Arizona, New Mexico & the Grand Canyon Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Aaron Anderson [142]
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NEW MEXICO LITERATURE
In addition to these classics, check out the addictive mysteries by Tony Hillerman and Michael McGarrity.
Mabel Dodge Luhan, Edge of Taos Desert: An Escape to Reality
John Nichols, The Milagro Beanfield War
Willa Cather, Death Comes to the Archibishop
Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me Ultima
N Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
Frank Waters, The Man Who Killed Deer
Jimmy Santiago Baca, Black Mesa Poems
Oliver LaFarge, Laughing Boy
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The former home of Witter Byner (1881–1968), a poet and pillar of the Santa Fe Writers’ Colony famous for hosting raucous parties, is now the Inn of the Turquoise Bear, a B&B with gardens and evening wine and cheese.
Finish your jaunt through literary New Mexico with a walk on the 16-mile Paseo del Bosque Trail in Albuquerque (I-25 south 50 miles to the Alameda exit, west to the parking lot before the bridge). Wind your way along spur trails to the silent shores of the Rio Grande River, the languorous lifeblood of the New Mexican desert, and relax with Jimmy Santiago Baca’s Spring Poems Along the Rio Grande or Paul Horgan’s Great River: The Rio Grande in American History. Afterwards, head to Bookworks, in the city’s rural north valley, where Rutland can guide you deeper into literary New Mexico.
“New Mexico,” Lawrence wrote, “… changed me forever. In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico, one sprang awake, a new part of the soul woke up suddenly.” After a few days in his footsteps, breathing in the piñon fires and the desert sage, perhaps you too will find that there’s just something about this place that does, indeed, wake up the soul.
Jennifer Denniston
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TRIP INFORMATION
DO
Bookworks
Wonderful bibliophile hang-out, with a great childrens’-book section. 505-344-8139; 208 W San Francisco St, Santa Fe; 9am-9pm Mon-Sat, to 7:30pm Sun;
Collected Works
Independent bookstore only blocks from the Santa Fe Plaza. 505-988-4226; 108 S Plaza, Santa Fe; 9am-9pm Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm Sun;
DH Lawrence Memorial
Shrine to the literary giant on the grounds of his ranch; located 20 miles north of Taos on Hwy 522. 575-776-2245; Hwy 522, San Cristobol; dawn-6pm daily;
Garcia Street Books
Voted Santa Fe’s best bookstore six years in a row. 505-820-7258; www.garciastreetbooks.com; 376 Garcia St, Santa Fe; 9:30am-6pm daily;
Lannan Foundation Readings & Conversations
Nationally acclaimed writers and poets read and discuss their work. 505-986-8160; www.lannan.org; 313 Read St, Santa Fe; Sep-May
Los Alamos Historical Museum
Cool museum housed in the former Los Alamos Ranch School’s apartments for visiting parents. 505-662-6272; 1921 Juniper St, Los Alamos; 9:30am-4:30pm Mon-Sat, 1-4pm Sun;
Moby Dickens Bookstore
A curl-up-your-feet kind of bookstore with excellent selection of Southwestern literature. 575-758-3050; 124 Bent St, Taos; 10am-6pm Sun-Thu, to 7:30pm Fri & Sat;
Storytellers & the Southwest
Walk through Santa Fe’s historic and contemporary literary tradition. 505-989-4561; barbarah@newmexico.com; Santa Fe Plaza, Santa Fe; 2-hr tours $20; by appointment
EAT
Aqua Santa
Bustling one-room adobe with open kitchen and small patio. 505-982-6297; 451 W Alameda, Santa Fe; mains $14-35; noon-2pm Wed-Fri, 5:30-9pm Tue-Sat
SLEEP
Inn of the Turquoise Bear
Throngs of authors and artists once gathered here for what Ansel Adams called “Bymer Bashes.” 505-983-0798; www.turquoisebear.com; 342 E Buena Vista St, Santa Fe; r $99-235;
Mabel Dodge Luhan House
Echoes of New Mexico’s literary giants linger in the adobe walls and viga ceilings. 575-751-9686; www.mabeldodgeluhan.com; 240 Morada Lane, Taos; r $99-235;
SUGGESTED READS
Utopian Vistas: The Mabel Dodge Luhan House and the American Counterculture, Lois Palken Rudnick
Walks in Literary Sana Fe: A Guide to Landmarks,