The quiet and shady downtown was created as a stop on the Santa Fe Trail. The pretty plaza area was also the site where, during the Mexican-American war in 1846, Stephen Kearny delivered an address from the roof of one of the buildings claiming New Mexico for the United States.
After exploring the plaza, we headed to the nearby Amtrak station to check out the La Castaneda Hotel – a mission style Harvey House built in 1898. The U-Shaped, two-story building is mostly boarded up, but a walk around the porch that wraps the entire building still gives a person a sense of the style and glamour that once emanated from the place. La Castaneda needs someone with vision and a BUNCH of money to get it back to its original condition.We hopped back into the car and on to I-25 for the short drive through the Sangre De Christo (Blood of Christ) mountains to Santa Fe. As we drove and appreciated the scenery outside the windows, we found ourselves discussing the difference between a mesa, a butte and a plateau. Try it sometime. Even Google stumbles a little on that one.
While looking in the guidebooks for definitions, as well as a place for the boys to blow off a little steam, we ran across an entry about El Rancho De Las Golondrinas (The Ranch of the Swallows). The ranch, which operated as a stopping place for travelers on the road to Santa Fe from Mexico City, had been restored and opened as a living history museum in the early 1970s.
We spent the remainder of the morning meandering through the 200-acre museum of wandering paths, log, sod and adobe buildings and working grist mills and farms. The cottonwood trees along the creeks were in full bloom. The fluffy white seeds falling from the trees were as thick as a gentle snowfall and covering the dirt paths. The staff working at the farm were knowledgeable and kept the boys entertained with stories of life in a 17th and 18th century Spanish village.
Probably the coolest thing we learned was in the general store. The guide there explained the origin and story behind the phrases “two bits,” “four bits,” and “six bits,” as well as “pieces of eight.”
Although bartering was the main means of trade in the old Southwest, American and Spanish currency were also used. Spanish dollars were called “pieces of eight” (Peso de a Ocho) because they were worth eight Reales – the most common form of Spanish currency. At the time, the US Dollar was also divided into eight pieces called “bits.” The similarities made using both forms of currency just a little easier on the Southern frontier borders.
From the ranch, we traveled into Santa Fe and met up with Ross’ Aunt Deaun. She gave us a tour of her adobe home, fed us cookies and Splash and treated us to a late lunch at the China Star buffet. Deaun has a back patio with a wonderful view and beautiful flowers and bushes. Ross and I both decided Deaun’s home was just perfect for retirement – just the right size and easy to maintain. We enjoyed our visit very much. What a treat to see relatives on the road.
From there, we headed up to Museum Hill and quickly toured the Museum of International Folk Art. This quirky museum boasts that it is the largest of its kind in the world. The mission of the
museum is to connect people of different countries by assisting them in understanding each other by understanding each other’s folk art traditions. While we were there, two exhibits were on display for this purpose: an interactive shadow puppet display from Indonesia and an exhibit featuring Asian embroidery and metal work.Most impressive was a 10,000 square foot gallery filled to the brim with toys, dolls and dioramas from all over the world. The crowds were high in this museum as there was also an International Folk Art Festival occurring on the plaza just outside. Needless to say, we sped through and headed out.
We finished up the event filled day at the La Quinta Hotel for a much needed dip in the pool, an impressive New Mexico mountain storm, some quiet, some snacks and ultimately, some much needed sleep.
