On the Road - Day 6 - Retired Nerds, Museums & THE brewery

I slept until about 8 AM...a little late for this trip. It was a nice cool morning so I decided to walk up to the little coffee shop about a half-mile away. The retired nerdy guys that I ran into on my last trip(August) were there...the quiet ones at first ...but then the Alpha Nerd arrived to whip everyone into shape. He has put on some weight since last summer (but who am I to point this out?) and was sporting a very bright Hawaiian print shirt. He speaks at a higher decibel level and always seems that he has already had his limit of coffee. Before long, Mrs. Alpha Nerd arrived and she was wearing a matching Hawaiian print shirt. The Mrs. seems to fit right in and must be a good match for Alpha. I finished my coffee and a cheese danish and left but they were still going strong trying to decide on what the day's projects were going to be.

 I was having a hard time deciding on my projects for the day. I didn't feel much like driving a couple hours up to see Valles Caldera and the Bandelier Indian ruins since I'll be on the road for the next couple days. I decided to find the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology on the campus of the University of New Mexico.  The University sits smack in the middle of Albuquerque but I've never really been on the campus. It is Spring Break so very few students were around and parking wasn't a problem after I found the museum. I was the only person visiting the museum so I had the run of the place and they allowed pictures without a flash.      As you would think, most of the exhibits are on southwestern archaeology and the various people who have lived in the area. They didn't have a huge amount of stuff but they told the story. There were a few pueblo ruins that were excavated and they found colorful frescoes on some of the walls. The kiva at Coronado monument at Bernalillo  had frescoes and they had some examples of others. There was also a good exhibit that highlighted the physical characteristics and differences of the early human ancestors. I never realized how different Neanderthals were from other variations and from modern humans.  There was a travelling exhibit on Mayan weaving that was very detailed and a little more information than I needed but very good.  The museum is free and they have some special events and a small book and gift shop. Today they had a tour going to one of the local archeology sites for a cost of $75 but it left early in the morning.

My next stop was at the National Hispanic Cultural Center located in a southern part of town near the Barales neighborhood which is traditionally a Hispanic area.  The cultural center is very large and has areas set aside for a variety of purposes. There was a lecture going on and some performances were scheduled for the evening. I wanted to see the art museum and it turned out to be a free day so no admission fee -- yes!  They have a permanent collection of contemporary art by Hispanic artists....most of them from New Mexico. They had an interesting special exhibit of New Mexico hand-crafted furniture. Some of the furniture was nice but it seemed very angular. Some of the local  wood, such as pine, is very soft and splits easily so they have to allow for the wood characteristics when they make the furniture. I visited the gift shop and chatted with the lady clerk who wanted me to come back on Sunday to see the Torreón. This is something I walked by but didn't realize what it was. A special artist constructed a torreon (tower) out in the front of the center and painted a huge fresco inside depicting Hispanic history. It is like a chapel and is open only on Sunday afternoons. I'll be in Texas by then. They have a nice restaurant, "La Fonda", where I ate lunch -- a huge club sandwich with ham, turkey cheese and avocado slices on whole wheat toast with french fries and chips with salsa and coffee for about $10.

I found a Trader Joe's store and decided to check it out. We don't have one at home and I had never been one. It is essentially sort of a grocery store but the have a large wine selection so I ended up getting a couple of wines to take home and a bottle of grappa all for about $24 which was probably less than half of what I'd pay at home.

I was too stuffed to do much else for a while so I went back to the motel to relax. Later I went to the Marble Brewery which I discovered is located on Marble Street - hence the name. The Marble Brewery is apparently setting the standard for area brew-pubs and micro-breweries. I'm guessing that they have been open longer than most and so they got to sort of define the locally brewed styles. Far be it from me to criticize but I don't much like what they are doing with their beer. I've had some on earlier trips because it is served all over town and people think it is pretty good. It is good if you really like grapefruit juice because most of what they make has a very strong citrus flavor that overpowers everything else. I wanted to go to the brewery to see what it was like and it was pretty big but not crowded...especially on a day when NCAA basketball tournaments were on the big screen TV.  They have a laid back attitude and serve a pretty good collection of food and have a large outdoor seating area. The beer tastes funny to me and they are apparently proud of how "fruity" it is and even seem to expand on that type of beer by doing a citrus pale ale. I know I don't like the IPA so I tried a red ale and it, too, was overpowered  by citrus but not as heavy as the IPA. Well, now I know so I won't have to go back.  Maybe I'll spend some time checking out more local wineries if this citrus madness continues....I know I like that.

Tonight was the night of the super-duper full moon -- the moon is closer to the earth than in several decades...or maybe eons...I'm not sure. I decided it would be great to get a picture but all of my attempts pretty much failed. The cameras don't understand what I'm trying to do aqd can't focus right. It was very impressive as it came up over the mountain.

Gee, I widh I'd taken this picture