Taos. We will start at the Taos Inn where I stayed – a great location right in the center of town near the Plaza. Next the historic plaza itself. The Hotel La Fonda on Taos Plaza is the grand old hotel in the city. I have heard good things about it. The plaza is a little touristy but not badly so.
From the plaza we will walk over to Ledoux Street and the Harwood Museum of Art whose holdings include works by the Taos Society of Artists (1915-1927). Next to the Harwood Museum of Art on Ledoux is the adobe house of the artist Ernest Blumenschein, an important figure of the early Taos art colony.
Several other historic artists’ studios survive and are featured in this set.
Kit Carson lived in Taos. European friends, Carson was a legendary American frontiersman. He is also buried in Taos, in a cemetery now named for him. One can see the chip marks on his tombstone. It has often been defaced and vandalized due to his controversial role in the Navajo and other Indian Wars.
As in Santa Fe there is much handsome adobe architecture.
I liked that Taos was less commercialized than Santa Fe. The one percenters are there in Taos, too, but their presence is not as pronounced as in Santa Fe.
Towards the end of the set one sees the Mabel Dodge Luhan House. Dennis Hopper lived there for a time. Read about it here.
My breakfast recommendation in Taos (hands down) is the Taos Diner (where the waitress in the photos called me “hon” from the get go – a real sweetheart). I went back a second time just after they opened on my getaway day, I liked it so much. The local police have a corner table. Lots of other locals. It was like being back in Oklahoma or Missouri. In the photos one sees how out of place my car is on this trip. It really sticks out.
A wonderful place. The fact that I was able to see two different sets of friends with ties to my former home, Berkeley CA, really helped (after over three weeks solo on the road). Great restaurants, a small town feel, museums, galleries, gorgeous countryside surrounding it, friendly people…I will be back to Taos.
