Fleeing the Hurricane: Santa Fe to Durango (9.28.24)

We spent the morning of September 28, 2024, in Santa Fe, absorbing all the art we could before heading north and home.  We were up by 6:30 a.m., trying to figure out what tourist sites might be open the earliest.  At 8 o'clock, Dave and I were some of the first visitors to the Santa Fe farmers market.

We parked by the market and walked past this building mural of the Virgin Mary.  The culture of Santa Fe is Hispanic, with the Catholic Christianity that the Spaniards brought to the New World.

Peppers were all over the market, on this fall day.  Several vendors roasted peppers as we watched, and dried strings of peppers hung from sellers' stalls.

There were also pumpkins, gourds, radishes, potatoes, and many other fruits of the recent harvest.

 

By 9 a.m., Dave and I were walking down Canyon Road, site of dozens of Santa Fe's art galleries, just as they began to open.  I promised Dave to visit only ten galleries, and he counted them!

The homes and galleries on Canyon Road were as picturesque as the artworks.

No, not a painting.  Gorgeous fall flowers against an adobe wall.

I stared long and hard at this painting, finally telling the clerk that these were my very favorite colors; they spoke to me  "Me, too," she said, explaining that she was the artist.

We next visited the Museum of International Folk Art, one of my favorite museums in a city of museums. 

The main exhibit was a collection of more than 1,000 dolls and other folk art accumulated by a single collector.

I have collected foreign dolls since I was a little girl, so I was particularly interested in the doll collection.

I have also learned to love Ethiopian folk art, with its stylized paintings of Biblical themes.  I believe this painting shows St. George killing the dragon.

Another exhibit focused on Mexican paper mache art.  My children and I have swung at dozens of pinatas over the years, and I adore my paper mache "beast" from Oaxaca that my daughter-in-law, Heidi, says reminds her of me, so the exhibit also spoke to me. Many of the paper mache creations were used on floats during Mexican holidays.

A final exhibit featured art made by Ukrainians from the refuse from battle.  This statue features an angel atop a missile.  I admire the Ukrainians' indomitable will, and I was very touched by this exhibit.

We drove past elegant Santa Fe homes on our way back downtown, and I mused how Santa Fe has created its own style.

I begged David for just a few minutes checking out the Indian art for sale on the Palace of Governors patio.  

Dave and I were aghast at the high prices all over Santa Fe, but it was fun to watch other shoppers find bonanzas!

In the early afternoon we drove to Durango, Colorado, to spend the night.  Durango is a railroad town, now saturated with tourists, but still quaint and very "Western."

We ate supper at the Deranged Pour Restaurant.  I never did find out how the restaurant got its name, but the sweet potato fries with maple mayonnaise were extraordinary!