By Georgia Osten
So, last week, I told you all about our escape from Crystal Beach to drive to Golden, Colorado. After our oldest grandson’s graduation and family party/get together, we headed away from Colorado to our next stop, Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had a reservation at the Hotel El Dorado, which is on the main drag in Santa Fe, just a block or two from the Plaza. Shopping galore! We saw the Loretto chapel with the amazing circular staircase. If you’re interested, you can read Loretto Chapel Staircase – The Legend of the Santa Fe Miracle (historicmysteries.com).

Santa Fe was having a car show around the Plaza, every kind of vintage automobiles you could imagine. Every once in a while, you could see the cars parading around the downtown area. The Navajo Indians are native to this area. What I remembered about a trip to Santa Fe years and years ago, was the sidewalk full of Navajos displaying their jewelry and crafts. They’ve just begun selling out on the sidewalk again since Covid. They’re quite the craftsmen and quite the salesmen and women.

Dinner at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the shops, and a stroll around town to work off our meal, we discovered more shops we wanted to visit on Sunday. Having researched when mass times were, we woke up early enough Sunday morning to walk to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. A beautiful church with tons of history. Construction was begun in 1869 around the old adobe structure built in 1714, then the old adobe structure was torn down. It’s a block or two from the Loretto Chapel. We went to breakfast at a quaint little diner, did some more shopping, then went back to the hotel to pack up and check out.

Off to Post, Texas, near Sweetwater, home of the Rattlesnake Roundup! We stayed in the Hotel Garza and ate dinner at George’s Restaurant, where I downed some great Tex-Mex enchiladas!

Next morning, off to our last stop, Fredericksburg, TX, where our wonderful children reserved a Cabin at the Winchester Lodge as a Mother’s Day/Father’s Day gift to their traveling parents. Lots more shopping shopping shopping in downtown Fredericksburg. Yes, indeed! Wine tasting at the Fredericksburg Winery with Mathilde, who hails from New York City. What a fun and charming place and owner! After purchasing six bottles of wine, two complimentary wine glasses, some jams and salsas, we trudged on back to our hotel for a dip in the pool just outside our suite.

All refreshed, we ventured out to eat at an outside German restaurant, Altdorf Biergarten, on Main Street. This is where we met Max, a big ol’ Golden Retriever. He made us miss home more than ever!

Almost a week later, visiting some lovely special places, we were on our final stretch home. Ah, cruising through Galveston on our way to the ferry. Miracles upon miracles, the ferry was waiting for us to take us back HOME – Crystal Beach, Texas.

There’s no place like home, Toto!

[May-31-2022]