Santa Fe, cont.
The Santa Fe posts have so many pictures that I divided into parts “a” and “b”, but then, using all of my “techie” expertise, posted them in reverse order so make sure to check out part “a” below.
The exploration of Santa Fe continues in a neighborhood immediately to the east of state building complex and just across the river from the St. Francis cathedral. Canyon Road is a world famous art destination. Stretching for nearly a mile and a half along a canyon that falls from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains towards the plaza district, this road is the center of the Santa Fe art community. Originally a narrow road along an irrigation canal, some of the buildings still in use as art galleries, restaraunts or stores were built in the 1750’s. Around the turn of the century artists and others became attracted to the Santa Fe area because the climate was deemed helpful to those suffering from respiratory illnesses. The rest, as they say, is history. I started at the top of the art district and walked down the mile and a half to the plaza district. The road is very narrow, often even without sidewalks, and the public art is just as fabulous as that hidden within the walls. The prices reflect the world-class nature of the art. Let the pictures tell the story…
I stop in the middle and look back up the road.
The Harrel House of Natural Oddities and Bugs
Tucked away inside the DeVargas Center mall in northwest Santa Fe is this fascinating little museum in the back of a store. Cruising along around the corner from Ross Dress For Less and down the mall from Office Depot, it is quite a moment to come face to face with a tarantula! The front is a small store selling the “oddities”: toys, models, specimens, stuff for science experiments, etc. Through the swinging door is a series of small rooms with displays as well as live creatures. In addition to the large collection of mounted insects, there is a smaller collection of live spiders, scorpions, and assorted bugs. It was very difficult to take pictures of the live exhibits because most of the creatures were hidden in burrows that are open to the glass sides of the terrariums but hard to photograph. The Death Scorpion must be a camera hog because she was out in the open moving around and posed for the picture! Bizarre but interesting! Here’s some of what I saw, starting with a wall of tarantulas…
First up is a Giant Whip Spider, stretching a leg span of 24.5 inches; next is a Goliath Birdeater Tarantula (I put my hand up so you can get an idea of the size.)
Below is a Death Scorpion, one of the most poisonous creatures in the world. This is a close-up, the scorpion is really about 4 inches long.
Here are grasshoppers from South America, Malaysia, and Africa. The wings have been extended to show the colors. On the right are butterflies from around the world.
For those of you into beetles, here are a selection of giant beetles from around the world. Again, I put my hand up against the glass to give some perspective.
And that concludes my rather eclectic visit to Santa Fe. Future trips will probably get me back into the cultural frame of mind as there are several outstanding museums that weren’t visited this time around. I am going to continue making my way south towards El Paso, Texas, but the weather hasn’t been cooperating south of Albuquerque. The worst rainy season in recent memory has been pouring down on southern New Mexico with daily news of foods, destroyed roads and bridges, etc., so I am being flexible!
Next up: E.T., Phone Home…
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