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A Day in Santa Fe

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Basil

Basil

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Mary and I spent the day in Santa Fe and had a great time. We Ate at Tia Sophia's - one of the best Mexican restaurants in the area. I took lots of pictures. One of the places we visited was Loretto Chapel, built in 1873. One of the highlights of the Chapel is "Saint Josephs Staircase, " which the Sisters of the Chapel at the time believed it was St Joseph himself in answer to their prayers.

Here's a short video someone put together telling the story.

https://youtu.be/yoWknpkIJDE

Here are a few pictures from today (If you click the little "play" icon at the top right it will play as a slideshow in full screen).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcarforum/sets/72157652710268859
 
Great pics... thanks!
I like the B/W one.
 
I read the story many years ago and the only thing I came up with was, there was Devine Intervention in there somewhere. He came from nowhere, left without pay and disappeared into nowhere. Always wanted to see that staircase in the real, never got around to it. PJ
 
That Loretto staircase has quite a story behind it. Here's a photo made *before* the railings were added.

loretto-staircase-original.jpg
 
NutmegCT said:
That Loretto staircase has quite a story behind it. Here's a photo made *before* the railings were added.
Click to expand...

Yep - that picture was in my set of pictures I posted, which explains the banister was installed in 1887 at the request of the Sisters.
Legend has it that, when the Sisters needed a way to get up to the choir loft, all the local carpenters said it was not possible to build an adequate staircase due to how high the loft was and the small size of the Chapel - they would have to use a ladder.

The sisters prayed a Novena to St Joseph and at the end of it, an old man who nobody had seen before came to the Chapel asking if there was any work that he could do. The sisters told him about the need for a staircase for the choir loft.

The old man set about making what has become known as "St Joseph's stairs" because the sisters at the time were convinced the man was St Joseph himself. (He left without a trace and without getting paid). Experts have said the wood used was not native to New Mexico and they have no idea where he got the wood. Also, there is no center support and engineers from around the world have been unable to figure out how it remains standing.

This staircase was featured on the show "Unsolved Mysteries" and there is also a feature-length movie that is actually available on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/bjokO41yjq4




 
Some great photos of a very photogenic town. Your "23282.jpg" is of a Bill Worrell sculpture - he has a studio there and another in Texas. We have a couple of his pieces - ~much~ smaller than the one you photographed. We're hoping to get back there this winter. My wife would love to move there but I doubt we could afford it.
 
Nice photography.

And more related to what many of us do, don't forget the 2015 Santa Fe Concorso on September 25 – 27, 2015.

Apparently this is turning into one of the best concourse events in the US, with the same lever of quality as Amelia Island.

~INFO~
 
coldplugs said:
Some great photos of a very photogenic town. Your "23282.jpg" is of a Bill Worrell sculpture - he has a studio there and another in Texas. We have a couple of his pieces - ~much~ smaller than the one you photographed. We're hoping to get back there this winter. My wife would love to move there but I doubt we could afford it.
Click to expand...

Speaking of affording things in Santa Fe, I saw a nice shirt in the window of one of the little shops. It was a nice looking Hawaiian long sleeve, so I went in to look at those shirts in the store. I was all ready to buy one, until I looked at the tag! Granted, it was a nice shirt, but it was still a friggin' shirt! I told my wife when we left the store, "if I ever spend $195 for a single shirt, just shoot me!"

Speaking of art, we went back to Santa Fe yesterday and spent some time in the Georgia O'Keefe museum. In addition to many of her pieces of art, there was also a photo section with many photos of O'Keefe taking by her husband Alfred Stieglitz and several taken by Ansel Adams.
 
I've always enjoyed Santa Fe. I was first there thirty years ago and was captivated by the spiral staircase. During our most recent visit we enjoyed riding the train to Albuquerque for a day. I enjoy the art shops, but I must say I don't think I see things I wold put in my house even if i could afford them. We met a Triumph owner at one the Salsa shops. He had a non restored BRG TR4.
 
Doug and I get to Santa Fe once in a while. His favorite shop was/is the Chuck Jones Studio. That his idea of art and mine too. It's a great place but a tad too pricey for us. Have been to the Concorso and are you ready for this... Agatha actually took a second place in her category and she was invited. Okay, I'm leaving now... still grinning.
 
Many congrats to Agatha and you too, of course, as her caretaker.
 
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