On a recent trip to Florida to visit family, my cousin insisted that we couldn’t just sit at her home and visit. We had to go somewhere and see something new. That was great because leading up to the trip, I had read about the Morikami Japanese Gardens. It was a place I wanted to see. It turned out to be an excellent adventure.
The lakeone of the bonsai treesa peaceful waterfallWatching a photo shoot
We walked the loop around the lake that had once been owned by a Japanese farmer. George Sukeji Morikami, who had come to Florida in the early 1900s with a group of other Japanese immigrants to start a farming community. When he passed away, he donated 200 acres of his land to the community. On this lovely piece of land, a Japanese Garden was built. The Roji-en Garden of the Drops of Dew.
We walked the loop around the lake visiting all of the 25 marked attractions. We were lucky to have wonderful weather to walk in and out of the shade trees, the quaking bamboo that wavered and clicked together in the wind. We saw the statures, visited the bonsai collection on Yamato Island, sat quietly at the two rock gardens, the Contemplation Pavilions and the Nelson Family Memorial Garden. The peaceful areas also included waterfalls. Watching the water make its way down a small hillside through the rocks was relaxing after walking for a while.
We were not the only ones enjoying the lovely weather and the beauty of the park. There was a teen girl gettin her quinceanera photos. I could see the park as a wonderful site for weddings!
After our walk we had a delicious lunch at the café sitting outside and enjoying the view of the gardens. Unfortunately, on the day we went, the museum was closed as they were getting new displays ready. But we did visit the tea room and of course donated to the garden and museum by our purchases at the gift shop. I honestly cannot believe that I have been to Florida dozens of times, and never went to these gardens.
The next day my cousin had another place to visit not far from her home. The Wakodahatchee Wetlands and Bird Sanctuary. This was another looped walk but instead of in a garden around a lake, we were walking on a high wooden path through marshland and trees see the roosting Storks, Cranes, Purple Marlins, Egrets, Herons in the trees, as well as a few iguanas; and the alligators down in the water.
The wetlands were opened o the public in 1996 and is a 50-acre site of previous wastewater utility property. Now free and open to the public, the wetlands is the nesting place of many different birds. What a great way to use this land for the community and for the wildlife. It is just wonderful place to spend an hour or so.
It was amazing how close we could get to the birds. I do not think I have the words to describe the scene, so you will have to see my photos. But I will say this was not a quiet and peaceful walk, as the squealing of the young birds calling out to their parents for food was quite loud.
I was walking around taking photos with my phone. But there were many people with professional size cameras and massive telescope lenses to get much better photos. In fact, throughout our walk, I kept thinking about a former student of mine who takes the most amazing bird and wildlife photos. I wished he was there to enjoy the sights. Below is the website for the Wetlands which includes a live web stream!! Enjoy!
My recommendation to everyone who goes to Palm Beach County is to see both of these wonderful outdoor adventures. I am so glad my cousin insisted that we visit them.
Every Year on the Fourth of July, we watch the movie version of the play 1776. We love the music; we love the acting; we love the retelling of the founding of our country. But for me the scene that always hurts my soul is when Edward Rutledge sings “Molasses to Rum to Slaves.’ That moment in the movie is so strong and so emotional. When John Adams says, “For God’s Sake Mr. Rutledge,” I can feel the pain.
When we were in Charleston, South Carolina, we knew that part of our visit there was to learn more about the slave trade: to see where it happened. We visited St. Philip’s Church and walked through the historic cemetery where some of those involved in the American Revolution are buried, including the infamous Edward Rutledge. We saw the area where the slave market was held and walked down the cobblestone streets. The historic district of Charleston is unique and extremely interesting.
I learned interesting information about the history of slavery while in Charleston. This new- found information started with our visit to the Magnolia Plantation, which is just outside Charleston. I never knew that Carolina Gold referred to golden rice. Actually, I never knew that rice was grown in the south. I always just think of tobacco and cotton. My eyes have been opened. What I learned created a burn in my heart.
Rbuilt slave quartersA rice paddie areaAshley River
While at the Magnolia Plantation where saw the area where the slaves lived. Four families to a building. There are only a few rebuilt slave buildings now. Most were destroyed in previous hurricanes. At one time there were 11 or more ‘homes’. Almost 250 slaves lived on the Magnolia Plantation. Their main job was growing and harvesting rice.
We saw where the rice paddies once were located. Some of them still have water. It is from the tides that wash over the banks of the Ashley River and fill up areas that have been dug out down three feet and contained by low levees, so the water doesn’t all recede. A perfect spot for growing rice and also good homes for alligators and water moccasins. Two creatures that are adept at killing humans.
We found out that once a child was tall enough, he or she went into the rice paddies to work. The average length of time that someone survived the rice paddies was six to eight years!!! Someone who was 20 years old and still alive after being exposed to deadly snakes, alligators and disease, was considered old. That was something I did not know. And that makes me a bit sick to my stomach. How could they use children this way? Really disgusting! No one there are people who are adamant to keeping the real story out of our schools.
Going the next day to the International African American Museum cleared up a puzzle for me. How did these slaves know how to grow rice? It seems when the white men came to Africa to purchase captured slaves, they were going with a list of who they wanted. And what they wanted were farmers who knew how to grow rice and indigo. They were enslaving people who had the knowledge that would make the plantation owners rich, while the slaves would not only be enslaved but most likely die young. It seems so unreal. But it is true. I always knew the slave owners became rich due to slavery, but I never knew the stave traders went to Africa with a shopping list of which Africans they wanted to enslave. A definite eye-opening experience.
We enjoyed learning at the museum. The first section discusses the African American community in South Carolina and how the Middle Passage from African often ended up in Charleston, which was the most active port in the slave trade. Many people died on the way over and those who survived that horrible journey had more horrors ahead.
I also learned more about the Low Country Gullah Geechee population and their unique culture, which is so interesting. The descendants of slaves, the Gullah Geechee people were able to hold on to their African heritage because they were isolated on island and costal plantations.
The second section of the museum was filled with facts and information decade by decade of the African American experience. To be honest, this is not a museum to take young children, there is just too much reading and too much standing. I wish they had some benches along the winding hallways to take a break both physically and mentally. There is so much to absorb. It was difficult for me. And after a bit I was exhausted from the stories, the reading and the standing.
A few years ago, we visited the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan. The permanent exhibit, “And Still We Rise,” was so immersive and left a permanent mark in my memory about how horrible the Middle Passage was for the enslaved and captured Africans. It does a much better job, visually, explaining the slave trade and having the visitors feel the impact, while its special exhibits focus on more cultural experiences.
The museum in South Carolina, however, does a much better job about explaining and detailing the history of the African American community over the centuries by highlighting important events, dates and people. But trying to see it all in one day is too much.
There were two little exhibits that stuck out to me as I walked through this museum. They had a display of the Green Book that told African Americans where they could stay as they traveled around the USA. I turned to pages to Kansas, where I currently live, to see where people could spend the night. There are not many places, which is disturbing. But in a way, being Jewish, I understand this pain, as Jewish people were also discriminated against and not allowed to stay in many places.
I did enjoyed seeing two of David Drake’s pottery pieces. I had seen his work several times on the Antique Roadshow, so was excited to see them in person. We saw another one at the Gibbes Museum in downtown Charleston. It was interesting to note the fact that he could write and sign his name was a quiet protest against slavery since slaves were not allowed to learn to read or write. This knowledge could have cost him his life.
Charleston was a lovely city to visit. There is so many places to immerse yourself into the history of our country. But while learning about things we can be proud of, we cannot forget the darkest, bitter moments of our country’s past due to its support of slavery.
The Anne Frank Center and Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
When we drove from Asheville to Charleston, before the hurricane, friends of ours who live in Charleston suggested we stop at the Anne Frank Center located on the campus of the University of South Carolina.
I never expected South Carolina would be the home of one of four Anne Frank Centers in the world, and the only one in the United States, in partnership with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I contacted the Center before our trip and was able to make an appointment to tour the exhibits.
So today, on October 7, 2024, I feel that I must remember the distant past of Jew hatred as we mourn the one year anniversary of the vicious attack on Israel.
The Anne Frank House does an excellent job recreating the feeling of the hidden annex. While touring the exhibit, visitors will enter a display of Anne Frank’s diary written in many languages on a wall of bookcases. Not surprisingly one bookcase opens allowing visitors to enter a darkened room that helps tell the story of the Annex. Having visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, I was amazed about how this small display harkens to the feelings I had in Amsterdam.
Besides the onsite programs, the Anne Frank House also offers traveling exhibits that can be sent across the USA. They teach local high school or college students to serve as the guides to the 32-panel exhibit. I would love to see this exhibit in my home community! Our tour at the Anne Frank Center was led by a college sophomore who was doing her first tour for us and her dad! Emma did a great job. I could see that she related to the world of Anne.
Going to the Anne Frank Center and remembering her words of hope help me see hope in the situation that we have in the Middle East today. There are good people who want this violence to stop. Who want terrorists to end their campaign of hatred. No one wants innocents, like Anne Frank, to suffer or die. So I have to believe there will be peace.
My feelings of hope continued in Charleston where we visited the 275-year-old Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim synagogue, founded in 1749. It is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the United States. The current building dates from 1841, after a fire in 1838 destroyed the second building.
Originally a Sephardic synagogue with the bima in the center and balconies above for the women, it changed in 1879, when the bima moved to the front and women joined men in siting for services. Later, after the earthquake of 1886, the balconies were destroyed and were not replaced.
Standing in a building that has housed a congregation since 1840, almost 190 years, and knowing that the congregation itself is 275 years old gives me hope. This congregation has survived the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WW1, WW2, antisemitism, the creation of the State of Israel, the rise of the alt right in the south, and more. The fact that it continuous to be an active congregation gives me hope.
Today, I remember my feelings on October 7, 2023, when my daughter called me from Israel to say she and her husband were okay, but that the situation was very bad. The entire country was in shock. Everyone knows someone who died. For me, although I knew no one, I do know people who lost family members and friends. The past cannot be forgotten. However with education, like that of the Anne Frank Center, and endurance like that of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, I believe we can look forward with hope to the future.
My husband and I were in Ashville, North Carolina from September 19-21. We then rented a car and drove first to Columbia, South Carolina, where we went to the University of South Carolina and lunch, and then on to Charleston.
I planned to write a glowing blog about how much I loved the hotel we stayed at in Asheville: The Omni Grove Park Inn. A lovely 1912 hotel built out of Granite and overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I will not write about the hotel. I know it is still standing, even though it is now closed. I will not describe the places I saw on the Hop on/ Hop off tour I took, because the downtown and the arts center of Asheville are currently underwater or covered in mud. I won’t tell you the joke our tour guide made about the French Broad River, because it crested high above flood stage and destroyed most of the town.
What I will tell you is that Ashville was a beautiful quaint city with a lovely downtown. The Arts area was covered in murals created by local artists. And all the buildings were brimming with pieces created by local artists. Now probably washed away, destroyed or at the least covered in muck and mud.
I will tell you about the black bears that calmly walked down the street and were shooed away by people standing on their porches. I wonder how many survived.
While I was on my tour, the tour guide stopped to show us the white painted line on the side of a building to show us how high the flood of 1916 covered the town. I think the flood of 2024 was higher.
I do not know if any of the many people I met there who worked in the hotel or in town were hurt or injured or lost loved ones. Lost their homes, their jobs and their sense of security.
I will say, Asheville and western North Carolina needs our help. The highway we used to leave town, Highway 26, was closed for a while. It is now open. But many roads are still closed, power is out, phone coverage is out, internet is out. There is a lack of water and food.
I will post here some of my photos from Asheville. I hope that everyone can do what they can to help. I know the Red Cross is collecting money to help.
I wish I was writing the blog I wanted to write about Asheville. We had a wonderful visit and met many lovely people. We enjoyed our stay at the hotel imagining life there in the early 1920s. I loved the little museum with information about their annual gingerbread house competition. How F. Scott Fitzgerald lived and wrote there. And the many famous people and presidents who visited the hotel.
I hope it does not take decades to recover. But I know the entire western edge of North Carolina needs our help. The Red Cross is asking for volunteers to help with Hurricane Helene disaster relief, specifically people from Arkansas and Missouri who can go for two weeks. They also need financial donations. Here is the link to the Red Cross donation page.
I love old homes that have been turned into museums. So when I read about the Harvey M. Vaile Mansion in Independence, I knew it had to be part of one of our local excursions. When I discovered it, the mansion was not open to the public. It is only open from April 1 through October 31 on Thursdays through Sunday for regular tours, although it does have a holiday season in December.
We planned our visit to the Vaile Mansion for May and took a short trip over to Independence to check it out. It was worth the trip! The mansion is lovely. It was built in 1881, the mansion has 31 rooms. But what surprised me is that only two of the rooms were bedrooms! There were not many people who lived there, but they had plenty of places to use to stay away from each other!! The brick hoe also has nine lovely marble fireplaces of different colors. Important to keep warm with in the 1880s.
The house was designed by a local Kansas City architect, Asa Beebe Cross. It was the height of modern technology for its time. It has flushing toilets, fueled by a 6000-gallon water tank. Copper bathtubs were installed in the bathrooms. The room where the tank was later used as an informal dining area. The kitchen had hot and cold water!!!
Unfortunately, Harvey Vaile and his wife, Sophia, did not enjoy the mansion for long. Sophia, who had stomach cancer, died in 1883. Vaile continued to live there, but he died in 1894. They did not have any children. But Harvey Vaile did have nieces and nephews that contested his will which led to a legal battle and their being unable to pay the attorney, who then acquired the mansion!
Over the years it was used as a sanatorium and a nursing home and owned by the attorney Carey May Carroll. After she died and it was to be demolished a local couple, Roger and Mary Mildred DeWitt, purchased the mansion and began making repairs and restoring it. Mrs. DeWitt donated it to the City of Independence in 1983.
I loved it. The building looks like a mansion should look. It has a gothic air of mystery! In fact, my husband commented that it looked a lot like the house in a lithograph I have made by a local artist (Randal Spangler, see link below.) about a spooky Halloween house! We are sure it is the inspiration! In fact, in October they do hold Spooky Tours, and supposedly the house has a resident ghost!
I loved the massive wooden entrance door, and the beautiful leaded glass throughout the house. The staircase that goes up three stories and ends in a skylight at the top is wonderful. All the carved wood bookcases and cabinets, along with the painted ceilings, which were part of the original house, makes it truly a gem. The bathrooms, with the cooper tubs and toilets are so unusual for the time! Colonel Vaile was forward thinking!
The furniture is all from the period, but none of it was original to the house. But there are many lovely pieces included an organ, piano and music box. Throughout the house there are little pieces of history to experience. The best part is that a docent takes you on a tour of the house to point out special objects and to answer questions.
The grounds of the house are also lovely. In early spring a Strawberry Festival is held there. Local couples can rent the house and its grounds for weddings. It would be a great place to be married.
In all you just need about an hour or so to go through the house. The day we went we were the only people at that time. As we were leaving more guests were arriving. It is very close to the Independence Square, so we headed over to complete our day by eating lunch at the Court House Exchange.
Santa Fe is a city of many diverging elements coming together to create a unique city. The art of the Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo people; and the multitude of art galleries and jewelry stores; the churches and religious sites; the unusual round State Capitol building; and the original adobe buildings; the restaurants; the museums, all combine together to give the visitor and the residents a place that stimulates the senses.
My husband, who is enamored with AI, asked what would be the best 2.5 hour walking tour of Santa Fe. Its description of four places became our morning walking tour. None of these places take long to visit, unless you want to stay longer. For this ‘tour’ you will be walking up hill on the Old Santa Fe Trail Road, which is right by the La Fonda Hotel downtown. Finally, you can always take your water bottle in with you.
The Loretto Chapel and its mysterious, mystical stairs is worth the visit. The chapel was once part of a girl’s school and was designed by the same architect as the Santa Fe Cathedral. The mystery of the stairs starts when the architect died before the staircase was built, the nuns were distraught and prayed for help. An unknown carpenter appeared, built the stairs and disappeared.
The staircase is a lovely gem to see, whether you believe that it was built by St. Joseph or not. How it suspends and curves upwards without support is astonishing. And it is beautifully carved. But besides the beauty of the stairs, the chapel itself is lovely. While you sit and visit, you listen to the story of the stairs. This is no longer a consecrated church, so religious services are not held.
Two blocks further up the hill on Old Santa Fe is East De Vargas Street. Turn left to walk through a narrow road to the Oldest House in Santa Fe, but I recommended you first go across the street to the San Miguel Mission Church.
The San Miguel Mission Church sits on a hill on the hill. Probably a good place for watching what is going on around you. It is the oldest Catholic Church in the United States. People can attend mass on the first Sunday of each month.
It is not a big building, but it has a big history. First built soon after the Spanish came into Santa Fe in 1598, the mission church was used by the Franciscan priests who came to New Mexico with the Spanish to convert the indigenous peoples and serve the Spanish settlers. It was partially destroyed in 1680 when the pueblo peoples revolted against the Spanish and the church for the cruel treatment. They burned the roof, destroyed some of the walls, and killed the priests. The church was rebuilt when the Spanish returned about 30 years later.
When you walk in there are two artifacts to notice. The first you see on the — the Victory bell that was brought from Spain. The bell had a long history that included helping Spain expel the Moors. The story is whenever the bell rang, the Spanish had a victory. The bell came to New Mexico for a Spanish family. But after the Pueblo Revolt, when the Mission was rebuilt the bell was put in the church belfry. The second item hangs on the wall to the left. It is a 300-year-old replica of the painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe from the Mexico City Basilica.
The church itself is small and simple. The wooden ceiling is wonderful. After you finish viewing the chapel and listening to the talk by the docent, please go down the stairs to the second room. There are photographs that show the building from different angles, as well as two photos of the oldest house before it was restored.
Now you can go out of the chapel and down the steps to the side which lead to De Vargas Street. Immediately across the street is the oldest house. The house, from the 1600s, is built on the remains of a home in what once was part of a pueblo It is attached to a gift store.
You go into the store and to your left to enter the house. There are just two rooms to see and they are tiny. But as all sites, it is worth seeing to understand how people lived. If you are a bit claustrophobic, try to go when there is a not a group going in. It gets tight.
When you are done at the oldest house, return to Old Santa Fe Trail Street and continue past the San Miguel Mission. Turn right on Paseo De Peralta. You will soon come to the State Capitol building. It is unusual in that it is both round and NOT built in the pueblo style. (Which is what I thought it would be!). When we went there was an art show on display. But even if it is not there, it is worth going in to see the rotunda and the lovely architecture. You basically walk in the main door and go out the back door getting you back to E. De Vargas street.
After this part of our tour, we went for lunch! There are many, many excellent restaurants in the Plaza area. So go and enjoy. Also while walking around you will see many galleries and statues/art on the sidewalks. Take time to enjoy them. You might want to take a break and rest after lunch or do this next part in the morning.
Martyr’s Cross and Marcy Fortress. There is a way to drive to get closer to this site, but my husband and I did not have a car, so we walked. It is located on Paseo de Peralta, the same street as the capitol building, but in the other direction. Depending on where you are staying will determine how you go. But since we stayed near the Cathedral, we took Palace Avenue to Paseo de Peralta and turned left. You can see the cross on the hill and just head in that direction!
The entrance to walk up is marked by an adobe sign and arch. You are going up hill. There are rest areas where you can sit at the ends of each switch back. And take water!! It is dry in Santa Fe. The walk up was fun. Along the way are plaques that tell the history of Santa Fe, and as you go higher the views get better and better.
The Cross of the Martyrs honors the 21 priests and 380 Spanish settlers who were killed during the Pueblo Revolt in 1680. The first cross was erected in 1920s. Over time it was replaced twice, the last time in 1977 with a metal cross.
To be honest, we did not continue up the path to see the ruins of Fort Marcy. It had been a long day, and we still had to walk about a mile or so back to our hotel. But you can easily get to it. But that path is not paved.
However, we did get some fantastic photos of Santa Fe from the top.
Museums, museums, museums. So many to choose from, so many to see. We went to six museums over our six days in Santa Fe. I decided I would list them all in one blog from my favorite to my least favorite. That is not to say that any of them were bad, just that these are how I enjoyed them.
New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors. Located behind the Palace of the Governors, on Lincoln Avenue right off the Plaza, The New Mexico History Museum is a great place to understand Santa Fe and the relationships among the Native cultures, the Spanish heritage and the American ‘invasion.’ With three floors of exhibits and the additional space located in the Palace of the Governors, there is a lot to see here. Way more than I anticipated, which is why I ended up not seeing all of it, even though I had good intentions to return on another day to complete seeing the exhibits in the Palace of the Governors. I do love learning history!
The first floor packed in 500 years of history! It was a lot to take in, but really explained the importance of both the Native and Spanish and Catholic influences on New Mexico. When the United States took over the New Mexico territory, the relationship between all these groups changed dramatically.
One of my favorite exhibits was in the mezzanine, “Settling the Standard: The Fred Harvey Company and Its Legacy. Since Fred Harvey started in Kansas City, and I have seen the displays at our History Museum, I was delighted to see the story retold here. This exhibit was much more in depth than the exhibit I have seen at a Kansas City museum. It might have to be another blog!
The next two museums were at Museum Hill, just outside downtown: the Museum of Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. We decided to go to the Museum of International Folk Art first, turning to the right as we entered the museum plaza. (I recommend getting a Culture Pass, which includes a number of museums for a $30 fee.)
The first exhibit we visited was “Multiple Visions: A common Bond.” Alexander and Susan Girard donated their extensive folk art collection to New Mexico, and it was added to the Folk Art Museum. When I entered this room, I was first excited and then overwhelmed. The art seemed endless; it covered walls, hung from the ceiling, filled hundreds of display cases. We walked around the entire room, looked in every case, and were mentally exhausted, visually overstimulated, but filled with the joy of the art.
Luckily the next two rooms were much calmer, so we could feel more ease as we left the building. I really enjoyed “la Cartoneria Mexicana,” which was several rooms of unusual creatures made of paper and paste. Between the first exhibit and this one, there is a short movie that explains how the exhibit displayed. I liked it. The creations made of paper and paste were magical.
The final room held the curators’ favorite pieces. It was a calming room! A short visit to the gift show then we walked the outside labyrinth to continue the calming process. You really do need to rest your brain after being at the Folk Art Museum.
We ate lunch at the lovely restaurant on the hill, and then went over to the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. Really an excellent place to learn about the indigenous peoples in the “Here, Now and Always” exhibit. The statues outside the building brought me joy, especially the one of the young hoop dancer, it reminded me of the young girl we had seen doing the hoop dance in the Plaza.
Inside there was all the information needed to understand the native peoples who lived in the New Mexico area. The pottery, the weavings, the baskets, the jewelry, and the information on how they lived before the Spanish and then the United States took control is important to know. Another great museum.
IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Art: Near to the St. Francis Cathedral, this museum showcases the work presented by the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). It displays the most progressive art. I loved the interpretations of traditional objects and the jewelry. There were some pins that looked like bugs that were stunning. I loved a silver belt made by Denise Wallace and beaded cuffs made by Marcus Amerman.
However the room filled with plastic bags, I viewed, I walked through the room and I tried to understand it. I just did not get that exhibit. But then it was about the artist being frustrated about the inability to communicate, so perhaps I did understand it. However, like anything else, art is subjective and there were many other exhibits in the museum I did enjoy.
Georgia O’Keefe Museum: Just a few blocks from the Plaza, on Johnson Street, it is an easy walk. My instructions: Get your timed tickets in advance. This is a small museum, and they limit how many can be there at any one time!!! See the movie first! No one told us about the movie, so we did not see it until the end.
The museum goes in one direction, so you have to turn around and walk back through all the rooms when you finish, so you could do one side going and the other side going back. As for the art. If you enjoy Georgia O’Keefe’s work you will enjoy this museum. I actually liked the last room the most, where there was information about her life, “Making a Life” and her art supplies. I have to be honest, much of her later art did not appeal to me. But it is interesting to see.
New Mexico Museum of Art: Situated catty corner from the Plaza on Palace Avenue,the museum building is set up like a hacienda. You can walk around the exhibits in a circuit, or you can cut through the courtyard. I loved the murals that decorated the courtyard. I am not a big fan of some modern art, and so these exhibits were not my favorite. However, I like to see what younger artists are doing, so I enjoyed seeing the interpretations of pottery design.
I wasn’t sure what I would see when we arrived at Taos Pueblo. Our tour for the morning had been cancelled due to a funeral, but fortunately they were able to reschedule for the afternoon.
Before we even arrived at the Taos Pueblo, we had already visited the city of Taos, where we had time to walk around, see some sites and eat lunch. We chose to see the Kit Carson home. The most striking bit of information I found there was that Kit Carson’s first wife was Arapaho, as was his oldest daughter, and he had adopted three other native American children who had been orphaned. These facts made it difficult to reconcile with the same man who was supposedly so cruel to the Navajo people. However, there is some dispute on what he actually did for and against the Navajo nation. But I digress.
Taos the city, has a nice, small dusty plaza (due to construction), but after being in Santa Fe for five days, it paled in comparison. No matter, I was still glad we had a chance to visit it and see the sites. After lunch I was ready for our next adventures. I was not disappointed.
As we drove a bit out of Taos, our tour guide pointed out the flat area we were passing through. It did look perfectly flat, until it wasn’t! As I was sitting near the front, I was among the first to notice a giant rift in the land. A deep canyon, where at the bottom, ran the Rio Grande River. Here it did not look so wide, but as we were 600 feet above it, who knows! As we drove across the bridge, we were amazed that this gorge was here.
The bus stopped at a overlook area, where others had also come to see the gorge. Some were students drawing pictures of the bridge and gorge. Some were just looking across in amazement. Others were shopping for art sold by native artisans. My husband and I joined the group that traversed over some stones and the barrier to get to the highway and the bridge to view the raging waters from above. Wow! It was well worth going out to see it, even though it was not in our original schedule, making me glad that our trip to Taos Pueblo was changed to the afternoon.
After seeing the depths of the Rio Grande River Gorge, we traveled back towards Taos tothe Taos Pueblo, the home of the Red Willow People. Since there had been a funeral, there were some places that were off limits. But the main areas of this World Heritage Site were open for us to see.
My first thought was ‘perfect setting. What an ideal spot to put a town, where a creek runs through it. With all the snow melt, the water was really running through it. While most people took photo after photo of the North Pueblo and the South Pueblo, I took photo after photo of the water. “el agua es vido.” Water is life.
A young college student provided context for us. Her family is a member of Taos Pueblo, and they still have a home the Pueblo, even though they do not live at the Pueblo full time. Only 10-15 families actually live there throughout the year, with no running water, but the creek, and no electricity. These are part of the requirements of a World Heritage Site: no changes.
Our tour started in the Chapel. We were not allowed to take photos inside. But there were three things that I was surprised by. First, it wasn’t a statue of Jesus above the alter, instead it was a statue of Mary. Second, the decorations surrounding the niche holding her statue was a mural of vegetables, large green leaves. It was very peaceful. Finally, there was a decorated coffin in the room. Our guide told us 95 percent of the members of the Taos Pueblo were Catholic, the other five percent practiced the indigenous religions. The coffin was to remind them that they were forced to convert and that many died.
In my mind this makes no sense, why practice a religion that you were forced into to following, while being such a painful past you keep a coffin in your church. I even asked. Her response was noncommittal, but in Taos Pueblo I have the feeling from the décor of the church that their Catholic practice is not exactly what they do in Rome.
We learned the history about what happened in 1847, when women and children were gathered in the San Geronimo Church for protection from the US Army. It did not protect them. The Army destroyed the church and killed about 150 people. Not a good way to start off a relationship between the Taos people and the US government. But we know that the US government and people were often cruel to the indigenous peoples of the USA.
Taos Pueblo should be seen to understand the relationship of the indigenous people with the Spanish of the early 1600s to the United States in the 1800s to the present.
For those interested in shopping, many of the homes are now storefronts for both food and art. But for me the highlight was just seeing Taos Puebl0 as it would have looked in the 1600 when the Spanish arrived and later in 1800s when the United States took over the New Mexico territory.
As the descendent of a Jewish family that was forced to leave Spain in 1492 or convert, I have always been interested in learning more about the Crypto-Jews/ Conversos of New Mexico. It was in the 1980’s when the information about this still hidden group first started to be revealed. It started when a Jewish man named Stanley Hordes because New Mexico’s State Historians, and people started coming to him to tell him their stories. To me it was absolutely amazing that 500 years after the Inquisition in Spain, that descendants were still hiding and still keeping this secret!
I had wanted to attend the Roads Scholar program: “New Mexico’s Conversos and Crypto-Jews in Santa Fe” since 2019. Covid interrupted my plans. But finally we were able to attend. My family were also once impacted by the Inquisition and Spain’s quest to either convert or eliminate all Jews. My family chose to move to Portugal and then to Holland. Our story is written in an earlier blog. (See below.)
We had lectures from the authors of the top two books.
Our first speaker was Professor Ron Duncan Hart, who gave us an overview of the history of the Jews journey to New Mexico. He wrote, “Crypto-Jews, The Long Journey.” Jews were in Spain were given a choice, convert or leave. Many stayed, they could not afford to go or they thought it would not last long and they would just hide their Jewishness, some decided they really would become Catholic. But all were doubted because they were not “pure of blood, “meaning they were not just Spanish, they were tainted by either having Jewish or Moslem descent. Those converted in name only and still practiced their religion in secret, known as Crypto-Jews…hidden Jews. Those who were forcibly converted and known as anusim also secretly practiced Judaism.
In fact, so many of the Portuguese who came over to Mexico in the 1600s were of Crypto-Jewish ancestry, that calling someone Portuguese was just another way to say he/she was Jewish. Since my family went from Spain to Portugal, I began to wonder if some of my family made this arduous journey to escape the Inquisition. To be allowed to go to the New World, you had to show that you were purely Spanish, not tainted with Jewish or Muslim blood. Horrifying! People actually had their genealogy redone to eliminate their Jewish past to fit the needed requirement.
The Crypto-Jews of today still live in the mountains in northern New Mexico. They still keep their secret. In fact, one of our speakers, when asked how many crypto Jews there actually was, basically said, “We do not know. They keep hidden. They do not talk about it. They know who the other families in their community are like them. But it is not discussed”
We heard from two women who have reclaimed their Jewish identity. They were each the child in the home who a parent said “Somos Jodios,” “We are Jews.” Maria Apodaca told us how difficult it was to come out of hiding and join a congregation and have a ceremony of return. How family members were not always happy about what they had done. Many feel, with the way the world is now, it is better to stay hidden!
Isabelle Medina Sandoval wrote a novel based on her family’s history: “Guardians of Hidden Traditions.” She can trace her ancestry back to Portugal and was able to claim Portuguese citizenship based on her family history. But she also said that coming out of hiding is a difficult process. A poet, she has written poems about the Crypt-Jewish experience.
From these two women we learned some of the cultural/religious/cuisine that continues from their Jewish ancestry, like lighting candles on Friday night, covering mirrors when someone dies, making a fried treat at the winter holidays, cleaning the house on Friday. It is amazing to me that these traditions continue.
Schelly Talalay Dardashti, spoke about: “The New World: Jewish Ehtnicity, DNA& Genetics.“ Schelly is the founder of Tracing the Tribe – Jewish Genealogy on FB. She explained the difference in the different DNA tests and how some do not look for Sephardic DNA, only Ashkanazi. We were told that between 20-40 percent of people in New Mexico had some Jewish ancestors. That there are genetic links between those living in northern New Mexico and isolated areas in Central/South America. People who were also trying to hide away from the Inquisition. And the final link, a rather sad one, the fact that the BRCA1 mutation that causes brest cancer in Jewish women, is also found in the Hispanic population in Mexico and New Mexico and came from those original converso/crypto Jewish arrivals from Spain in the early 1500s. Wow.
We attended a performance of “Parted Waters,” a play written by Robert F. Benjamin about the Crypto Jewish community. It tells the story of three generations of a crypto Jewish family. The grandfather, a crypto Jew; his son, who knows the background, but identifies with his life as a Catholic and does not want to talk about it; and his son, who has never been told about his ancestry. When the grandson makes a racist comment to a Jewish woman, the truth comes out along with the ramifications. It pulled together all that we had learned over the week.
Our last lecturer, Chris Herbst spoke about Outliers/Ousiders and Religion.” He provided us some history about the area of northern New Mexico and more explanations about the genetic composition of the populations today in Spain and in New Mexico. He said about 1/3 of the population of Spain today has either Jewish or Moorish ancestry.
Throughout all of our talks we were referred back to the book written by Stanley Hordes, who wrote an indepth book about the Crypto Jews called, “To the End of the Earth.” The Spanish/Portuguese Crypto-Jews traveled to the End of the Earth, the mountains of New Mexico above Santa Fe, to escape the Inquisition. It is like reading a college dissertation, but it was fantastic in the depth of the research.
The Hebrew is in the triangle.
We did not spend all of our time learning, we also had time on our own to visit museums and explore Santa Fe. We went to the main cathedral of Santa Fe, where over the mantal of the front door, is an inscription in Hebrew and a Jewish Star on an internal wall.
As part of our Roads Scholar program we also ate at many different restaurants with the most delicious food, toured historic Santa Fe, with our wonderful leader, Vennetta, and went to Taos and the World Heritage Site of the Taos Pueblo.
This was just a wonderful learning experience, where we were able to learn, experience, make new friends and enjoy the true wonders of Santa Fe, New Mexico. If you have any interest in learning more about the Crypto-Jewsof New Mexico, Mexico and Spain, I highly recommend this Roads Scholar program.
I will write about the other places we visited in future blogs.
Our cruise ship spent two days docked in Puerta Vallarta, which gave us a chance to do something special. For me that was to visit the Magic City of San Sebastian Del Oeste about 40 miles up in the mountains. San Sabastian was the highlight of the places we visited. A small community of 600 people, it was once a thriving town close to a silver mine of close to 20,000!. It was basically cut off from Puerta Vallarta until a winding road and two major bridges were built about 20 years ago. Now it is about a 90-minute drive in vans up and up and round and round the winding roads. But it is well worth the moments of motion sickness.
Our tour guide told us that in Mexico, San Sebastian is known as a “Magic City.” It actually has been nominated to be a UNESCO world heritage site. Personally, I love visiting world heritage sites, they take you back into time. San Sebastian is a perfect example since its original roads/sidewalks and buildings have been maintained and all new buildings keep the character of the old colonial style.
It was founded in the early 1600s for its silver mining and was the home of three Spanish families who made a decision to only marry among themselves to keep their Spanish blood pure. Definitely a genetically bad idea. Over time, and the Mexican revolution, the old ways ended and now the families are fulling integrated into the community.
We visited the small museum, Casa Museo Dona Conchita Encarnacion. This tiny building, which was once the home of Dona Conchita and her ancestors, serves as a museum about the town and these Spanish families and their interconnection. Lupita, the woman who told us about the museum is a descendant, of the Dona Conchita.
Because it was a silver producing city, the town had some unusual security. The church, Iglesia de San Sebastian, is built like a fortress and the doors could only be opened from the inside. There was an underground tunnel from the homes of one of the Spanish families directly to the church. It is quite lovely once you get past the windowless façade. There are windows, but they are placed high so people cannot break in. But inside they provide wonderful lighting.
The original steep cobble stone streets are difficult to walk on and I think to drive. No busses took us there, only vans. And once I saw the streets, I understood. The Center of town has a lovely little plaza and shops. While there we walked to a restaurant that served us the absolutely best food we had in all of Mexico. They serve a specially prepared beef that really is so tender and delicately seasoned. I still savor the joy of eating there.
When we first entered the town we stopped at an organic coffee plantation, Café De Altura LaQuinta. What an interesting place. The coffee bushes are grown among fruit trees, where the fruit just falls to the grown to provide nutrients for the coffee beans. Having all those tall trees provided the wonderful shade that the coffee needed to grow in the wonderful mountain coolness.
On the way there and back we stopped at a small tequilla factory. Although we did not get anything there, we were able to overlook one of the two massive bridges that were built to connect San Sabastian to Puerta Vallarta.
Since we did spend a day in Puerta Vallarta, I feel a need to tell about the two places we visited there that I did appreciate. To be honest, I did not enjoy the tour we took of Puerta Vallarta. I heard that others would have fit my interests more. But I did enjoy our stop at the beach and at Tile Park, El Parque de los Azulejos.
The promenade along the beach in Puerta Vallarta was lovely. With its many statues and views. We enjoyed taking photos and seeing everyone walking. It was Easter week so all the children were out of school and families were enjoying the lovely day. I do enjoy some. people watching, and this was a great place to do it.
We also enjoyed seeing El Parque de los Azulejos (Tile Park), which made me think of a miniature Parque Quell in Barcelona, the lovely park designed by Gaudi. The tile benches and other mosaic inlaid objects are fun to walk through discover all the different designs. Each one is sponsored by a donor and their names are displayed on little plaques. The designs are not set on a specific theme, just want the donor wants. We were able to see one from the University of Kansas and one from the University of Michigan among the many beach and sport themes.
There is a lovely gazebo as well as a stage and seating, so I know that concerts are held at Tile Park. It is worth visiting. We also took photos sitting on the benches that we liked!
I did enjoy spending time at the port in Puerta Vallarta. I can see why tourist enjoy visiting. But to me it was a bit too touristy. However, the Magic City of San Sabastian made it my favorite stop.
zicharonot 