Taos is organized around a central square, befitting its status as a town founded by the Spanish. Just beyond the perimeter of the square is the historic Taos Inn.
I had a nice room with a fireplace! I thought Xena would appreciate the fire, but she didn’t appear to notice. I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed it.
We had the surprise delight of early season snow! Just a dusting, but nice.Xena enjoys frolicking in the fallen snow, but would appreciate it not landing on her from above.
Doc Martin’s is Taos Inn’s famous restaurant. The pic doesn’t do justice for the only chili relleno worth eating. My recommendation: schedule a trip to Taos at once for this comida muy excelente! Crispy herby crust on the outside, a chili inside that actually tastes like a pepper. Inside that, of course, is melty yummy cheese. In a world first, there may actually be too much cheese! No problem, though, because tortilla chips are available in abundance.
Millicent Rogers was a fancy, highfalutin socialite and heir to a bunch of the Standard Oil fortune. She made the rounds at galas and parties in New York and graced the society pages. Twice married, then had an affair with Clark Gable. He broke up with her, she turned pouty and moved to Taos, New Mexico. While there, she became a huge patron of Native American artists, bought tons of their work and died.
Now her house is the Millicent Rogers Museum, where a portion of her collection is on display. Very interesting and beautiful work, some quite old.
This dainty ornament is an example of the waterfall design and is sprinkled with rainbow moonstones. They aren’t really moonstones, though.Imagine all of the work required to select these matched stones and arrange them with such meticulous care.Simple and elegant in front, fine filigree on the back.A pretty gold Greek Orthodox cross. One wonders how the Catholic imperialists allowed the artist to create such a thing.This little mirror has too much frame, not enough mirror.This black cross has gold inlays. Except…its not gold! They cleverly prepare wheat straw and corn husks, making it look like gold.Millicent was fond of old things. She used this pot, 2,000 years old, for her cosmetics.
While IVO Taos (isn’t that a great acronym? IVO means In the Vicinity Of. Military people use it a lot.), I visited the ancient town of the Taos Pueblo. It is a perspective shattering experience to be in a town continuously inhabited for more than a millennium. No one can be sure, it could be substantially more. Native dogs roamed the pueblo and old women sold goods baked in traditional wood-fired ovens of adobe. I bought some and made little sandwiches for a week with the delicious bread. The baker assured me that the bread would be good for a week, “because it ain’t got no eggs or dairy in it.”
If a visitor could expel the inconsiderate swine other visitors and sit quietly for a moment, she could almost time travel to the ancient past, when humans lived in harmony with one another and their environment.
The Taos Pueblos was a center of trade before the Spanish thieves arrived. Residents hosted a trade fair every year after the harvest, attracting visitors and goods from all of the surrounding pueblos.
These dwelling units have been continuously inhabited for over a thousand years. The street-level doors and windows are a recent addition, only a few hundred years old. Originally, the entrances to the individual dwellings were through the roof. When neighboring cities raided, these people simply pulled up their ladders and waited them out. Apparently raiding parties never thought to bring their own ladders. So there! Ha!This is the new church, constructed in 1850. When the state-sponsored terrorists arrived from Spain in the 1600s, they informed the indigenous people that their religion was wrong and forced them to convert to Catholicism. They also enslaved them and, under the lash, made them build churches to the glory of an all-merciful and ever loving god.This is the original church, also built by enslaved indigenous people. When Governor Bent (the first appointed governor of New Mexico) was killed by rival imperialist gang members in nearby Taos, the American government blamed the pueblo residents. They, mostly women and children, sought refuge in this church. God declined to intervene; the United States Army unleashed a cannonade to destroy the dangerous women and children hiding in the church. Mission accomplished. All were killed and are buried here in this abandoned cemetery.
This little tributary of the Rio Grande flows from the sacred Blue Lake straight through the pueblo. A thousand years of generations have drawn water from this stream to sustain their households. They do the same to this very day.
Everyone thinks of the Rio Grande as the ditch separating the US from Mexico, but it has another life, far upstream. Flowing down from Colorado into New Mexico, the Rio Grande has carved an immense gorge, second only to the Grand Canyon. It is beautiful and serene, quiet and isolated. Also only 20 minutes from the dubious civilization of Taos, New Mexico. Did you know Kit Carson lived and died there? He did, and they named a national forest in his honor. Perhaps, if you moved there and died there, you would get a national forest named for you, too!
The Rio Grande Gorge. Awesome and deadly. Some ambitious anglers test the trail to tempt tiny trout.Minuscule and lonely, pine trees eke out a living from these stingy, unhelpful rocks.An idyllic campsite perched on the rim of the gorge. Scenic, with views both near and far. Xena, the Warrior Princess, enjoyed exploring the rocks and charging the impertinent ground squirrels dwelling therein.
Doc Martin’s is Taos Inn’s famous restaurant. The pic doesn’t do justice for the only chili relleno worth eating. My recommendation: schedule a trip to Taos at once for this comida muy excelente! Crispy herby crust on the outside, a chili inside that actually tastes like a pepper. Inside that, of course, is melty yummy cheese. In a world first, there may actually be too much cheese! No problem, though, because tortilla chips are available in abundance.
