We Heart Santa Fe

Cafe Pasqels

Day Eleven: Santa Fe

• days within budget: 4
• Prairie dog colonies seen in the middle of town: 2
• % of meals involving green chile: 100%
• nights slept in tent so far: 1

Santa Fe Rat

Today was a lovely day indeed. We had a wonderful night's sleep in our tent and managed to snooze until 9 am. We had the luxury of making our own coffee, and spent two hours drinking it in the shade of the courtyard. Alix and Anderson left early for some yard sales ( a temptation I must resist due to limited space).

After coffee, the Pirate and I meandered through the neighborhoods again and had fun discovering all of the courtyards and gates and nichos (oh my). Santa Fe feels a little like the historic district of Charleston, SC with all of the hidden gems and quaintness around every bend.

Alix & Anderson

Our first stop is the Santa Fe farmers market in the railroad district. Whoa. At 11 am it is bustling like Bele Chere. There are beautiful stands of beets, onions and carrots, folks selling grass fed meats and home made sausages, eggs, artisan cheeses, you name it. There was a harpist set up in one corner, then a little ways down a dude wearing lipstick and playing the steel guitar, and a little past that a three piece band with a stand up bass player wearing a top hat. We indulged in an apple cider slushie, which was just as delicious and refreshing as it sounds.

From the farmer's market we headed into the heart of downtown in search of breakfast. The Pirate declared that we should search for the Santa Fe equivalent of Early Girl or Over Easy. The Force is now activated, and the search is on. It takes him all of about 4 minutes to sniff out Cafe Pasqual, a colorful, busy looking spot on a corner. The menu looks amazing. The wait is 30 minutes. We add our names to the list, plunk down into two chairs in the only eddy in the place, and read their cook book. It turns out that this restaurant has won the James Beard award, and the chef was nominated for Best Chef. We're in for a treat.

Bobcat Bites

We got our coffees and then agonized over the menu. This menu is excruciatingly good, there is no easy choice. We finally decide on the _________________. When it comes, it is a vision of saucy goodness; two over easy eggs piled onto slow cooked beef on top of house made corn tortilla in a pool of red sauce. We savored every bite and all but licked the plate. Our server even complimented us on eating the cilantro garnish. Our second course is a melt in your mouth short bread cookie with anise. Our third course is a sundae glass with house made pineapple ice cream, roasted pineapple salsa and another anise shortbread cookie. Whew. We'll eat there again tomorrow.

The rest of the afternoon is spent in the afterglow of that meal. We walk through the beautiful Basilica on the square, and pop in to a few tourist-y shops. Mostly we're happy to be walking and not riding today. We walk back to our base camp and have naps, chat with A & A a little, and then head out of town about 5 miles for our next meal.

Bobcat Bite is a burger joint. It's right on Hwy 285, and feels pretty much like a trailer. When you get there, you add your name to a dry erase board and prepare to wait about 3o minutes. We sat outside and enjoyed the cool air of the approaching thunderstorm. When our name is called, we're seated at the bar in little soda shop looking chairs. The menu is simple and straight forward with the rare treat of temperature cooked burgers (something we can't seem to get in NC). We order the green chile bacon burger cooked medium rare. OK, vegetarians and well done lovers might want to skip the next part. So, the burger comes (finally) and it is HUGE. 1/3 lb to be exact. It's on a gorgeous bun that looks like its had an egg wash. With the first bite juice and bright red blood drip all over the chips on the plate. The burger is steaming hot with the most perfectly pink center you've ever seen. The bacon is crisp, the chile are hot and the bun is hearty enough to hold it all together. It's probably the best burger we've ever had.

Dale

I guess when we're not riding, we're eating. Not a bad life.

Good night ya'll. Sweet dreams.

~The Mermaid