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Sante
Fe is bright place to visit
but Easterner needs humidity
By
Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com
SANTE FE, N.M., OCT 10---You hear of people from the mountainous
Western states complaining about the humidity problem in Georgia.
After a week in Santa Fe, an Easterner has concern about the lack
of humidity. It'll be a pleasure to get home and breathe "heavy"
air for a chance!
This is gorgeous country, and a great vacation spot. Santa Fe
is the jumping off point for visits to ski runs, Indian pueblos
and festivals, the Los Alamos science community, the Albuquerque
balloon festival, or merely to enjoy the artistic and historic community
of Santa Fe, which they say is "America's oldest continually
inhabited community."
Santa Fe has only 60,000 people....but few parking spaces. "On
foot" is your best means for getting around the compact downtown.
But take it easy: remember, it's 7,000 feet high. Activity tires
an Eastern seaboarder quickly.
The late artist, Georgia O'Keeffe, is a big industry here. After
helping make the area famous with her paintings and by living near
here, today the downtown Georgia O'Keeffe Museum gets over a million
visitors annually and has re-invigorated the tourist and arts community.
A visit to the museum gives a glimpse of the varied career of the
famous artist through her paintings. The exhibit of the more than
150 originals the museum owns continually change.
But this is only a beginning. The O'Keeffe house in Abiquiu, about
50 miles north, and her association with Taos, about two hours northeast,
has given rise to serious art colonies. Downtown Santa Fe seems
like one gallery after another, and then there are house-to-house
galleries along Canyon Road.
Don't bring your pocketbook and expect to buy. Instead, get a loan
from your bank! The art is pricey.
The Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fest is taking place now. It's
a terrific experience to be up before the crack of dawn (literally)
as the balloons puff up. Then, at first light, in wave after wave,
for over an hour, nearly 1,000 big, colorful balloons loft skyward,
drifting this way and that, depending on the wind. And the chase
trucks follow, sometimes bouncing across the bare land to help the
aerialists land and stow their gear.
The Balloon Fest is like nothing else in the world, happily sponsored
by Kodak. It surely gets its money back, as people click cameras
rapidly, catching the colors, shapes and spectacles.
The Balloon Fest provided another highlight of the trip: breakfast
burritos. These are flour tortillas stuffed with scrambled eggs,
potatoes, bacon or sausage, and for sure, either green or red chili
sauce. The New Mexicans, we learn, put chili sauce on about everything,
perhaps even ice cream. One of the balloons was even shaped in the
form of a string of red chili peppers!
Not to be forgotten: the sunset at the Rio Grande Gorge bridge
on U.S. 64 west of Taos, with the deep river valley so far down
you can barely hear the water rushing over the rapids.....paying
$1.59 a gallon for gas, after 75 mph maximum on Interstate 25......the
architecture of Santa Fe, leaning heavily toward adobe style.....a
visit to the Tuesday and Saturday farmer's market off Guadelupe
Street.....and loads of tourists milling around the downtown plaza,
looking tired after tramping around town.....and the unique low,
round capital building of the State of New Mexico.
Santa Fe: a great place for a visit. But bring along your humidifier.
FEEDBACK
10/12: Applauds Dunn,
but says he should resign position
Editor, Gwinnett Forum:
The past two weekends the AJC Gwinnett Section has had an article
lamenting the fact that Gwinnett Commissioner John Dunn will not
be able to attend meetings because of his being called to active
duty with the Coast Guard. The lawyers can' t seem to find a way
for him to telecommute to the meetings.
Hey! This is WAR! And that's the way the worm turns. I spent my
time in service with Uncle Sam, active duty and reserve. Mr. Dunn
chose to volunteer for the Coast Guard Reserve and has been paid
for his part time duty. I applaud his volunteering for service.
However, Mr. Dunn should resign and let someone else serve on the
Gwinnett Commission while our country is in this state of war and
he is needed in its service. He can offer again for the Commission
seat when his tour of duty is finished.
-- E. F. Stuart, Norcross
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
"Unity in things Necessary, Liberty in things Unnecessary,
and Charity in all."
--Richard Baxter 1651
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