On our trip through the South West our goal was Sante Fe. We stopped at the capitol of the Navaho Nation at Window Rock. Looking for the Window Rock Trading Post we found the rock with the window in it that also had a memorial to Navaho warriors and the Code Talkers of WWII by accident.The Trading Post was full of great stuff from all over the Navaho Nation. We scored a nice piece of jewellry for Betts. I don't think you can get a better deal unless you go to the source like Window Rock.
If you ever get to Sante Fe I recommend the Bonito Pueblo Bed and Breakfast. Built in the late 1800's it is authentic adobe. It's walking distance to the Plaza, clean and well furnished with a great breakfast. We were warmly greeted by Strellsa, a local artist and the owner Herb, who is a horseman so we talked shop about owning horses in the southwest.
We went to Taos but were disapointed in as much as the Fechin Home and Museum was closed so we went back to Sante Fe. Betts loves Sante Fe and rightly so. There must be something about the thin fresh air that makes for so much art. There are over 5000 artists in the Sante Fe area and that doesn't count all the Native Americans that come to the Palace of the Governor to show their wares. They have to show their tribal enrollment cards as well as establish that their work is made by hand. Each day their are new artisans that roll their blankets out. There are also many, many galleries some of great prominence such as the Fenn, Alterman and Gerald Peters fine arts galleries, crafts galleries, and galleries of a vast array of contemporary arts.
We visited the Sante Fe Fine Arts Museum for the opportunity to see works of the Taos Society, Georgia O'Keefe and an excellent curated show of SW artists "How the West was One". We had the fortunate opportunity to sit in on a presentation by 6 conceptual artists doing 'bleeding' edge stuff that I enjoyed emmensly. Between the symbolic language of the Hopi, the inspiring landscape of the Colorado Plateau and wealth of creativity in Sante Fe, Betts and I had one of our best trips.
