Bad Ass Coffee:
Located off the beaten track, well, in a way off the beaten track, on NM State Route 550, or 54, or 505, or I don’t recall, but there was a beacon that caught my attention. In a big way. The sign read: Bad Ass Coffee. I whipped that little rent car into the parking lot, skidded on sand and gravel and pulled up to park beside a Rio Rancho cop. I hopped out and started snapping pictures of the sign.
Inside, the cop was making time with the little girl working behind the counter. I looked around and smiled a lot. I asked about the coffee beans, source, and so forth, as there was a big push towards “Kona” coffee – although, in my experience, it’s a rare to find really pure Kona.
I had a shot of espresso and asked for dining suggestion, local, not the kind place a tourist would go. Or ought to go.
“Go to the Walgreen’s and take a right.”
Church in Old Town:
New Mexico or New Mexican cuisine burst on the scene a few years ago. Flat enchiladas, green chile, hot, but not that Jalapeno hot. Hatch (NM) Chile Peppers, blue corn tortillas, chips, &c.
“The Church” in Old Town Albuquerque serves typical New Mexican fare. I queried the Pisces server about flavor, and didn’t get much of an answer. However, it was good. All good. Loved the place. Ate there a couple of times, and there’s one I don’t get, sopaipilla? Apparently, it’s a New Mexico thing – like – instead of tortillas.
Georgia O’Keefe Museum:
About a hundred paces from the square in Santa Fe, there’s the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. While I didn’t have time to make her Ghost Ranch, I couldn’t pass up a chance to see some of the works, a taste I developed last month in Vegas.
Walking into the museum, an exiting patron (female) said, “She paints evil flowers.”
Not the way I’d see it. What I’ve got to find, now, is a textual source for many of the quotes O’Keefe had – she was quite lucid in respects to her art. Or art in general.
Something in the entrance, something in the foyer, perhaps it was the out-sized paintings of flowers that aren’t evil, just very erotic, perhaps it was the starkness of the backdrop, maybe it was recent events, but something brought tears to my eyes. I’m not even sure what. Sadness and yet affirmation.
Evil? Yeah, whatever. I find her artwork, or most of the paintings, exceedingly sexy.
The Range in Bernalillo:
Twice, maybe three times, I was recommended to try “The Range.” Finally, the little Libra in Bad Ass Coffee – the first recommendation was closed, but the second was The Range and the directions were accurate and the food was good. Slightly different tang to the red sauce, and no fresh fried tortilla chips, but still, it was good. Very good. However, even in New Mexico, their version of “spicy?” Yeah, not so much. Although, for some mortals. It’s possibly too hot.
Rothko in the gift shop:
The New Mexico Museum of Art – or something like that, just off the square in Santa Fe, it was closed on Monday. However, the Museum’s gift shop was open.
Support the arts any way we can these days, and in the uncertain economic climate? Yeah, that’s the best I could do. I’d like to find some more of the Rothko greeting cards. Some of them were worthy of framing.
Economics:
Rent car versus mass transit? The fundamental problem with our current economic situation, and that includes the transportation industry? The biggest problem? It’s about approach and solutions. From the moment we landed, even before, I spent considerable energy looking for an inexpensive route from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. Day trip, just hop a bus, a train, something. Shuttle passes were in the neighborhood of $50 or more, per person. Shuttles had a variety of options, none very good, and what finally worked? I asked the desk clerk.
“Rent a car for a day,” she said.
Car rental – with optional insurance and applicable NM fees? $81.12. Cheapest shuttle? $90. However, as a Western Male, we are used to our freedom of movement.
“You can have it when you pry it from my cold, dead grip.”
The Plaza Cafe:
The Plaza Cafe, or diner, or whatever it’s really called, it’s been on the plaza in Santa Fe for years. Claims to be over a hundred years old. Yeah, I’m not so sure. But the food wasn’t just good, it was excellent. Eggs and hot sauce on a delightful and tasty fresh corn tortilla. Followed by some sopapillos.
Yet another handful collection of digital images from the Albuquerque trip are here, here, here, and here.
Me?
My next stop is 200, maybe 250 miles due south. El Paso, TX.