Road Trip Day 12 - Monday, 6th May, 2019

Santa Fe is an attractive pueblo town full of art shops with some beautiful old churches. I had my worst hangover ever in Santa Fe when we visited some years ago on a trip which took us from Dallas to Santa Fe, Grand Canyon, Phoenix, El Paso and back to Dallas. That was a drive, but Fred liked driving.  It was in large part caused by the altitude - the road to Santa Fe climbs to over 7000 feet, and quite gradually.  I was feeling quite tired this morning so decided not to visit and instead spent time in the hotel doing the washing and catching up on the blog. Which means I am now UP TO DATE. Around 1300, I headed south-west towards Albuquerque on mostly Highway 313. The old Route 66 has all but disappeared and can only be accessed occasionally with a 4x4 or by hiking on private property, as it winds its way through the hills above the modern road. This road is also called "El Camino Real", or the Royal Road, named for the trail that the Spanish colonists of 1598 took through what is now New Mexico. This splendid Yucca was growing in Bernalillo, a few miles north of Albuquerque.

 This one is for James. He works in a Witchy House - here is a Wizard's.

 There are a few signs of the historic Route as you enter Albuquerque.

 Albuquerque itself is an attractive town with buildings in soft yellow and pink stone, reflecting the earthy colours of the landscape It also has this, which shows the Spanish influence on the architecture.

 Central Street is where the old Route used to run and there are signs of the past.

 Best of all, and perhaps the outstanding building of the whole trip so far, is this old theatre, decorated in south-western pueblo style. It was built in 1927 and is still in use.

This is a glimpse of the ornately decorated interior.

 This is Dave on a Harley Ultra Custom bike. He's also riding 66, filling in the gaps in previous itineraries.

 He advised me that the neon lights in town were worth seeing, so I decided to spend the night here, even though it had been a short day.

A dinosaur

A Chevrolet  El Camino

I took a quick drive around town before going to a hotel.

The Red Ball Restaurant - home of the Wimpy

I decided to stay right in town, so I could walk along Central and have my first drink since leaving St Louis!! Don't all faint. This is the lobby of the Andaluz Hotel, built in 1939. It is very swanky. However, they have called their rooftop bar "Ibiza" which shows a somewhat hazy knowledge of Spain's geography. It is also on the Mezzanine floor, so their concept of "rooftop" is also suspect. It was very pleasant, however. The night is warm and the bar is open to the air on one side. They served some New Mexican wines, including a sparkling rose, which was pretty good.
In the lobby is a 1939 mural by Ben Turner, a descendant of  JMW Turner. It is a tourist map to New Mexico.

There are art works throughout, even in the room.

The neon was fairly underwhelming, compared with Beale Street or Nashville. But the Kimo did not disappoint. Note how the black masks seen in the daytime photos are lights.

Other signage.

This one moves.

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The night-life on Central was pretty quiet, hence returning to the hotel for a drink. However, I did bump into these two itinerant musicians, Daniel from Wyoming and Ray from Louisiana. I gave them the packet of cigarettes I've been carrying around for weeks and not smoked AT ALL. He then offered me a joint, which, as I pointed out, would have rather defeated the object of my altruism. 

Hope to put some miles behind me tomorrow, as I feel well rested. NN.