Day 309 -- Second day in Santa Fe

We began our day at Pasquel's Restaurant for breakfast.  Bill and I had been here before probably 20 years ago, and still remembered how great it was for breakfast.  It is much smaller than the crowd that wants to eat there, but we were lucky enough and early enough to beat the Sat. morning crowd and got a table.  The big attraction for Bill was to have trout for breakfast as he did the last time we were there with Dave and Paula--and he was a able to do so.  It was a great breakfast looking out onto the plaza and because we were at a window, we could do some people watching as well so we got to see some photo shoots of models while sitting there.

After breakfast, Avis and I walked over to the Basilica on the other side of the plaza which she had seen but I had not.  It was a beautiful church--very ornate and also home to the oldest carved alter piece of Mother Mary (I think that's right).  It was in a side chapel in the basilica.

Basilica 

Ornate front door with 20 engraved panels
(looks like the one we saw in Milan, Italy)

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The burgundy image on this altar piece is the
ancient Mother Mary--carved from wood as is
the entire altar piece

After we all got back to the car, we drove around in town for a little looking at the sights, and we learned from Harry that his Uncle Joe who lived in Abilene until their deaths were the creators of Burro Alley in Abilene--a very popular place to shop back in my younger days.  And his uncles got the idea from a street in Santa Fe that is called Burro Alley which at one time had been the red light district, but now has a few restaurants and shops.  Neat to learn that piece of trivia.

Next we drove out to "Museum Hill" where a number of museums have been built.  We didn't actually go into any of the museums but did stroll around the grounds which were interesting because of the sculptures and landscaping.

When we drove back into the downtown area, we parked and went to Luchchese's Bootmakers where I had learned that Ford and Donna Cole's son Loren was the general manager.  I walked right in and he knew me and I knew him and we had a delightful visit for about 30 minutes.  I'm so glad I took the time to go in and say hi.  He is really a fine young man and a very eligible bachelor!  Then we walked to the other side of the plaza to the Indian market where all the jewelry and other crafts are put on in front of the Governor's Palace by the natives of the area (not just Indians anymore).  It was fun to browse and talk to them.  When I was there as a much younger girl, I remember the merchants didn't talk to the customers really, but everyone was very friendly and talked about their jewelry and other crafts but weren't pushy.  Avis bought a ring, bracelet and earrings.  

When we made our restaurant reservations for Thursday night, we went ahead and booked a restaurant for Friday and Sat. nights as well.  Tonight's outing was to Coyote Cafe where Avis had eaten a few years back and really liked.  It was absolutely delicious and I'm really glad we went there.

Then we headed back to the hotel where we sat for a while in the lobby and listened to an Indian flute player while staying toasty warm by the big fireplace.