~Monday, November 9, 2020~
Day 148
We’re really striking out here in Santa Fe with destinations. Most museums are closed and our favorite restaurant, Cafe Pasqual is only open for take out. I guess we’ll just have to move here then for sure, so we can have Cafe Pasqual to our heart’s content. We had been warned that New Mexico has some of the strictest mandates for COVID, so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.
As the day wore on, the pandemic impact became more apparent. This is the first state, we’ve really noticed the affects of COVID. We wanted to spend a day in Santa Fe Plaza and when we arrived, it seemed a little ghost townish. Nothing like the last time we were here 20 years ago, with a hubbub of activity and vibrancy. Tourism here, like so many places has really suffered. Even in the square, they have surveillance to ensure that people are abiding the mask requirement, with a $500 fine if you choose not to cooperate. We still had a great time walking around in the 40 degree weather, stopping into a few cool shops, with one in particular really catching my attention. Street Feet. If these shoes had not been in the window display, I likely wouldn’t have gone in. We were immediately greeted by the nicest, down to earth staff, and noticed I was surrounded by shoe greatness!
I loved EVERYTHING! Hats, shoes, scarves. To my surprise, my husband was very obliging to my getting a new pair of shoes. I had never heard of Rieker (a German brand), but man, they were the most comfortable shoe I’ve ever tried on. SOLD!!.
We also payed a visit to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis
and the Loretto Chapel, though we could not go in to either of them. We also thought we’d pay a visit to our favorite hotel in Santa Fe….Inn at the Anasazi. We stayed there about 20 years ago as Jeff surprised me for one of my birthdays. It looks exactly the same on the outside, but the inside has had some remodeling...a bit more modern and bright, not as rustic and dim (which we thought was very romantic). Still a great hotel. They said their running at about 60% capacity due to COVID which actually for this time of year, is not too bad. Then to top off our day, we headed over to the Coyote Cafe. Another disappointment. Closed Mondays thru Wednesdays (likely due to the pandemic and tourism slowness). Ugh! And I was going to call. Now I know….call ahead on everything during these abnormal times. We’ll be back though before we leave Santa Fe.
Tonight was supposedly going to be the coldest night (around 27 degrees). So we battened down the hatches with no hose hookup to the trailer (just the fresh water tank use), and we have these great insulated covers that go over the skylights and fans inside the Lance. They just snap in place and definitely help the coziness factor. Dinner was a peppered pork tenderloin for Jeff and Ahi for me, asparagus and a delicious new mashed potato recipe we got from my mom. It’s a keeper and oh so simple. Let me know if you’d like a copy.