Last Day In Taos

Today we drove out to the Taos Pueblo where we paid an entrance fee plus a fee for our camera. This was OK with us as the money goes to the upkeep of the Pueblo which is a constant and never-ending project due to the materials; earth, straw and water which are made into bricks and used to make up the walls of the buildings. Taos Pueblo is the oldest continuously inhabited community in the USA, over thousands of years old but even today they prefer to preserve the buildings in their original condition and they still have no electricity or running water within the village proper. There is a fairly large creek running through the Pueblo and there are homes and shops on either side of the creek. The buildings are sometimes multi-story with common walls and individual owners. Similar to our townhouses of today. Many of the doors were painted a bright blue or red color and there were fireplaces inside some of the dwellings. Many of the doors opened up to a shop selling jewelry, pots, or drums. We purchased a little bear made of fired mud. The cemetery was the spot of the original church built in 1619 but today they have a newer church in a different location.

For lunch we headed back to the plaza to eat at Antonios. We had gotten a recommendation for their Mexican food. Even though there were numerous tables on the patio, the hostess tried to seat us in the bar because all of those tables were sort of reserved. We decided to leave rather than eat inside and the manager "found" a table on the patio for us. Later a younger more yuppie kind of couple showed up and the hostess gave them a table on the patio right away even though they were walk-ins, the same as us. I guess you have to be one of the beautiful people or part of the in crowd to rate a patio table at Antonios. The guacamole was good, fresh, and made right at our table. The rest of the meal was downhill from there. No dining recommendation for this lunch. As we left the restaurant, all of those tables were still empty. We walked along the streets, stopping in at the galleries to check out the art. Saw some good, some not so good, and some downright crazy. But the sunshine was brilliant and the company was terrific. A good last day in Taos. Onward to Santa Fe in the morning.