Santa Fe.... Okay

You know how if you are going to do something at the end of the day, you sort of mark time and not really get into anything? Well that was yesterday knowing we’d be leaving for BWI in the afternoon. So, desultory packing, errands here and there, what time is it now, and finally we loaded the MOMSTER and headed for BWI. We decided what the hell, start bleeding money early so we stayed at the “big deal” full up Marriott. Concierge level, all the privileges. No “minions” at the door so we had to schlep our own bags, and checked in. Herded the bags up to the 7th floor and got to our not so spacious room. After a bit of unpacking we decided to check out the concierge level and found a vacant room with some employee desultorily putting out cookies. Back to the lobby and had a drink at the bar. Not such a good DMOTRWAT, and MFO’s gimlet was rail. Twenty bucks. We decided to have food at their “Champions” sports bar thingie where all the staff wore referee garb. The place was populated with “contractors” the road warriors trying to kill a one more night on the company dole. The menu was sports bar like, with wings, onion rings, and general pub fare. Since we hadn’t eaten all day, we were kind of hungry and MFO went for a chicken quesadilla and I did a hamburger (only option was swiss and mushrooms). A million flat screens absorbed the vacant stares of the contractors, with only hockey to dominate the coverage.


MFO’s quesadilla arrived, and I have to admit it wasn’t bad. A half pizza size portion of tortilla with a fair amount of chicken lumps, plenty of cheese and jalapenos that were extracted. My burger was served on a Kaiser roll (what the hell?) and the Swiss was barely melted, a couple of slices of deli Swiss. It almost looked like the mushrooms were delivered as a patty and plopped on, But, however, comma, the burger had taste, and was cooked medium rare as specified. The fires were out and out Sysco. Oh, incidentally I tried the featured (sign at the door) Fat Tire, and it’s okay, but not worth the hype. So we satisfied ourselves although MFO only did half of the quesadilla. When the server asked if we were done, MFO requested the other half to be wrapped in foil. As we were leaving the server approached an informed us that the half left of the quesadilla was pitched inadvertently but a whole new one would be substituted. A nice touch.

So back to the room and a fitful night for the Feeder, is it time to wake up yet? Three hours, two hours, one, 45 minutes, 20, 15, ten, oh god, I gotta do this. So shortly after six, the body complaining but complied with action and we appeared in the lobby at the ungodly hour of 7:10. On the shuttle, to the airport, curbside check in ($5) and through security with minimal hassle. However, the B-15 gate was approximately in Annapolis, and after the cross country hike, the Feeder’s head was reeling, stomach churning, and nerves frayed. It’s just too damn early.

So a fitful flight landed us in Albuquerque in the sun, bags appeared early, rental car with smooth and the drive to Santa Fe was fun. We are staying at the home of some friends, and oh my god Georgia O’keeffe would be proud. Minimal adobe, blue sashes, and wonderful art. We sort of dragged out tonight, did a little exploring, and tomorrow we will begin trying to get our arms around this artsy community.

Big deal dinner number one tomorrow for which we will be

DFD