Santa Fe, A Good Place To Get Lost In.

May 19, 2012
Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Yes folks...... New Mexico is really in the United States of America..... really..... no, you do not need a passport to enter. Furthermore, I've found Santa Fe to be one of the friendliest places in the world to get lost in. Which is a really, really good thing, as it seems as though every time I go to Santa Fe, I get lost. It may be because all of their streets run kitty-corner, or around in non-sensical circles, or it may just be because I enjoy getting lost in Santa Fe. I always meet the nicest people, and no matter where you end up in Santa Fe, you find something, or someone, interesting.

I arrived in Santa Fe a day early for the Santa Fe Century bike ride to acclimate myself to the elevation, or so I told myself..... actually, it was for the food and the beer. Santa Fe is a wonderful city to bicycle in. They have several bike paths, and most streets have bike lanes, making it very easy to get around. We had a small group of three of us on Saturday morning and we were going down to the Plaza via Farmers Market and the Tune-Up Cafe. Last year, the cinnamon rolls were delicious, this year, not so much, the breakfast burritos looked much better. On the way, it was decided by one of our group ..... "lets go a different way"...... "you lead, Richard"..... Hmmmmmm!! So, I led out, knowing at least the direction I wanted to go, and after several wrong turns, and wrong streets, we ended up here...... A place where they make and sell yard artifacts....

I never knew it was here, and so, once again, I found something new in Santa Fe. We continued on, and soon I found a spry older lady at a bus stop and asked her which way I needed to go in order to find Hickox Street. She looked at me for a second and said ..."I'll bet you're looking for the Tune-Up Cafe, aren't you?".....I was a bit surprised, but replied that I certainly was. "Well, no problem young man....just go to the diagonal street, turn right, go to Saint Anne's Church, and turn left, and it's only a block or so"....... so we left, following the directions, only I somehow turned on the wrong diagonal street and we ended up here.........

Where we had to play on the fun stuff for a while....

After playing on the toys for a while, , even I got in the act by sliding down the slide, we decided if we didn't get to the cafe soon, we were all going to die of starvation. Actually, there was probably no danger of that happening, but we pressed on anyway. Somehow, after many turns, little tiny streets, and unknown corners, we arrived at our destination...... the Tune Up Cafe.....quite and completely by accident.

It didn't take ten minutes and we were best friends with everyone there. One of the ladies a couple of tables over and I struck up a conversation about the bike ride Sunday.... she said she'd look for me. I know how that is....a couple thousand riders, nobody's going to find me.....but at Stanley, there was a tap on my shoulder, and who was standing there smiling at me but my friend from the Tune Up. We all ordered the Cinnamon rolls, which turned out to be a mistake as I mentioned earlier, but we ate anyway. Before we left, I had to get a picture of the classic bike locked up to the fence there, more rust than paint, but such a genuine classic, I needed a picture.

We all saddled up, and that was when I discovered that the flat gremlin had visited my bike while we were eating, and poked a piece of glass through my virgin Continental rear tire. So, we walked the bike across the street and proceeded to change the tube and check for any more glass before heading a few blocks down the road to the Farmers Market. Standing around there waiting for a couple of other friends to find us, I met several more new old friends, and chatted away 15 minutes or so. Santa Fe is so much fun...... It is however, a town that is very difficult to find a parking spot in ....

After our fun there, we took off to find the Plaza. I remembered this church, and the turn just past to head downtown.... Such definite Spanish influence in their architecture.

After stumbling around for a bit, and all of us by now knowing where we were, we came upon the big church with the unusual staircase. I stayed out and watched the bikes while the others went in. While I was there, I enjoyed the arts.

After killing a little time there, we headed over to the Plaza.

They had a break-dancing show going on put on by some local youngsters, and they were very good. We watched for quite a while.

Teesie decided she needed to go to a local store to get some chap stick about that time, and I saw our friends riding up into the Plaza from the Farmers Market.

This is the way you get around on a bike in Santa Fe.....neither cars, nor bicycle riders seemed to be bothered by each other.

They arrived safely.

A couple more riders braving the traffic and narrow streets.

We decided to all get together for a group picture, grabbing a local and handing him our camera, he took this.....

AND...returned my camera afterward.....another new-old friend in Santa Fe. There is always lots happening on the Plaza.

And so....we left the plaza figuring we'd try and get lost a new way going back, got a block away going the wrong way on a one way street, and my phone rang.... another dear friend who was wanting to meet up with us, she was close, so we returned to the plaza to wait for her. When she arrived, it was time for another group picture.... another walker-by grabbed to take it, and it turned out fine. I was glad to see her, as I thought in all the activities we might miss each other. She was visiting from Tucson,  however, she was from Santa Fe, and had family there, so it was hard to get together, but we managed

This time, we all departed, found the bike path, and headed back. I stopped back at the Farmers Market area in REI to buy a new tube and a couple of inflator cartridges. By the time we got back, it was time to get cleaned up and ready for dinner at the Second Street Brewery, a definitely must-do place in Santa Fe. So....we had lots of fun, met lots of new and old friends, saw things we never saw before, and found many new streets we had never been on, talked to lots of strangers, who weren't strangers when they departed, and enjoyed the heck out'a Santa Fe. Can't wait 'til next year!