After our meal at Doc Martin's we took a typical after dinner stroll. Downtown Taos was indeed quite charming.
While most of the shops were already closed, the relaxed, tranquil vibe gave us time to appreciate the town. We loved the public art.
And as the sun headed down, the adobe buildings just came alive. It was indeed the "golden hour"!
With nary a person in sight, it was a wonderful stroll.
We slept well, woke early, and headed off to the do some hiking. I gave the Missus a couple of choices and She picked the Devasidero Peak loop trail. It was a quick 5 minute drive to the trailhead. The trail started off a bit steep, but the views were lovely on this morning in early May.
And while we didn't run into any other folks on the trail, there were indications of folks who had come before us.
And the signage on the trail was pretty good.
The Missus is all business when hiking; She wants to get it done ASAP.
I on the other hand, like to enjoy the views and on this hike, the little splashes of color provided by the wild flowers.
We enjoyed the hike and finished in a shade over two hours.
We headed back to the hotel, parked, and decided to grab an early lunch. We had walked past a little sandwich/juice bar/health food shop the previous evening called Manzanita Market and decided to pop in.
It was a cute little shop with a hipster-hippy-ish vibe. The staff was very friendly.
We placed our order and the Missus had a seat, while I took a look at some of the local items available for sale.
I loved the name of this hot sauce brand, Taos Hum.
In case you hadn't heard of the Taos Hum, it's a low frequency humming/buzzing noise that certain residents of Taos have heard since the 1990's. There have been studies into the hum over the years, but it still remains a mystery, and has been reported in other places around the world. And this Taos Hum Hot Sauce would remain a mystery to me as well as I ended up not getting a bottle. I can and may order it online; or perhaps wait until we next visit Taos.
The Missus had ordered the Mediterranean Vegan, which came from Sage Bakehouse (Santa Fe) Sourdough.
The sourdough was quite good. This was bit on the blander side in terms of flavor in spite of the pickled onions and lime-garlic spread. The textures were very nice; the creamy tahini, crisp veggies and bread. The greens had a pleasant bitterness to them as well. So very healthy!
I got the Naples which also came on that good sourdough bread.
This was a pressed sandwich and was served hot. The bread was a nice crisp-crunchy and I loved the milky-gooey carneros cheese and the nicely spiced-salty sopressata. The mildly assertive feta-garlic sauce and the surprisingly good tomato jam really made this sandwich a winner!
Such a nice place for a light lunch!
Manzanita Market
103 N Plaza
Taos, NM 87571
In retrospect, we should have spent at least another day in Taos, but we'd try to make the best of our last evening!
We were sent a text when our room was ready; which was in one of the buildings in back of the Inn, it was comfortable and quieter than the rooms up front.
The Missus really enjoyed the Gruet Brut and also the Gruet Chardonnay with dinner. Gruet is a winery based in New Mexico. We'd end up getting a bottle for the Missus from one of the shops in Taos the next day.
The pork was nicely charred. In terms of flavor; it had some sweetness and a bit of spice…..the nice crispy bits were pretty good. The tortillas were almost crisp and brittle without much flavor. The sofrito rice and beans I covered above.
It was loaded with meat. The beef rib, their version of Xí Quách Suon Bò had also been seared a bit before service. The sliced "short rib" (as defined in the menu) was cut too thick, super tough, and lacked flavor. Strangely, what is usually not my favorite item in a bowl of pho, the squeaky meatballs was the item I enjoyed the most. Of course, there was no option for tendon or tripe. The rib meat came off the bone cleanly, was decently tender, but seemed to have had all the beefiness cooked out of it. Yes, it was a large portion of meat.
The huge clump of noodles were mushy and over cooked. The broth was super bland….I do complain a bit about how pho broth in San Diego seems to be on the sweeter side of the scale….well, you know what, I would have gladly accepted that here! Much like the Niu Rou Mian broth at 
In case you haven't heard of this, Good News was created back in the 70's. I believe that Good News is mainly sold back in the Islands these days. This was my late Mom's favorite guilty pleasure. She would get me to walk to Kaimuki Sundries or Lau Market to get one for her every once in a while. Every time I see it within the confines of a small neighborhood store or market, I can't help but think of my walks (she never did learn to drive and we had no car) around the corner to get one for her.
