Adios Santa Rosa

Our stay in Santa Rosa, NM, while only two days, was more than enough for us. Here is a list of what we did and now we felt, backed up with photos.

Photo of decrepid buildings along Route 66

Stop #1, a drive along Old Route 66. While seeming to be a sure bet for a blast of the past, it turned out to be depressing and sad. The few original businesses that remain open are surrounded by abandoned and disintegrating shells of motels, restaurants and souvenir shops. Broken neon signs are interspersed with an open bar, a food market and a lumber store. I don't know what the major income source is here, but it is definitely not even a Walmart, since the closest one is 81 miles away. 

Stop # 2 was to the Route 66 Antique Car Museum. This provided us with many photo opportunities, but it seemed like this place was holding by threads to remain open. Entrance fee was only $5 per person, so it constituted a bargain to see all the restored cars within. There was much memorabilia as well.  

A Phaeton and a Victoria. Is this a coincidence or a prediction?

Stop # 3 was for lunch at the authentic Route 66 Restaurant. It reminded me of a Johnny Rockets, but there were no dancing waitresses. The place was clean and the food acceptable, but the service was slow as molasses. I ordered tacos and "G" got salad topped with chicken. Not anything out of the ordinary, but it took about 45 minutes for our orders to come out. I ended up having to inturrupt the waitress, from a very in-depth conversation with another patron, for our check. 

What remains from the 1800 chapel, St. Rose of Lima

Stop #4 was the Chapel of St. Rosa de Lima. We headed south and found the remnants of the original church, which was erected in 1800, but never found the relocated chapel.

Billy the Kid

Stop #5 was to be our last stop, but turned out to be just a drive by. We drove to the town of Fort Sumner to visit the Museum of Billy the Kid and his final resting place. What we noticed first upon our arrival was that it resembled a ghost town. Businesses and homes were either abandoned, boarded up, falling down, or closed for business. Stray dogs and feral cats ran in the road making it difficult to drive through a side road. 

It was a Saturday afternoon, a day you would normally see more people than usual out and about running errands, but we didn't see anyone. The only thing we can assume, after seeing a hearse and a large group of people in mourning, is that someone in town must have died and everyone was attending the funeral. We continued on our journey to locate Billy's grave, but to no avail. There was not a soul around to even ask directions. 

The desolate ride back to Allie had me thinking about what misfortune led these people to this area. There seemed to be much abject poverty and dispair. It did not feel like a happy place. We noticed many churches, considering the small population, and I could imagine them being packed on Sunday's with prayers for just about anything. Like Santa Rosa, these two towns are holding onto the past much too loosely. It seems that a Historical Society is needed to designate historical buildings and mandate restorations of the buildings that remain. It costs money, but perhaps they could create some sort of resurgence in the area. God knows, they need something.

We thought of staying a third day in Santa Rosa, but after the depressive day we witnessed, we decided we had seen enough. 

Deep thought for the day: Do not judge me until you have walked a mile in my shoes.