Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
198
and storerooms are on a hill above the pueblo and are open to visitors. The
annual feast
days
at San Lorenzo Church are August 9 and 10.
The people here are modern enough to have fully computerized their public showcase
operations as Picuris Tribal Enterprises, and they run the Hotel Santa Fe in the state
capital. Fishing permits ($11 for all ages) are available, as are permits to camp ($8) at
Tu-Tah Lake, which is regularly stocked with trout.
You might want to plan your High Road trip to include a visit to
Sugar Nymphs
Bistro
, 15046 NM 75 (
&
575/587-0311
) for some inventive food. Inside a vin-
tage theater in the little farming village of Peñasco, Kai Harper, former executive chef at
Greens in San Francisco, prepares contemporary bistro cuisine, using local and seasonal
ingredients. Lunch brings imaginative pizza, salads, and burgers, while dinner includes a
full range of entrees. Yaki Udon is a favorite at lunch and dinner: Grilled chicken is
combined with red bell peppers, poblano chiles, carrots, and snap peas in a soy-ginger
sauce. In summer, the cafe is open Tuesday to Saturday 11:30am to 3pm, and Thursday
to Saturday 5:30 to 7:30 or 8pm, with Sunday brunch from 11am to 2pm. In winter,
spring, and fall, the schedule is abbreviated. Call ahead to be sure it's open.
DIXON & EMBUDO
Taos is about 24 miles north of Peñasco via NM 518, but day-trippers from Santa Fe can
loop back to the capital by taking NM 75 west from Picuris Pueblo. Dixon, approxi-
mately 12 miles west of Picuris, and its twin village Embudo, a mile farther on NM 68
at the Rio Grande, are home to many artists and craftspeople who exhibit their works
during the annual
autumn show
sponsored by the Dixon Arts Association.
To taste the local grape, follow signs to
La Chiripada Winery
(
&
505/579-4437;
www.lachiripada.com), whose product is surprisingly good, especially to those who don't
know that New Mexico has a long winemaking history. Local pottery is also sold in the
tasting room. The winery is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday noon to
6pm.
7
ESPAÑOLA
The commercial center of Española (pop. 9,688) no longer has the railroad that led to
its establishment in the 1880s, but it may have New Mexico's greatest concentration of
low riders.
These are late-model customized cars, so called because their suspension
leaves them sitting quite close to the ground. Watch for them as you pass through
town.
Sights of interest in Española include the
Bond House Museum
(
&
505/747-8535
),
a Victorian-era adobe home that exhibits local history and art, and the
Santa Cruz
Church,
built in 1733 and renovated in 1979, which houses many fine examples of
Spanish colonial religious art. The
Convento,
built to resemble a colonial cathedral, on
the Española Plaza (at the junction of NM 30 and US 84), houses a variety of shops,
including a trading post and an antiques gallery, as well as a display room for the His-
torical Society.
Complete information on Española and the vicinity can be obtained from the
Espa-
ñola Valley Chamber of Commerce,
#1 Calle de Las Españolas, NM 87532 (
&
505/
753-2831;
www.espanolanmchamber.com).
If you admire the work of Georgia O'Keeffe, try to plan a short trip to
Abiquiu,
a tiny
town at a bend of the Rio Chama, 14 miles south of Ghost Ranch and 22 miles north
