she … seemed to have fun. Jackie drove, with me and Margie and Stan as the main tasters. Our hope was to find some places with wines that Jackie would like.

Tablas Creek: Had to stop here, as members and general enjoyers of their wines. Nothing disappointed, except that Jackie didn’t like the dessert. Rats.

4 Vines: This one had a fun description and an advertised port. They were out of the port, but the description held up. Some astonishingly good Zins, a couple of Syrahs including one that Margie didn’t turn her nose up at … and I signed up for the club. It was that good. Wines in the $25-40 range, and that good.

Grey Wolf Cellars: My notes have been misplaced at the moment, but there was nothing here I was enthused about. Stan liked it, though. Decent enough, but nothing exciting or memorable (except for some interesting foodstuffs).

Lone Madrone: Associated with at least one of the winemakers at Tablas, this winery (tasting room at the old Bonny Doon site) is supposed to be a chance to break out of the classic Rhone wine rut and do something interesting. Well, the wines are interesting, even good, but seemed significantly overpriced for what they offered. Different strokes …

L’Aventure: This place is tucked way back in the hills, and does big, chewy Rhone/Bordeaux style wines, all of them very heavy on the Syrahs. Tasty (if you like Syrah), but too pricy at $40-75.

Castoro: I was starting to seriously fade by this point (having tasted at five wineries, most of them generous). I tasted a couple, but realized I wasn’t really tasting them, and decided to leave things be. A large complex, with an art gallery and jewelry sales. Seemed a nice place to visit, but I can’t speak to their wines. Stan seemed enthused, though.

Eagle Castle: This place is done up as a big castle (complete with moat, though looking vaguely Moroccan rather than European), and continues the theme inside. Impressive building. Again, I decided not to taste. I think Jackie liked this place, or something they had.

And that was enough for the day (and more than enough). We drove back to camp — and I eschewed the cocktail hour, too. 🙂

Many thanks to Jackie, though, for doing the driving. We ended up going to a lot more places than we would have otherwise (for better or worse). Good times, all around.

Potpourri for a Wednesday on Vacation

Robo-Dave suggests: The Housewives Tarot. (via De) There are already various patron saints of travelers (including my own patron, Christopher, feast day or not), but the Vatican thinks a…

Robo-Dave suggests:

The Housewives Tarot. (via De)
There are already various patron saints of travelers (including my own patron, Christopher, feast day or not), but the Vatican thinks a more commanding set of guidelines is needed — a Ten Commandments of Driving (hey, the last set ended up prompting a forty year road trip …). Though, all kidding aside, it’s not a bad set of guidlelines. (via Avocet)
Same sex couples that like pink and are adopting babies! ‘Tain’t natural!
Finland, Finland, Finland … A map of the US with the states renamed for countries with a similar GDP. Not sure the Canadians will appreciate being compared to Texas … but I suppose equating California and France makes a certain sense …

Mmmmmm …. Green chile …

Yumminess at El Nido….

Yumminess at El Nido.

First margarita of the trip …

… And I haven’t even left the airport….

… And I haven’t even left the airport.

Please litter

Margie and I were on the exit row to Denver. We were amused by the “Don’t worry, just drop it” part of the sign….

Margie and I were on the exit row to Denver. We were amused by the “Don’t worry, just drop it” part of the sign.

Potpourri for a Tuesday on Vacation

Robo-Dave suggests: Yes, what a candidate believes about evolution vs. creationism really does make a difference. “Now maybe evolutionary biology isn’t going to propel America into the forefront of…

Robo-Dave suggests:

Yes, what a candidate believes about evolution vs. creationism really does make a difference. “Now maybe evolutionary biology isn’t going to propel America into the forefront of world science, but creationism (and its gussied-up descendant “Intelligent Design”) is not just a campaign against evolution—it’s a campaign against science itself and the scientific method. By pretending that evolution is on shaky ground, and asserting that religion can contribute to our understanding of nature, creationists confuse people about the very form and character of scientific evidence. This confusion can only hurt our ability to make rational judgments about important social issues, like global warming, that involve science.”
Doyce devises a great Clifford the Big Red Dog / Nobilis mash-up. Hey, it makes as much sense as the “canonical” story, though when I went and regaled Margie with it, she did much eye-rolling.
The lakes and rivers of Antarctica. Once you get beneath the ice, that is. (via kottke)

Note to self

Despite closing eyes and humming loudly for the past couple of years, the site still looks like crap under IE6. Time for a redesign….

Despite closing eyes and humming loudly for the past couple of years, the site still looks like crap under IE6. Time for a redesign.

Entr’acte

Got back from KOA to the Ks this evening. Great, great, faboo time had by all. Lots (perhaps to excess) of wine tasting going on, but plenty of other activities,…

Got back from KOA to the Ks this evening. Great, great, faboo time had by all. Lots (perhaps to excess) of wine tasting going on, but plenty of other activities, and it was great to see Mary, Keith and Cass, and the usual gang of suspects, especially with Jackie and Stan along for the ride.

Tomorrow morning at 0-6-early, we take off back to Denver, but essentially transfer planes at DIA to head down to Albuquerque, thence to Santa Fe, for some special “just me and Margie” time, which should be even fabooer. Um, more faboo? Fabooiest? Molto faboo? Fabooisimus? How about, “simply marvelous”?

DOF presents a very nice article on getting the most bang for the buck in various efforts to stop global warming. Worth a read.
Iwo Jima is being renamed Iwo To by the Japanese government — but this isn’t some sort of historical revisionism or the like — the Japanese military misnamed the Japanese-owned island in the first place (the two names are written with the same characters, but pronounced differently; the military used the Iwo Jima name after they evacuated all civilians and took over the island).
The Star Wars galaxy — if you include all sorts of stuff from the novels and the like. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this map before, perhaps during Doyce’s old SW game, but it’s still pretty fun. (via kottke)
There’s The Rat Patrol … then there’s the Real Thing.

Wine Tasting

Stan, Margie, Ginger at Gray Wolf, Paso Robles….

Stan, Margie, Ginger at Gray Wolf, Paso Robles.

Frog Balls

Margie said this needed blogging about….

Margie said this needed blogging about.

Month: June 2007