Day 16: Membership has its privileges.
by Andrew JohnsonGo figure – everyone tries to eat healthy at that Denny’s (even Alex) and everyone gets sick. Except Andy, who had the greasy “SuperBird” and fries. But some clear, cold 8000-foot mountain air and retail therapy proved to be the best remedy. Santa Fe has a posh town square area, filled with high-end shops, funky trinket stores and more galleries per square foot than you’d find anywhere. And Route 66 actually went through here before it was realigned in 1937, so there was something for all of us! You could spend a week going through them all, but we only had a day. Our hotel was right off the square, so it was very convenient. If you’ve never been to Santa Fe, mark it on your wish list. With a light dusting of snow and whole place decked out in holiday attire, it was almost like being in DisneyWorld. Most of the architecture is the classic adobe style and they’ve outlined the tops with thousands of luminaries. We spent the whole day walking and shopping (didn’t even look at the Suburban – definitely not a travel day). And people watching – the money was just dripping off some of these people. Not bling-bling money, but Sundance money. Turned out there was a film festival going on and we thought we’d run into some celebrities. We sat next to Brooks (of Brooks and Dunn) in the Haagan-Das shop and I swore Reese Witherspoon was staying in our hotel – until I saw her checking out, carrying her own bags. But still not 100% sure it wasn’t her.
We ate lunch at the Cowgirl Barbeque Café (right next to the Cowgirl Hall of Fame), one of Rachael Ray’s picks on her $40-a-day show on the Food Network. Very worthwhile! The food was fantastic and the ambience was what you’d expect with a name like that. More shopping, eating and walking exhausted us by the end of the day. We all slept well that night. Don’t even want to look at that VISA bill…
