9/1/13 - Taos, NM

Today we drove to Taos.  There are two ways to get there from Santa Fe.  One is called the High Road.   This road goes through Chimayo and ends in Ranchos de Taos.  We took this scenic route on the way and the faster, straighter Low Road along the Rio Grande on the way back.  The first stop on the scenic route was at Sacred Heart church in Nambe Pueblo.  Then we stopped at the Santuario de Chimayo in Chimayo.  Every time we come here, they seem to have added more grottos, shrines and buildings. We also stopped at San Jose de Gracia Church built in 1760 in Las Trampas.  Every time we have stopped here the church has been locked.  We never have been inside.  Then we stopped at the famous San Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos.  We have been to this church several times.  It has been painted by Georgia O’Keeffe and photographed by Ansel Adams.

When we got to Taos, we went to Taos Ale House, a microbrewery we haven’t been to before.  Jim and I had a beer and two really good tacos.  Jim had a chicken taco with shishito peppers, pickled red onions and crème fraiche.  I had a pork confit taco with apricot habanero BBQ sauce, fried onions and smoked cherry tomatoes.  They were yummy!  Then we shared a really large warm green chile brownie.  It had just the right amount of heat which complemented the chocolate.  Then we drove to another brewery that was new to us, Taos Mesa Brewing.  This brewery is a few miles away from the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  We went there and took pictures of the river from the bridge.  On the way back to Santa Fe we stopped at Blue Heron Brewing that opened in 2010 and Jim had a beer.  We drove on back to Santa Fe alongside the Rio Grande.  Parts of this drive reminded us of the river road between Lajitas and Presidio, Texas.  

 When we arrived in Santa Fe, Jim took me to supper at Back Road Pizza featured on Diners, Drive-In and Dives.  He ordered a 3 meat pizza with green chiles added to it.  I hope he gets his fill of green chile while we are in New Mexico.