Category: United States

A November American Sojourn – American Thanksgiving: Arkansas, Texas and New Mexico.

Southern US friends, food and sights!

Headed to Shreveport….Louisiana That Is….

Leaving Nanaimo between storms is the smart thing. I dodged the high winds and bucketing rain of the last few days and the predicted Cyclone Bomb of tomorrow. Once known as rain and wind we now have Atmospheric Rivers and Cyclone Bombs. My first time on the HULLO high speed passenger boat from my hometown Nanaimo to downtown Vancouver and we are sailing along at a great speed. Evidence of the recent storms is all around the boat in the form of floating dead heads, a marine hazard of the worst sort. But the HULLO is dodging around them at a great clip and we will be in downtown Vancouver in no time.

I am in Vancouver, positioning myself for a next day flight to the USA to visit a friend who has moved from Nanaimo to Arkansas. Even though I land in Louisiana my destination is Lake Erling in Arkansas where my friend and her husband have a “fish camp”. When I first heard the term I pictured them engaged in a commercial enterprise that catered to sports fishermen, but in fact it is what all homes on a lake are called, like we would say “cabin.”

Lake Country South West Corner Arkansas

If you’re headed to the SW corner of Arkansas the best airport to fly into is Shreveport which is in the NW corner of Louisiana. It is small and easily accessible for the friends, who if you’re lucky enough will drive the 1.5 hours to fetch you.

Arriving in the dark there wasn’t much to see but waking in the morning gave the picture of why my friends live where they live. Nestled in a pine forest down a private but shared road they look westward over Lake Erling. Their private dock affords them the luxury of fishing and wildlife viewing when they are not out on their boat catching catfish and other local fish species. Spotting the occasional crocodile in the water, eagles soaring overhead, herons squawking in early flight and red skied sunsets are daily events for the folks who call the lake-side fish camps home. Some camps are occupied by full-time residents while others are used on weekends or holidays.

Fish Camp

Since we were tucked up into the corner of Arkansas it meant that we could easily visit the neighbouring corners of Louisiana and Texas. Our first day was spent crossing these state lines into Louisiana and then Texas to visit a tourist town called Jefferson. Full of antique shops, quaint stores and southern food restaurants we wandered the streets, visiting stores and eventually heading to a barbecue restaurant for smoked brisket sandwiches, hot water corn bread and sweet sauced beans. Not a veg or a leaf of lettuce in sight, but as a nod to nutrition we were able to mix our “sweet cold tea” with non-sweet to cut down on the sugar intake. Very authentic barbecue, and as proof, just outside the restaurant was the stack of wood used to fire up the smokers. The decor was definitely southern and American with flags and memorabilia on every wall. Styrofoam cups, plastic straws and a roll of paper towel for napkins along with plastic cutlery and paper plates all headed for the bin after we ate.

Real Southern Smoked Brisket and Beans

Trying southern food is a real experience but I would not want to be a vegetarian that’s for sure.

Menu from the South
Chicken Fried Steak, White Gravy, Fries, Beans and Garlic Toast…chicken friend steak being beef battered like chicken and deep friend…no actual chickens died in the preparation of this meal.
Southern Memorabilia

Visiting the shops along the Main Street was fun to see the Christmas Season starting up with decorations and gift ideas amongst the usual collection of antiques, clothing and gift stores. Such a huge array of stock in every store and I even spotted the Red Ryder BB Gun made famous in The Christmas Story movie.

Red Ryder.. You’ll shoot your eye out…..
Southern Berries and Jellies
An Array of State Licence
Country Life
Patriotic Skeleton

Having little or knowledge of Arkansas before traveling there I was surprised at the number of lakes, small towns and rural life style that pervaded, at least in this corner of Arkansas.

Lake Country
Cypress Swamps
Spanish Moss

Next Up – Road Trip Clear Across Texas to New Mexico with a night in Amarillo. Long drive for sure and very grateful to my friends who were willing participants. The highway was fraught with truck traffic and really not much to see, pretty flat and prairie like when you could see around the semi-trucks.

New Mexico

But arriving in New Mexico the terrain changed to mountains and we were able to stop at a Puebla not far out of Santa Fe. The Puebla situated in the Pecos National Park housed the remains of a once thriving community that was located on the Santa Fe Trail a famous trade route between indigenous communities. Preservation work is ongoing and the park has a really great museum that outlines the history of the people that called the Pueblo home before contact.

Santa Fe & Albuquerque

After my Arkansas friends left to return home I was fortunate to revisit my friend Loni-Jo Dunham in Placitas, just south of Santa Fe and my friends the Reeves in Albuquerque. Beautiful landscapes, arty communities and American thanksgiving along with the on-set of Christmas filled the air.

Loni-Jo
Battle Rock
Santa Fe Pueblo Style
Santa Fe with the Reeves
Albuquerque from Above
A Gondola Ride Later
American Thanksgiving
Christmas Is Coming

New Mexico – A Quick Trip to Santa Fe

Santa Fe is well worth the visit. It has literally miles of museums and galleries.

Surprisingly quick trip from Nanaimo BC to New Mexico. Spent most of my travel time in airports and the least amount of time in the air. It’s only about 3 hours to Denver Colorado from Vancouver and an hour more to Albuquerque.

My first stop on the way to Santa Fe was Placitas, a rural town about 40 minutes north of Albuquerque. I stayed on an acreage surrounded by hills and mountains, dotted with juniper and aspen trees. The background is mainly brown rocky terrain and the dust is kicked up by the winds, but there is a certain charm to this desert landscape. Certainly artists and artisans have capitalized on the unsung beauty of the place and the history and culture of the peoples who live here.

Placitas is below the Sandia mountains
Junipers dot the landscape

Placitas is just outside of the city of Bernalillo and is part way between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. After a tour around Placitas with a friend, we headed into the Sandia mountains for some hiking to a cave that is accessible from a spiral staircase. Way above the valley, it was a good viewpoint to see New Mexico’s terrain. It is spring time so the temperature is reasonable and the trees are in bloom

The trail to the cave
Up the spiral staircase
The view from the Sandia Man Cave the haze is from fires in northern New Mexico
Inside the cave

I took the train from Placitas to Santa Fe. The Road Runner as the train is known, is great and runs from Albuquerque to Santa Fe and it cost me a grand total of one US dollar. The train runs through ranch country, passing through Indigenous Pueblos and small settlements. The rural areas of New Mexico look a little poor in places with run down looking homes and collections of old broken down vehicles. This is in stark contrast to the city of Santa Fe,

An hour on the train and an easy walk to the hotel San Ensendor Motel, I stashed my bags and had an afternoon to wander. Santa Fe is definitely a tourist destination. It was very busy and as I discovered, home to many events, including this car show in the main square.

Shiny old cars and trucks really bring out the crowds
Ruby Red
The downtown Santa Fe Blues

Santa Fe itself is well worth the visit. It has literally miles of museums and galleries, a world class opera (which sadly was not in season) and ancient traditions that continue to flourish. Everywhere you turn there is an impressive array of paintings, sculpture, pottery and photography and artisanal crafts. Easily walkable the streets of Sante Fe are full of life, bright with colour, music and good food ranging from Asian to local cuisine.

A fun place to visit for a few days, wandering the streets is exactly what the old city seems to be laid out for.

The spiral staircase in the Loretta Chapel

In addition to it’s artsy nature, Santa Fe has a rich history and is supposed to be the oldest capital city in the United States. The central Plaza and Catholic Churches, including the Loretta Chapel and its famous spiral staircase, are reminders of it’s days as a Spanish Colony established in 1610. Also well visited is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

Basilica of St. Francis

The number of museums and public galleries is staggering. Three days in Santa Fe are not sufficient. In order to see them all you would need several more days. Visiting the museums reveals the pre-colonial peoples and their history and the blend of cultures that resulted post contact with the Spanish. In Santa Fe you will find the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, New Mexico Museum of Art, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Museum of International Folk Art, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian and Museum of New Mexico of Contemporary Native Arts and many others.

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
Georgia O’Keefe Museum
Settler Mule Teams – Bronze
Pueblo Style Architecture

The week flew by and after the wedding of my friends, I returned to Albuquerque and flew home to Canada. Luckily the covid travel restrictions of the past few years have started to relax and made the trip much easier and more relaxed.