We headed out from Mesa Verde fairly early in the morning. It would be almost a five hour drive to our next destination, Santa Fe. The Missus enjoyed the drive on the 160 East thru the greenery. There was hardly any traffic on this, a mellow Sunday morning. I had heard some nice things about the town of Durango and I'd read about a nice bakery-breakfast spot in there, so we decided to stop.
We found street parking and walked over to Jean Pierre Bakery, which was doing some good business on this day.
The front area holds a bakery, while there's a restaurant area to the side. And on this morning, a piano player was in attendance.
After a quick discussion we decided to relax and dine in as most of the folks were taking pastries to go and the dining area was empty.
The service was friendly and we got our caffeine fix and shared a nice, refreshing Melon Bowl.
It was a pleasant stop and we'd eat here again if in the area. And we saw Jean Pierre walk to the dining area and engage in a lively conversation with another gentleman......in full on French. The Missus and I loved it!
I'll be sure to try the croissants next time!
Jean Pierre Bakery & Wine Bar
601 Main Ave.
Durango, CO 81301
After breakfast, the Missus and I decided to take a little stroll around town.
There's a definite outdoorsy - "old west" vibe to the town.
Durango is also known as the starting point for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. And folks were picking up their package lunches at the depot and boarding the train as we walked pass.
You know me and trains, right? This might be something we'll want to do in the near future.
We headed across the tracks and spent a bit of time exploring the D&S Rail Road Museum.
I'm sure we'll be back this way one day.
From Durango, we headed down the 550, passing thru towns with names like Aztec and Cuba, until we got to Albuquerque, where we swung up Highway 25 into Santa Fe. We were a bit early for check-in, so we made a stop at a place on our "list"; Kakawa Chocolate House.
Man, this place was quite busy. The lines did move quickly though. The Missus bought some chocolates and a couple of bags of "elixirs" and we headed on out.
The folks did a really nice job of packing things and even marked the box so the Missus would know what She's trying.
Kakawa Chocolate House
1300 Rufina Circle A4
Santa Fe, NM 87507
And while the chocolates were pretty good; we had them after checking in at our hotel. It was the elixirs that we really enjoyed after returning home.
While we had arrived too early to check-in at the Inn of the Governors, the nice staff told us that we could park and explore. One of the reasons I had chosen the hotel was the location and free parking.
There was one place I wanted to see right away, the Loretto Chapel. The Missus didn't understand why I was so interested in visiting this church until She saw it.
Apparently, She had seen an an Episode of Unsolved Mysteries about the chapel.
Well, to be more specific; it's about the staircase in the chapel. The construction of the Lorreto Chapel was completed in 1878. Unfortunately, due to some weird "oversight", there was no way to reach the choir loft which was 22 feet above. After many consultations the Sisters of Loretto were told that the only way to access the choir loft would be by ladder as a staircase would interfere with the design of the chapel. At wits end, the Sisters started praying to the Patron Saint of Carpenters, Saint Joseph. On the ninth, and last day of prayer a stranger appeared on a donkey with a toolbox! He started work on the staircase and months later it was finished. The man then promptly disappeared without requesting to be paid, never to be seen again.
The Sisters tried to find the mystery man, even placing an add in the newspaper to no avail. And that is just one of the mysteries of the staircase. To quote Atlas Obscura:
"When the Sisters and others examined the stairs, they were shocked to see it was apparently holding itself up with no supports and was made of a non-native wood which they didn’t know how or where the stranger had acquired. To top it off, the staircase, which was made with no nails, had exactly 33 stairs. (In the bible, 33 was the age at which Jesus was crucified.)"
"The twenty-foot-tall, tightly wound stairs make two full 360-degree revolutions, and indeed have no central support."
The outer railing was added 10 years after the staircase was built.
We love stories like this! And whatever the case may be, it was fun visiting the Lorreto Chapel.
Thanks for stopping by!
what a nice road trip!
Posted by: kat | Sunday, 19 February 2023 at 01:09 AM
We really enjoyed this Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 19 February 2023 at 11:47 AM
Cool church
Posted by: Som Tommy | Sunday, 19 February 2023 at 05:09 PM
It's worth a visit if you're ever in Santa Fe ST!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 20 February 2023 at 08:57 AM