Shopping: Santa Fe Style

Having a plan everyday in Santa Fe was kind of overwhelming. We were going to be so exhausted if we went on some sort of hike or adventurous trek everyday. That's why we left an extra day to shop and just hang around town in Santa Fe. I didn't know what it was going to be like. I had only driven through part of the town and at that time I was half asleep. What I thought it would be like was a town with adobe style buildings and clothes sold on the street that resembled anomalous kinds of Native American culture. I also expected many street vendors. I thought they would be everywhere. I didn't know if there were going to be any well known stores like a Borders or a Haagen-Dazs but I was wrong. I was very surprised to see not only necklaces and street vendors but well known stores too.
    Everything was within walking distance from our house. To start off our day,we walked about 1/2 a mile to a restaurant called Cafe Pasqual's. Since I was so hungry, I was craving a big basket of wings to devour and then a nice, cold root beer to quaff. Little did I know was that Cafe Pasqual's was an organic restaurant. I was excited to see the differences between an ordinary restaurant and an organic restaurant. When we walked in, we were immediately sent to a big table by what seemed a very saturnine man with a long pony tail. Since they didn't have wings, I decided to get french toast with a side of apple-smoked bacon. I wanted a root beer but I learned that they only had organic root beer. I passed on that and just had some freshly squeezed apple juice. The apple juice was so amazing. It tasted like it had literally been squeezed one minute ago. Since we weren't aloud to have cell phones in the restaurant, I decided to look at my surroundings. What I saw was a huge, hand-made chandelier made out of paper and flowers. Then I saw a lot of paper art hanging from the ceiling, a very cool addition to an awesome atmosphere. The french toast was not the best but the bacon was extraordinary. Even though everyone was enjoying their food, the gloomy man seemed to get very irritated so after we ate, we scuttled out the door and continued our walk through town.
     The first couple of stores we stopped at weren't very exciting. They were mostly for the moms to look at so I decided to enter a Tibetan Monk store. It had candles, books, prayers, all kinds of things and I found that pretty interesting. We then moved on to an outside store that was selling these jackets that looked like carpets. I knew it was definitely something I would wear so my parents let me buy it. Then we went to an antique shop that had a very small statue of a Mariachi band. It was so detailed and colorful. Across the street, there were these interesting wind chimes that constantly moved in a spiraling and 3-D way. We then moved to the Santa Fe Plaza and saw many street vendors. My brothers bought these handmade bookmarks that were cool from one of the vendors. Since we walked for so long, we could rest and get something to eat. To my surprise, two of the options were Haagen-Dazs ice cream and Starbuck's coffee. I picked Starbuck's and relaxed there for an hour and a half while playing Words With Friends. After we got organized, we decided to go across the street to the luxurious El Dorado Hotel and had dinner while watching the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. What a way to end an exhausting day!    
    Since we walked around town a lot, I got a real glimpse at what Santa Fe was really like. The Movement in Santa Fe was unlike something I've ever seen before. Most of the buildings were adobe style and looked almost like clay buildings. That has seemed to carry from Mexico to Texas all the way to Santa Fe. Most of the people there were of Native American descent. There was usually some sort of bead necklace or turquoise bracelet being sold at the stores. There also was a lot of hats and western clothing at the stores in Santa Fe Plaza. In Santa Fe, the majority of the people were Native American with cool additions to their clothing. I found this appearance very interesting because they keep a more western appearance then most do. Most of the people had their own stores where they sold their own specific thing. The people were very nice and kind. Most of the time, when the prices of somethings were a little expensive, it was possible to make a quick bargain with them and get something's price a lot cheaper.                  
                         So long for now,
                         This is Asa Hiken signing off and,
                         Stay Classy, Louisville, Kentucky