The one place I DESPERATELY wanted to eat in Santa Fe was Horseman's Haven. Every time we mentioned the town to anyone who'd been there, their eyes would light up and they'd drool "horseman's" at us. This was always followed by a disclaimer, though - "but don't get the level 2 green chile!"
So, our friend David came to pick us up at our hotel, and off we went.
I didn't get a picture of the outside, where it was snowing, but the building is off to the side of a gas station. It's comfortably sized and run by a very nice family.
Guess who ordered the Level 2?
The Mr. heard the siren call of something that might be too spicy for him to eat and immediately ordered it. With eggs, delicious potatoes, and carne adovada. The carne adovada was fairly spicy in its own right, deep with the flavor of red chiles, but the level 2 - holy hell! I dipped the tines of my fork in his little chile side dish and blew the top of my head right off.
I was perfectly happy with my own level 1 green chile, which I ordered on chicken enchiladas accompanied by beans, the ubiquitous posole, rice, and some shredded lettuce. I was done with eggs for the time being.
The level 1 was definitely still hot, but there was a lot more to the flavor - heat, but also a slight tartness and a fruitiness from the fresh green chile. The enchiladas themselves were stacked instead of rolled, with homemade blue corn tortillas. The cheese on the top was a bit much for me, so I shoved most of it off to the side.
These plates were WAY too much for us to finish. Also, Husbear didn't use the soft homemade tortillas to sop the rest of his egg and Level 2 mixture - too much food, or too spicy? Mysterious.
With a good chile burn, we piled back into David's car and headed to the giant touristy snow-covered complex of stores called the Jackalope.
We needed to get Husbear a hat and scarf and knock out more of our Christmas shopping.
Sadly, I couldn't talk him into this hat.
But it took absolutely zero convincing to get David to buy this sign. We almost talked him into getting two, but no luck.
Sorry it's blurry - the man is always on the move!
The jackalope was a lot of fun, with a huge array of strangeness. A $10,000 antique Chinese enclosed bed covered in $5 paper umbrellas in one cavernous room, a wall board of necklaces sitting atop a pile of Guatemalan children's sweaters, a shack full of blown glass, a section devoted to New Mexican foods (sopaipilla mix is such a ripoff- flour, baking soda, and baking powder? WTF?) and on and on.
David had to go, you know, live his actual life in Santa Fe, so he dropped us back in the Plaza. After a little while, the lovely S&S came to wander with us.
They took us to the Palace of the Governors, which is a seriously old building (for this part of the world) constructed for the Spanish governors in the early part of the 17th century. It's the oldest continuously occupied public building in the country. It was the offices of the Spanish governors of the colony of New Mexico, which included not just the modern day state but all of Spain's holdings surrounding it.
For the last hundred years, local Native Americans have sold handmade goods in front of the building. Business was slow the day we were there - slow season, crappy weather.
We did go inside, but our visit was at a hugely fast pace since the museum was closing early for a holiday processional. Poot. We did get to see the original and very cool state seal, made of keys and latches and spoons and knives. They wouldn't let us take pictures inside, so I unfotunately have none of this masterpiece.
There was a great little display about frontier justice deeper in the museum. Since the law was often corrupt or nonexistent, settlers often had to take matters into their own hands.
Of course, Billy the Kid had been dead for several months when this broadside was published, but whatevers.
After the museum threw us out on our heinies, we walked over to St. Francis Cathedral. The facade is currently being restored (hey, authentic!) but the inside is beautiful in all its strange mix of styles.
We saw the small statue of the Virgin that had been carried to Mexico City after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and admired the story of Jesus told in pictures along the wall. It's a peaceful place.
Then, with the sun going down and the temperature dropping well past comfort (especially for us poorly-acclimated Texans)
we drove up Canyon Road to get some spicy hot chocolate. Canyon Road would be well worth exploring, if we'd had more time. It's full of artist's studios and shops and terrible stuff and great stuff. It looks like a fun road for a good, Italian-style passeggiata-type stroll.
Our hot chocolate, at the Tea House, was really more of a spicy chai with chocolate added, but it was definitely warming and spicy and hit the spot. The scone with clotted cream was good, too, but plenty for the four of us to split as an afternoon bite.
Is there anything better than a warm drink on a cold day, with snow falling outside and freezing into little treacherous ridges on the street?
S&S had us over for dinner that night, and Sarah whipped up a tasty and filling green chile clam chowder. Delicious and great for the 20 degree temperatures outside.
We can't thank Sarah, Stephen, and David enough for ferrying us around, showing off their city and its wonders and fun times, and introducing us to new board games. Thanks so much - let's not wait another 4 years, k?
In the morning, we leave Santa Fe for Taos in the midst of a snowstorm. Smarties.
Goodbye, Santa Fe - we'll be back!
Horseman's Haven (no website), 4354 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe. 505.471.5420.
The Jackalope, for all your shopping needs.
Palace of the Governors, if you're a history dude.
And the Cathedral.
The Tea House, for pages and pages of teas and baked goods.
And you can't have Stephen and Sarah's address - make your own damn green chile clam chowdah!
