Do You Know The Way To Santa Fe?

 Santa Fe, NM

We know the way!  It's on the Rail Runner.

Taking the Rail Runner to Santa Fe

This morning we got up and headed to the park and ride at the Rail Runner station.  Our train leaves for Santa Fe at 9:45.  We got there with about 20 minutes to spare so I explored the station.  Online ticketing was down so we would have to buy tickets on the train.

As we stood waiting for the train, we noticed that all of the riders waiting were older than us which is unusual.  Once we boarded I looked to see what the deal was.  Do Seniors ride for free?  Sure nuff!  Wednesday is Senior day.  Everyone 60 and up gets to ride for free.

We arrived in Santa Fe at 11:15, right on time, and headed right to lunch with about half of the train.  There is a great restaurant steps away from the downtown Santa Fe station.

 After a delicious brunch we walked across the parking lot to the Vladem Contemporary Museum.  This museum opened about a month ago.  We used our NARM membership and got right in.

Elias Jade Not Afraid -  Virgil Ortiz
For over two decades, Virgil Ortiz has been developing an elaborate narrative, Revolt 1680/2180, to globally educate people about Po'pay, the Tewa leader who led the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 against Spanish occupation and the subsequent survival of Pueblo culture. Historical fact blends with science fiction to present a time-bending tale of resilience and ancestral memory. 

Pantaloncini: Work No. (Indeterminate Stillness) (Emma) - Angela Ellsworth
We also saw Angela Ellsworth's work in Denver.

I didn't catch the name of this or the artist but it was cool.

Cloud Drawing -  Leo Villareal
Leo Villareal works with lights.  The installation we are most familiar with is The Bay Lights installed on The Bay Bridge while we were living in San Francisco.

The Archetype -  Emil Bisttram

Pumpkin - Yayoi Kusama

Untitled - Helen Pashgian

Cu: C - Susan York
This piece was commissioned just for this corner in the museum

The Santa Fe Rail Runner Station from the museum balcony

Capitol Building Tour

After a short walk we arrived at the New Mexico capitol building.  The building itself is just okay but it is stuffed with art.

Ullassa - Helen K. Tindel

There is a dome that is VERY New Mexico looking.

"Please no more questions!"

Slide 2008 - Laura Rosenfeld

The Senate and House floors are very utilitarian.  The capitol building was built in the 60s and it shows.

Ristras II 1994  - Marnie Johnson

Zozobra  - Will Shuster

Hoshonzeh  - Douglas Johnson

Buffalo  - Holly Hughes

Donna thought this looked like the plans to the Deathstar.  She isn't wrong.

New Mexico Museum of Art

After our capital time at the capitol we walked to the heart of Santa Fe and visited the New Mexico Museum of Art.  It was a short visit because we wanted to catch the earlier train.  We were getting tired and missing Francis.

Our walk took us along Historic Route 66.

The New Mexico Museum of Art building is really cool.

So is the courtyard within

Turquoise Persian Set  - Dale Chihuly
Everyone has got a Chihuly!  

Wasco  - Preston Singletary
We have seen a lot of his work in the Seattle area.

Stuben Glass Bowl with Jimson Weed image  - Georgia O'Keeffe with Stuben Glass

Chama River, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico  - Georgia O'Keeffe

Awakening, (Memory of Father)  - Agnes Pelton

The train ride home went smoothly.  We got to see some Sandhill Cranes eating seeds in a harvested field.  

Francis was happy to see us when we got home.

That's it for today.  If you missed Going Atomic!, you can check it out via the link.

Train Spotting, a Museum, and 2 Breweries

 Memphis, TN

We got held up by a train on our walk so Donna put me in a video.

The Moose Out Front Should Have Told You

Today we decided to go to the Art Museum at The University of Memphis.  It's a free museum attached to the university and we have been to a few like this so our expectations where tempered.  We drove the couple of miles to the University and looked for parking.  It wasn't clear where to park so we drove around looking.  We found a garage but it was too short for the van.  The 2nd garage we found that was actually closer to the museum was tall enough so we parked.

We walked in the direction Google Maps was telling us to walk and it didn't seem correct so we walked into the arts building to take a look.  We found a tiny museum featuring student art from the surrounding area.  We checked out the art there and then continued our search for the actual museum.  Donna took her shot at using Google Maps and got us closer to the entrance of the actual museum.  At that point we found a sign that sort of showed where to go.  It was much harder to find than it should have been.  The search for the museum including finding parking took about 30 minutes longer than it should have but we were there finally!  We entered only to find out that the museum was closed for a new installation (insert sad trombone sound here).  Oh well, at least we only needed to pay for an hour of parking.  In case you are thinking that we should have checked the website, we did.  There was no mention of a closure there.

Is this the Museum entrance?  Apparently so.

Ah yes!  The sign hidden behind the bushes at the entrance told us we were on the right track (after we already found the entrance).

Sad Trombone!

Salvaging A Day Out

After our shortest museum visit ever, we decided to head home and eat lunch.  After lunch we took a Lyft to the Binghampton Neighborhood to visit 2 breweries.  Our first stop was Hampline Brewing.  They are named after the bike / walking Hampline trail that cuts through the area.  The beers were great, the beertenders were super nice and the locals were talkative.  We got some great info about all of the fun things to do in the area from locals.  

Our 2nd brewery was about a quarter mile away so we walked to Wiseacre Brewing.  It is one of the larger breweries in Memphis.  The beers were solid, the space was cool, and we got to talk to another local.  He made the mistake of saying we looked like world travelers and I was feeling talkative so I went into WAY TOO MUCH DETAILS about our travels.  He was very nice and was interested in our adventures to a point.  After that point "he had to run". 

The logo for Hampline is really cool

They modify the bear on a bike for the different beer labels.

You can have a beer in the shade of 2 silos, pretty cool!

Wiseacre also has cool T-Shirts

New breweries are always fun and it is a bonus when the beers and spaces are as good as both of these places were.  That's it for today.  If you missed my last post you can find it here.  We had fried fish and wine at a Catholic Church and then saw a local jazz band.