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#12 Santa Fe, New Mexico
By admin | November 29, 2009
This is a way cool town. From somebody from the East Coast, it is easy to see why it gets so much press.
I drove north on I-25, which is the main north-south highway in Albuquerque and leads directly into Santa Fe. It is about a 70 mile drive and very few drivers were paying any attention to the speed limit.
The scenery is “high desert” and not particularly spectacular to look at in New Mexico terms, but was pretty interesting if this is your first visit to New Mexico and you are from the East Coast.
I didn’t have much time and no map or GPS, so I just got off at one of the highway exits that seemed to be in the middle of town and followed the signs to the campus of St. John’s University.
The guy I sat next to on the plane flight out had recommened the restaurant Maria’s and luckily I happened to see it on the way to visit the campus.
It is a friendly, family type of place with a small bar. The waitress would not this me order a taco, saying “You can get tacos anywhere.” She recommended a pulled pork dish with green chilis that was delicious but almost too spicy.
I was struck by how friendly the other patrons were in the restaurant, with several people making eye contact and saying hello as they walked by my table to get to theirs. That does not happen in Philadelphia.
After my dinner, I decided to drive back to Albuquerque has it was getting dark and I did not want to be on the roads at night. New Mexico has one of the highest drunk driving rates in the country and I was mindful of the number and speed of the cars on the drive up.
The second time I was here
Got off on Saint Francis exit
no place to park
The Shed Restaurant on the plaza
restrooms B-
Georgia O’Keeffe museum on Johnson st. $20 to get in
bathrooms – B+
Couldn’t find the capitol
Other
lots of plague
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