September 1, 2013
Landed in Santa Fe yesterday after stopping at Santa Domingo Pueblo and buying, as Kathy put it, "way too much crap I don't need."
Dropped 15 new paintings off at Due West Gallery and sold one of them, "Doc Holliday Stands Tall," as soon as I brought it in. A couple from Oklahoma were standing there and snatched it up on the spot. So that was a nice welcome to the ancient trading city.
Stayed at the Desert Inn Motel which is just off the Plaza. A very nice address with nice rooms ($109). Ed Mell turned me onto it when we came over for one of his art shows in the nineties. One of the legendary cafes, The Bobcat Bite, has gone through the typical landlord demands, i.e. raising the rent, so the guy who ran it has landed at the Desert Inn with a new restaurant, The Santa Fe Bite, which we're going to try this morning.
I almost called a friend I knew from Cave Creek, Rex Wood, because last year he wrote me and told me he was doing booking and PR work for La Fonda Hotel (legend says Billy the Kid was a busboy there), probably the most historic hotel in New Mexico, and if I ever wanted to stay there to let him know. Couldn't put my hands on his contact info last week and needed to make a reservation so let it go.
Went out to find us a restaurant at about 5:30 and walked up to the Plaza where New Mexico wedding was in progress right on the street. The were doing a promenade around the park and the crowd was shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk. Thought about wading over to the Shed but knew the wait would be oppressive, so I decided we would go west and look for something. As we fought our way through the crowd, I heard someone call my name and turned around to see Rex Wood, of all people.
Small World, Small Town
Ended up at a great little restaurant with an odd name, "Two For Dinner." Had a handmade Caesar Salad made by a dude named Gregory who used to run the House of Joy in Jerome. After dinner we drove out to Lamy, New Mexico where the owner of Due West Art Gallery, Thom Ross, has a little ranchito that is modeled after the Alamo. Kid Raven, as he is sometimes called, is building an above ground pool and as the sun went down and big thunderstorm rolled in I had him pose standing on his new project:
Kid Raven Makes A Stand
"Saying 'Oh, I think tap is fine,' extra casually lets your server know you can afford bottled water but are also just super down to earth."
—Julieanne Smolinski