Two Churches, One House and One Dinner, All in One Day

Sooooo, Sept 9, 1989, Hurricane Hugo was taking aim for Virginia Beach & Chesapeake, we were on the verge of a bank merger, and daybreak came early.  The chairs were all set up outside, at Dick's sister's house, Paul (her husband) had finished the deck repairs, Martha and Betty had all the bouquets made and ribbons put on the potted plants.  The Hitching Post was all decorated, as was the rented metal archway. We had gotten the license a couple of days prior, I had a dress & Dick had a suit.  The twins each had a pink lacy outfit, and Theresa, my maid of honor had found a dress to her liking.  My boss, her daughter & her mom were all there, as were my two employees, Chrissy and Mike.  All of Dick's family was there; even the ones I didn't know yet!  Only thing lacking was the preacher, but he had till noon to show up.  About 20 minutes late, he arrived and said he only had a few minutes to perform the ceremony before he had to go.  OK, then, well, let's get on with it!  About 10 minutes later, we were married and the party started!  Here we are, 30 years later, and we're still having the time of our lives.  Thank you, Dear Husband, for the best years of my life!  

So, I understand Barbara A has been forwarding my posts to their friend, Randy, who lives here in Santa Fe.  Hi Randy!  Hope we've been going to all the right places!!  I know you've recommended the Pink Adobe, and we even got to chat with you a bit this morning - thank you for calling!  While the reviews and the trees growing through the ceiling promised quite the experience, we checked the menu.

I took a photo of the menu, but, in the interests of saving time and bandwidth, I didnt upload it.  Plus, I didn't want anyone to suffer any heart attacks or strokes when they saw the prices.  Let's just leave it at, we needed to eat next week, too, so we decided that would not be our first choice for dinner, even though it's a pretty special event tonight.

So we moved on to San Miguel Chapel, regarded as the oldest Christian church site in the nation.  The first historical record of the Shrine of Archangel Michael appears in   Immediately upon entering t, but according to archaeologists, the actual house of worship rests upon an early Puebloan site from circa 1300 CE.   The chapel was built for, and likely, BY Indian groups from what is present-day Mexico.  San Miguel was partially destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, an attack that drove Spanish settlers, officials and missionary friars south into a 12 year exile near the Rio Grande, in El Paso.  

Immediately upon entering the chapel, we were impressed by a huge bell from Spain, which we weree invited to gently strike with a provided hammer.  Yup, I did.  A few times. Maybe more than a few times. We could absolutely  imagine it calling the parishioners to service, announcing weddings, and ringing out alarms as necessary.  

There were hundreds of little prayer charms nailed directly to the wooden frame surrounding the bell, and rosaries were draped over the supporting brace.

There was a window, into which we could peer and view the evidence of the fire that destroyed the chapel roof, during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.  Not much history is known for the next hundred years, but around 1830, a new, 3-tiered tower and roof were added.  A violent windstorm took the top 2 tiers and the tower down in 1872.

A board floor was installed during the Civil War, and a new tower was added in 1887, giving us today's general appearance.

The facade as it stands today.

Also, deep inside the walls, was a collection of artifacts discovered on the site at various times.

Considering the scarcity of wood planks and beams of any size, the ceiling was amazing.

The wooden altar screen (reredos) is one of the oldest in New Mexico.  The inscription in the lower left-hand corner reads, "This altar was erected through the piety of Don Jose Antonio Ortis in the year 1798."

This is a wooden Station of the Cross, whose date of origin is unknown, but it was in the body of the chapel when the Christian Brothers began using it as their private Oratory in 1859.  The current school of thought is that it may have been painted by one of the Spanish artists who decorated the chapel during the 1710 restoration of the building.

The beam supporting the choir loft has an inscription reading, "El Marques of Penuela had this construction erected by his royal ensign, Agustin Flores Vergada, in the year 1710."

From the chapel, we moved next door, to The Oldest House.  Remember, it was closed when we ate pizza next door at Upper Crust.  Well, it was open now, and best of all, it was FREE!  We have definitely noticed the high price of tourism in Santa Fe.  When we were at Fiesta, last Friday, we struck up conversation with a lady with two kids scarfing down Indian tacos (Randy, they looked GOOD!) and the high cost of living came up.  She concurred, and she let us know that the main industry was tourism.  So, there ya go.  Here is a sketch of The Oldest House, as it appeared in Harper's Weekly, on Sept 13, 1879.  Wow.

The VERY narrow staircase led down into a very small room, containing several old & dusty artifacts.

This one bears explaining.  It was definitely macabre.  According to local legend, this coffin carried the remains of Juan Espinoza, a young Spaniard who was beheaded in the 1600s by two witches who sold him a faulty batch of love potion. When he returned to the witches, demanding a refund, they refused and he drew his sword and lunged at them.  They were too quick, though, and one stuck out her leg and tripped him, causing his sword to fall from his hand.  One witch snatched it up and quickly beheaded him.  It is rumored that poor Juan's headless ghost can be seen during the month of April, wandering around East Vargas Street, searching for his missing head.

(The headless skeleton on display is actually a plaster of paris model, but still....) The moral of the story that the museum wants to impart, is to accept what is and quit complaining, lest you lose your head over things that don't really matter.

This type of papoose carrier was used by Pecos Indian mothers since the 1600s. This particular papoose was obtained by the Christian Brothers in the 1920s.  It's sure a far cry from the ornately beaded and decorated ones we had seen in Oklahoma City.

Onward, to Loretto Chapel, built in 1873, and home to the Miraculous Stairway.

Upon entering, we saw this model, apparently, it's NOT to scale, 'cuz I have seen the dorways, and they would NOT accommodate a nun as tall as the room.   

Once we entered the nave, we were able to view the original staircase.  Please, take a moment to visit the page I linked to above (or HERE) and learn the story of why the stairway is so miraculous.  It's very intriguing!

The nuns and students used this staircase for over a hundred years!  The banisters were added 10 years after installation, but the braces have been added relatively recently, to stabilize from the heavy traffic of the area.  It is interesting to note that the braces, meant to stabilize the structure, actually DAMAGED it, because they prevented the natural spring-like movement of the stairs upon use.  There we go again, FIXING and meddling in what should simply be left alone and revered.

The altar is actually made of wood, but painted with a mixture of plaster and something, neither of us can remember, but Driver thinks maybe flour, to make it look like marble.

I

When we were leaving, we were directed through the gift shop, where we had the opportunity to purchase a small vial of Holy Water.  For $3.95, dispense it yourself.  I think they get away with it by selling the VIAL, and you can fill it with free Holy Water.  We refrained.  Hope that doesn't bite us in the butt down the road!

As we were walking back to our car, we were accosted invited in to a sampling session for a local salon.  Here's Driver, getting what we now know was CBD-infused serum applied to his temples.  Personally, we didn't see what the hype was all about.  Sure, there may have been a slight decrease in laugh-lines, but that effect was gone within hours.

So that's two churches and a house.  What about dinner?  We ended up going to Tomasita's, at the recommendation of our friendly Verizon salesman.  We had stopped by when we were at the Farmers' Market and previewed the menu.  I actually found a dish that I could/would eat, if they left off the cheese, and Dick found a dish specifically for those with "hungry appetites."  Plus, the prices were quite reasonable.  And the margarita came highly recommended.  (please forgive the formatting, I can't make it right for some reason!) 

On our way back to our campsite, we saw this behemoth.  Never saw one like this outside a magazine before.  It looks like it was perfectly suited for an African safari, or maybe downtown Philadelphia.

And here we are, in our shady corner.

Next up, The Capitol Building.  But that's for another day.  It's time to walk the dog and see the stars.

Till next time....