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We took the occasion of the Georgia O’Keefe Museum’s 10th anniversary celebration to make the drive from Southern Colorado to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We usually make the 240 mile drive to Santa Fe or Taos a couple of times a year. Both towns are among those few places in the US that are like visiting another country altogether. Only New Orleans, Miami and perhaps St Augustine come to mind as other such places. New Orleans had changed, in my eye, even before Katrina. We can only hope that rebuild includes the restoration of her cultures as well as her structures. |
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The giant chain stores and malls are all basically located well outside of Santa Fe leaving the city itself unscarred. Building codes require all new construction and restorations retain the Southwestern look of the original Santa Fe. The result is, wherever you look you are treated to variations on the theme of Southwestern adobe and old Spanish architecture. Within those structures are the basic offices and businesses necessary for a city to function as well as galleries, shops and restaurants of any and all varieties. When it comes to art and culture, expect the unexpected. Santa Fe is ranked as the third largest art market in the US. This is nothing short of amazing when you consider the population, as of the 2000 censes, is only 62200. Naturally it is a Mecca for Native American and Spanish cultures as well as Cowboy culture but it’s also home to European, African and Asian art, food and culture. |
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Georgia O’Keefe is perhaps the most famous of the many artists who worked and exhibited there. The museum bearing her name celebrated it’s 10 anniversary with a litany of events celebrating the feminine and culminating with a concert by Diana Krall at the Santa Fe Opera House. The Opera is a semi outdoor venue located just outside of town. It has a roof but is open at the sides allowing desert breezes to drift across the audience and views of the setting sun over the mountains followed by a star show or electrical storms exploding on the horizon. It is said the light in this desert has a quality like no other place and that unique light is what attracted so many artists including O’Keefe. Our weekend started on Friday when we arrived at the Marriott Residence Inn on Galisteo Street. A very nice hotel which could be considered a destination on its own if it were located in almost any place other than 2 miles from the center of Santa Fe. |
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The center is “the” destination here and our hotel did not provide shuttle service to the center. The taxi ride is 12 or 13 dollars each way so we decided to drive in and take our chances on finding parking. Santa Fe’s dining establishments pride themselves on serving fine adult beverages along with world class cuisine but I was chosen to be the designated driver so I was not able to imbibe with the rest of our group. OK, I did take the opportunity to take a sip my wife’s dinner wine and the occasional Mojito or Margarita after dinner but I remained well under the legal limit all weekend. That was fine with me particularly around breakfast time. When I was “up and at em” they were peeling their eyelids open to find the Tylenol. Speaking of breakfast, we observed interesting social phenomena at the hotel dining room. On Saturday, the kitchen staff put out both real dishware with plastic and foam dishware (convenient for carry out). Strangely enough many of the dine in guests choose plastic and foam over the real thing. Upon finishing their meals, all of that recyclable plastic covered in gooey syrup ended up in the bin and eventually the land fill. On our second morning the kitchen staff failed to put out any real dishware whatsoever. It was all foam and plastic until we mentioned it to the desk clerk. Apparently it’s easier for the staff to toss all that plastic into the earth than to wash and put out real dishes. Maybe they also had too many Mojitos the night before and were afraid of dropping the breakable stuff. This is a situation we shall advise Marriott of and get back to you with their response if and when it comes. |
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Back to the fun stuff! Saturday and Sunday was spent visiting far too many galleries, museums and landmarks to mention here but our pictures speak for them selves. One should make it a point to visit the museum campus. A shuttle will take you there from the center of town and bring you back when you had enough. You could easily spend the entire day in the museums but save time to walk around town to enjoy being completely immersed in a culture one can only find in Santa Fe. One of our favorite streets is Canyon Road. On Saturday we had lunch there and stopped by again Sunday to show a few galleries and shops to friends who arrived late. Another favorite is Galisteo Street between the river and the center. But then we have many favorite streets and places here. |
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| Wagon Train on old Santa Fe trail |
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| Xeriscape Garden at Museums campus |
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The grand finale was the Dianna Krall concert at the Opera. A perfect venue for her type of jazz but the show did not go off without a hitch. Diana said she and her husband, Elvis Costello, found Santa Fe absolutely wonderful. She explained, in so many words, she may have over eaten and had far too many margaritas. We suspect this manifested it self with her abrupt and unannounced exit from the stage during the performance. It hardly went unnoticed, even though her band filled the gaps almost seamlessly during in her absence. |
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What happened shortly before that was at least as interesting and may have prompted the later. During her solo version of the Joni Mitchell’s song “A Case of You” the PA system went out. Her monitor did stay on and for most of the song the audience remained silent so we could hear the song virtually unplugged. This was nothing less than an incredible show of respect from a grateful audience for a great artist. Unfortunately, more than half way through the song, someone from the audience shouted the mike was off. This verbal interruption alerted her of the obvious she and everyone already was well aware of. The outburst appeared to disturbed Krall but she managed to maintain her composure and joke about it. She said, this was, after all, an opera house and each seat had a digital libretto translating the lyrics so what’s the problem. She said she would do it for us again with more feeling but some goof seated near the front (perhaps the same one who shouted out initially) interrupted her again by saying “Not with more feeling but with more amplitude”! Krall abruptly moved on to another tune and it was shortly thereafter that she made her brief but obvious exit. All is well that ends well as she returned to finish the set in her usual dynamic form but we could not help to wonder and hypothesize what really went down behind the scenes. I hope and expect Diana Krall will return to perform in Santa Fe again, she actually said she planned to return. When it happens you can count on me being there. Diana Krall, Santa Fe, stellar vistas, great food, drink and culture…What’s not to love here? |
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