On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
UncleEbeneezer
Here are some more, assorted pictures from my Birthday in Taos. It was honestly, one of the best Birthdays I’ve had in years. We went for a yummy breakfast again at Michael’s Restaurant, got a couples massage at a resort/spa that was walking distance from where we were staying, had dinner and drinks with a good friend and then saw a local production of The Nutcracker. The following day, on Christmas Eve we went to the Taos Pueblo to witness the Procession of the Virgin Mary followed by dinner, drinks and games with friends. It was a delightful way to end our stay in Taos.
We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside the Taos Pueblo but this is what the sunset looked like on Christmas Eve. It was quite cold but beautiful.
Art is absolutely EVERYWHERE in Taos!
The Taos Inn is lovely and was especially nice during the holidays, though the lighting was awful and the music over the PA was a bit too loud and made it hard to have a conversation. But the food and beers were delicious and the music was decent too. Kelly was more of a fan of the singer/performer providing the entertainment (on the right) than I was but that is mostly because she thought he was cute. He played a fairly standard mix of Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Young and other folk/acoustic-rock classics.
Nicolai Fechin was apparently a “butt” man :)
Chokola Bean to Bar has some really interesting, artisan chocolates that I couldn’t resist purchasing ;)
We love The Nutcracker, so naturally we couldn’t resist attending a local production when we found out it was playing on my Birthday. It was a really fun version with several nostalgic references to mid-century America. Here you can see children in old-time baseball uniforms, a Raggedy Ann costume, a woman with a “Pink Ladies” jacket from Grease etc., as the “Barbie” ballerina comes out of her box.
For a fairly small city production, this version of The Nutcracker was surprisingly good. The principle dancers were all professionals and many of the young dancers were former colleagues of our friends and their daughter (who currently studies dance at Bard college). So we got the VIP treatment at this show.
When we left The Nutcracker it had started snowing, which was a delightful way to end my Birthday and begin my second half-century.
SiubhanDuinne
What a wonderful trip this has been! A belated happy birthday to you, with thanks for sharing your celebration with us!
OzarkHillbilly
I love street art.
Hoodie
Nice. Drove down to Taos from Gunnison last Christmas and went to the Christmas Eve vespers at Taos Pueblo. Great experience, still smell the piñon bonfires.
mvr
Happy 6th Decade! There is this thing called “happiness studies”. People who work in it (based on self-reports of subjects) say that for men on average they start getting happier at 50 and continue to do so until 70 or so – as long as they are healthy. For women it starts earlier.
Thanks for the virtual trip!
Quinerly
Love your pictures! Thanks for posting all of this.
Albatrossity
All of these posts have been wonderful; Taos and New Mexico are indeed meccas for the arts (all of them!). Thank you for sharing these, and I do hope more jackals take the time to get some of their pics together and send in a set for On The Road.
I dunno how many more are in the queue, but I do know that WaterGirl regularly reminds us to participate here, and I’d like to second that motion! And even if you don’t have a set from some special trip like this, you can always send in an eclectic set from some of the milestones of your time on the planet, like this one.
UncleEbeneezer
@Albatrossity: Thank you. I totally agree. Though I sometimes slack on checking out OTR posts because they get buried for us West Coasters so it’s easy to miss them if I don’t specifically look for them in the morning. But I love seeing other places and getting ideas for places we might wanna visit in the future. There are SO MANY! And even the ones that we probably never will but it’s still fun to virtually visit them and see what other people like about them.
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: Thanks for sharing Taos with us!
P.S. I couldn’t help but notice how similar Cole’s recent bread photo is to your 4th photo.
UncleEbeneezer
@Hoodie: It was a really unique experience. We got there early since we didn’t want to have to park too far away. Once we got in we got some hot cocoa because it was COLD (like high 20’s) and then snagged a bench over by the river. And then once the fires got going we moved closer to them to keep warm. The whole scene was so surreal and cool. I was pleasantly surprised that the affluent white people were actually pretty well behaved in being respectful of the rules too.
UncleEbeneezer
@WaterGirl: Great minds!! ;)
Tenar Arha
@UncleEbeneezer: What a lively lovely trip. Thanks for sharing, that 1st and last shots today, gorgeous!
Miss Bianca
@Hoodie: Do you live in Gunnison? (waving from the other side of the Sangre de Cristos)
Oh, my, do I miss New Mexico at Christmas. Love seeing all these photos!
pieceofpeace
Thanks for the inspiration to visit Taos. Lovely, inviting photos and wow, the one of the sunset……..
Enjoy all your many future birthdays.
BigJimSlade
Incredible sunset! And some nicely indulgent chocolate bars :-)
UncleEbeneezer
@pieceofpeace: Most of our trip it was gloomy and gray, so this sunset and the brief glimpse of sunshine was really magical. Especially given the location by the river with the mountains right behind it. I can see why the Pueblo people find it sacred. You can see a picture here.
UncleEbeneezer
@BigJimSlade: Birthdays are great for indulgence ;)
Alison Rose
The sunset photo!! Stunning.
UncleEbeneezer
@Alison Rose: Thanks. It was taken by a friend of a friend that we met on Xmas Eve. The Sangre De Cristo mountains are legendary for a reason.
Wolvesvalley
Happy belated birthday!
Wolvesvalley
Wonderful art photos!