Thursday, July 13, 2006

Rants/Raves: Thin Air Edition

I spent 3 days and 3 nights in lovely Santa Fe, New Mexico last weekend. It was my maiden voyage there, and it was all it's cracked up to be. Let's check the scorecard:

Rave: Downtown and "the Square". Plenty of old hotels, restaurants, bars, and art galleries. We stayed in the charming Hotel St. Francis, right off the square, dined at the renowned Pasqual's Cafe, right across the street, had breakfast at the Atomic Grill, and wandered the streets all weekend.

Rant: Pricey, Pricey, Pricey. My initial take on Santa Fe as a town is that any sort of middle class is remarkably absent. It seems that you are either a working-class laborer, whether you're working in a restaurant, leading tours, or hawking blankets and jewelry (of which there is an endless supply), or you're a rich retiree that lives in Canyon Road, drives a sports car, and spends weekends on the slopes in Taos. I'd love to spend some serious time here, but I don't think I'll be able to afford to live in town for another 30 years.

Rave: Gorgeous scenery. The drive up from Albuquerque is through 50 miles of flat desert with mountains on either side, and Santa Fe is at the foothills. We rented a convertible so that we could enjoy the scenery, the desert sun, and smell nothing but wild sage as we cruised around the state. We also hiked the famous Tent Rocks national monument, which is a crazy natural formation about a half hour out of town on the Conchiti Indian Pueblo (in New Mexico, the term
"Pueblo" is used instead of the noticably less PC "Reservation").

Rant: High altitude. At 7,000 feet above sea level, Santa Fe is up there. Let me tell you, hangovers at a mile and half in the air are no joke. My oxygen-starved brain was hurting for the better part of the weekend. You have to either be in good shape or willing to stop after ten beers when you're on vacation in order to avoid suffering. I am neither.

Rave: Good friends. We were there for LuckyLiz's wedding, and spent the weekend with friends new and old. Very good times. It helped that TheGirl's crew all forgot their significant others, so I spend the weekend in the company of 4-6 pretty girls who asked nothing of me except for my charming wit, which I am always happy to provide.

This place is a keeper. People always half-joke, half-fantasize about living in Santa Fe, and I can see why. I'd like to get back there again sometime soon and do a little more in-depth visiting to see if I could really settle down there (it's on TheGirl's short list of dream locations), but so far, it makes the grade.

This weekend we've got quite a schedule in the hot, muggy, not-so-Windy City: LittleBro, GUnit, Schwarzky, and Blando Calrizian are all visiting and we're going to blow it out. Kegs, Cubs, pubs, clubs, and shrubs* are all on the itinerary. Hope you have a good one.

t

*-shrubs are not on the itinerary.