Monday, February 29, 2016

new mexico | exploring santa fe

Santa Fe 2014
When we got back from Acadia in September - our third vacation of the summer of 2014 - I knew our season of crazy travel was over and I prepared myself to settle in for fall at home. But I was wrong - less than three weeks after we got home from Maine, Larry and I found ourselves in New Mexico.

Larry had a business trip for a meeting at Bandelier National Monument and I insisted on tagging along. Larry and I often discuss which city we'd like to live in when we eventually leave DC, and oddly enough neither of us have ever been to our top three contenders: Savannah, GA, Portland, OR, and Santa Fe, NM. (Why do we think we'd like to live in these places if we've never been there? Our top criteria for what makes a location appealing include access to nature/outdoor activities, artsiness, beautiful scenery, and climate.) Anyway, Santa Fe is known for being an artsy town and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see whether it would be a good place to live. Also, we would be in New Mexico during the weekend of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, an event that I'd been dying to photograph for years. And thirdly? New Mexican cuisine! Yum!

On Wednesday, October 1st we flew into Albuquerque and drove the scenic Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe. All the budget hotels were booked due to the upcoming Balloon Fiesta, so we lucked into staying at the amazing Hotel St. Francis on the company dime. One of the nicest hotels I've ever been to - the arched doorways, fireplaces, iron chandeliers, pillar candles, and baptismal font in the lobby made it feel like we were staying in a monastery.
Santa Fe 2014
Santa Fe 2014
While Larry spent the next day in meetings, I was free to explore Santa Fe by foot. I walked to the Plaza downtown and had breakfast at Plaza Cafe - Santa Fe's oldest restaurant which was established in 1918. I am helpless to resist any huevos dish while traveling and stuffed my face with Huevos Divorciados (Divorced Eggs) and prickly pear lemonade. New Mexico knows how to do breakfast right! (Though my mouth was a little numb from the chipotle salsa!)

My next stop was the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. I always thought O'Keeffe's work was revolutionary, even though flower and skull paintings are not what I would choose to hang in my own home. (Also, it is a myth and misinterpretation that her flower paintings were representative of female parts!) I was interested to learn about O'Keeffe as a person and found I could really relate to her. She loved nature and travel, she loved to cook and grow her own food, and she was fiercely independent and did what she wanted to. Yes! I found her to be a very inspiring person and look forward to reading more about her.
Santa Fe 2014
Santa Fe 2014
Santa Fe 2014
Santa Fe 2014
I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown Santa Fe and going into nearly every shop searching for affordable pottery and turquoise jewelry, but everything cost thousands of dollars, so I settled for a couple of postcards and woven baskets. I photographed the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi before meeting Larry back at the hotel room.
Santa Fe 2014
Santa Fe 2014
Santa Fe 2014
"Love one another constantly." I'm not one for church, but I love that!

I found Larry resting in bed shirtless: his body was white, but his head was tomato red. Poor guy walked around the desert all day and forgot sunscreen.

Red chili dressed as a green chili:
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In the evenings we went to the bar in the hotel - the Secreto Lounge, which was fantastic. The bartender, Chris Milligan, is one of the top bartenders in the country and he makes a Smoked Sage Margarita which tastes like licking a campfire...but with tequila. I usually don't even like margaritas, but this one one of the best drinks I've ever had.
Santa Fe 2014
And sometimes we just took our evening beers back to the room.
Santa Fe 2014
Santa Fe 2014
One night we walked down to Canyon Road - this is the true art district in Santa Fe and is home to over 100 art galleries. They were incredible. Once again, I searched for an affordable piece of art to bring home with me, but the cheapest works I saw where in the $6000 range! But I loved exploring the galleries - there was some really amazing stuff. My favorites were the kinetic sculptures. We also saw fire dancers, and actor Sam Shepard sitting at the bar where we went for dinner. At the end of the night, a band started playing in the restaurant and all the old hippies started dancing and grinding to the music. They were into it and it was awesome. Santa Fe definitely has a fun vibe and fun people.

And I can't write about Santa Fe without discussing the food...all of it was delicious! Chiles and cheese on everything! All the huevos! All the guacamole! All the margaritas! Get in my belly! Our favorite was the renowned Cafe Pasqual's, which definitely lives up to the hype.

We really enjoyed visiting Santa Fe and the surrounding area and would love to come back - there is much more to see and eat! But Larry and I agreed we don't want to live there. I think since both of us are east coasters and grew up surrounded by green grass and trees, that the desert just feels too brown and flat for it to feel like home. But wow is it a fun, interesting, and delicious place to visit!

Saturday, February 27, 2016

maine | the finale and more pictures of trees

Maine 2014
Finally! The last of the pics from Maine.

In retrospect, I wish we had spent more of our time in Maine just lounging around the cabin. Sometimes it's so hard to force yourself to just do nothing. We tried to see everything we could in Acadia, but it would have been a perfectly wonderful vacation if we had spent the entire week relaxing and never left Sans Souci camp.  Our own private peninsula on a lake with an incredible view and cozy fireplace - what else could you possibly need?
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We did have one rainy day (September 11th) which was a good day to hang out in the cabin and read. (Ironically, I never finished the book I was reading. Maybe I really should've spent more time at the cabin! MORE READING, LESS PHOTOS!)
Maine 2014
Maine 2014
Maine 2014
Maine 2014
Maine 2014
Maine 2014
Maine 2014
Maine 2014
We made a quick trip into Southwest Harbor to pick up some pasta, sauce, and a bottle of wine at a fancy little market and cooked dinner in that night. It turned out to be the most delicious pasta and sauce we've ever tasted. We eventually tracked down the Stonewall Kitchen Truffle Marinara and Cipriani Tagliolini in Virginia and every once in a while, we treat ourselves to our "Maine meal" for special occasions (it's pricey stuff). One bite of that pasta and I'm immediately transported back to that cabin in Maine - a fire crackling in the fireplace inside and the moon reflecting on the lake through the big picture window outside. Perfection.
Maine 2014
On our last day in Acadia, we had some time before we had to drive to the airport, so we went back to Jordan Pond House to get our fill of popovers. Those things are so damn good!
Maine 2014
We took a few pictures at the pond including my favorite picture ever of Larry "feeling up Mother Nature." Then we took the camera back to the car, and decided to hike around Jordan Pond without the distraction of stopping for photos. I didn't think there would be much to take pictures of anyway, but it turned out to be a great little hike - flat trail with log boardwalks and boulders to climb over. It was a magical way to spend our last few hours in Maine.
Maine 2014
Maine 2014
Maine 2014
As I wrote in the guest book, Sans Souci camp was one of the best places we've ever stayed. Maybe we'll go back some day and just sit in the cabin and enjoy doing nothing!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

maine | hiking gorham mountain

acadia
So, one of the worst things you can do on vacation is go hiking after you got up before the crack of dawn to see the sun rise and are getting by on very little sleep. But this is exactly what we did the morning after we watched the sun rise at Cadillac Mountain: we set out to hike the Gorham Mountain Trail. The panoramic views of Acadia from the trail were incredible, but man, were we cranky.
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Cranky Hiker, version 1
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Cranky Hiker, version 2
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Trail snacks are extremely important when the hikers are cranky.

The hike offered typical rocky Maine trails and lots of views of the ocean and the coastline below. Some of my pictures look fake/over-photoshopped because the colors are so vibrant, but that's really what the Maine coast looks like on a sunny day. We made hundreds of attempts at rock-as-tripod self-timer photos of the two of us together, which all failed miserably due to the bright sun overhead and our bad attitudes. Luckily, the scenery was more picturesque than our sullen faces!
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You could even see all the way to Sand Beach from the trail.
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And we made it to the top. 525 feet seems rather anti-climactic, but that's about 44 floors above the ocean, so the view of Acadia's coast was spectacular. I mean, who needs a fourteener? I guess that's an advantage to hiking on the east coast - you can actually make it to the top.
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So, we can't really complain about spending the day on a beautiful trail. I just wish we had been able to do it after more sleep!

And you know what's good medicine when you're tired, hot, dirty, and cranky? ICE CREAM. After our hike, we headed into Bar Harbor for lunch and the best ice cream I've ever had. I was a little skeptical of the sweet shop with the giant lobster out front because it seemed kind of touristy, but it was amazing. I had one scoop of KGB (Kahlua, Grand Marnier, Baileys, OMG) and one scoop of coconut. So good!
bar harbor
If that wasn't enough, we then drove back up Cadillac Mountain to check out the view during the day. And then on the way back to the cabin, we made the same wrong turn on the park's loop road three times and ended up stuck driving on a one-way loop over and and over again. That did not help with the crankies!
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All in all, it was a jam-packed day. We were very happy to hit the hay that night!