Back in the late 1800s, I learned from the history of the Methodist Church in NM written by Rev. Thomas Harwood, when a Methodist preacher tried to preach from this plaza some locals threw rocks and ran him out of town. No plaques to commemorate that, though, but I haven't gotten over it.
Old Mesilla is known for its restaurants and we sampled three of them. When we checked into the Inn on Friday I asked if there was any place to get fish tacos (continuing my fish taco quest in places far and near). The Lundeen's daughter, who was working the desk, suggested Andele's. Good choice. Different from fish tacos I've found. The fish was fried whitefish, broken up into bitesize pieces. This came on a plate along with a corn and black bean mix and cole slaw. Various salsas were available at a salsa bar. Tortillas were served separately, so you built your own fish tacos from the plate of fixins. Some of the best I've had.
Saturday night, anniversary night, we ate at an Italian restaurant, Lorenzo's. Again, very good with a NM touch - red chile alfredo sauce on penne and Italian sausage, for me. Also on the menu, the house specialty: green chile lasagna. Susie had some very good spaghetti and meatballs, no chile-flavor. Meatballs, though, had currants in them that added a sweet taste. Had a lively and personable NM State U waitress who added to the fun: Waitress! There's something in my meatball.
Sunday evening it was La Posta for classic Mexican food.
I should mention that Sunday morning we attended church at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, just a couple of blocks from the Inn. The preacher there is James Large, who has preached at our church in Albq a few times when he was in the District office there. I believe St. Paul's now has a larger membership or average attendance than our church, St. John's, but the church's large and beautiful sanctuary didn't have very many people in it for the 10:45 service. (Note the repeated use of the word, 'large.') Maybe because it was the day for people to turn in their 2011 pledge cards and there was a guest speaker -- the District Superintendent. But, of course, we weren't there to count the house or critique the music program and preacher. No, that would be wrong.
Monday morning we left for home, taking a more easterly route through Alamogordo, Carizoso, and Corona, where Susie's brother, Charlie, and his wife live. Along the way, though, we made a discovery of the sort that makes travel so interesting. First, though, here's a shot of the east side of the Organ Mountains.
Very strong, cold wind blowing through the pass from which this picture was taken. The weather's changing.
Between Carizoso and Corona there's a turn-off to the ghost town of White Oaks, a place I've read about and wanted to see, but never have taken the time to do so. Today was the day. There's a lot of information and pictures at the White Oaks website. I took a couple of pictures. This is the schoolhouse, now a museum, not open when we were there, though.
This is the restored Gumm House. It played a minor role in the Billy the Kid saga.
More pictures and info at the website.
We noticed several signs in town for White Oaks Pottery, located three miles further out of town, so decided to check it out. We found our way there and pulled up to a building with a sign pointing up an outside stairway leading to the gallery. There wasn't anybody around and no vehicles in sight. I went up the stairs and found the gallery open. Inside was a sign saying we use the honor system here, come on in and shop. Susie came up and in a couple of minutes the owner/operator, Ivy Heymann joined us. She's a real dynamo and has quite a story. About 35 years ago she came out west and found some land in the wilds of NM that she could buy for $500/acre. With help from locals, she built a small home, studio, and gallery and has been creating pottery ever since. The White Oaks website has a nice slide show of her pottery and you can see other examples at her White Oaks Pottery site itself.
We bought a couple of coffee cups and a pie plate and she showed us around the place - her large kiln and her studio. Here's a picture of Ivy and Susie (TWO dynamos; when we checked out of the Inn, the host said to me, Come back any time and bring that wild woman with you.) in front of White Oaks Pottery.
The White Oaks website says, Ivy Heymann's White Oaks Pottery. An experience worth the adventure.
We agree, so if you're ever in the neighborhood, ... .
The road beyond White Oaks, which is dirt, eventually loops back to US 54, so we followed that and on to Corona. Had a nice visit with Charlie and Sue and got home in plenty of time for Dancing With The Stars.
So, a special, memorable anniversary weekend.
Happy Thanksgiving from Cedar Crest - first snow this morning.
Cheers,
Susie and Rob
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