My sister Susan and I left Santa Fe Monday morning and made a stop at Chimayo, located about 25 miles north of that city in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. It has been many years since I have been there, and I had a bit of difficulty finding Rancho de Chimayo, but find it we did, and had brunch outside on their patio. The food was great, the weather warm and sunny, and the service friendly. The Jaramillo family, which owns the restaurant, has been living in this area since 1693, and the house in which the restaurant is located was built in the 1800s.
After lunch my sister and I walked the grounds, enjoying the day and the nice atmosphere. I have a watercolor of this place hanging in the den of my condo, showing the patio in back, which seems to have expanded up the hillside over the years to accommodate more diners. A good thing, too, since the place was pretty crowded, even on a Monday afternoon.in September.
After brunch, we drove over to see El Santuario de Chimayo, a church built in 1816 and known as a healing site (the dirt in a room in the back is said to be able to heal physical and spiritual ills). There were also a fair number of tourists here, too. The grounds are quite beautiful, and the location is pretty stunning, too. Afterwards, we took the High Road to Taos, a 56 mile road through high desert, mountains, forests, and small Spanish Land Grant villages. This is a great road to drive, and well worth the extra time it takes to get to Taos. And in fact, Taos is not all that great a place to arrive at. It is not very tourist friendly, and not nearly as interesting as Santa Fe. We basically let the dogs out of the car to piss on the place and drove on back to Colorado. And no disrespect meant.
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