We drove along Highway of Legend and enjoyed the vibrant fall colors (click here to see - Vibrant colors of Highway of Legends) and ended up in Las Vegas (don't get me wrong,
it's not Las Vegas, Nevada, but Las Vegas, New Mexico ;) ). This is a
great place to stay (click here to see - Las Vegas, the small town with a big history) but we weren't planning on
doing it this time. We had some other plans... It may not be as big and
bright as its sister town in Nevada (click here to see - Las Vegas - Sin City) but... we
loved it a lot!
The next morning we left while it was still dark outside
and headed towards Madrid (not Madrid, Spain but Madrid, New Mexico,
yes I know it's very confusing,
during this trip
we were always not where the names were suggested), where we planned to
stop on the side of the road and look around...
Yep, that's right, it was October 14, 2023, the time for Solar Eclipse and we traveled all the way down there to watch the event from the best location we could find ;) And all we needed was the open space where the sun shone to our eyes. You cannot actually see the annular eclipse with the naked eye... I mean, the Moon doesn't really block the Sun, and if you don't use the filters, you'll still see the bright sun (it looks dim, actually, but still pretty bright) and... the shadow of the moon is not visible! That's a bummer, but if you have special glasses, you can see it in a different way... You can see the moon slowly breaking through, covering the sun and... finally you cannot see the sun and only the ring of fire as a thin circle around the dark side of the moon ;) And... actually... it was absolutely amazing! Don't believe me? look for yourself then!
Did it get dark when the moon blocked the sun? Not really... Just a
little bit... but even this small change made the birds worry and cry
out loud ;)
We stood there for a while longer looking around, admiring the
adobe houses that climb on the tops of the surrounding hills, before
moving forward.
Our next stop was Los Serrillos, a small and sleepy town just off the
Turquoise Trail. Not exactly a ghost town (over 200 people still call
it home) but... certainly not a bumming place.
We walked around enjoying quiet time and stopped next to the Opera
House. Caused to be built early on by Stephen B. Elkins, of stone to
suggest the quality of the buildings to come and to encourage the
development of his new town, the exact construction date of the Opera
House is not known. But the building was on this site by 1881. The
structure was acquired before 1884 by William C. Hurt, an ex-Confederate
soldier who had come to New Mexico in quest of health. For the next
five years, until Hurt’s death, Hurt’s Hall was the focus of gatherings
in Cerrillos, being the frequent venue for bailes (dances) and amateur
theatricals and other entertainments. William’s wife and widow, Maud L.
Hurt, continued the tradition, until finally selling the building in
1903 for $305 to the Cerrillos Masonic Lodge. The Cerrillos Lodge held
its regular communications here and also continued to offer it, now
known as the Opera House, for public events. The Opera House was for a
while managed on behalf of the Lodge by J.P. McNulty, until the Lodge
moved to Santa Fe, where it is currently situated. The building is
Kludget Sound Studio and is a private residence.
The garden was closed for the season, but we had the opportunity to
view the artwork from the road. Of course, we didn't see all of them,
but what we saw looked really cool.
Our last stop for the day was Galisteo, a crossroads town.
Beautiful and bright... The tall trees on the banks of the Galisteo
Creek looked absolutely stunning and we spent quite a time wandering
along the streets and looking around...
Descriptions of the historical building in Los Cerrillos were borrowed from the website of the Cerrillos Historical Society.
Pictures were taken on October 14, 2023.
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