Plants of the Southwest

9 years ago, Rob and I planted the hillside of my brother's back yard. We bought all of the plants at the Theodore Payne Foundation in the San Fernando Valley. 

I was thinking about that place. And that summer. And Rob. 

And then I went to pay for the plants and Rob's New Mexican doppelgänger rang me up. 

Cuban Food

This was my first - and likely last - trip to Cuba, New Mexico. 

Although the K-Shack Grill might be worth a return trip for Korean food.

The Only Way To End The Day

Coors Light and a slice of pizza. 

The Diamond Belle Saloon

 

I did not try the Chicken Shawarma soup. 

That sounds fucking awful.

El Rancho Tavern

In 1915, twenty-year-old boxer Jack Dempsey - who would go on to become the second-most popular athlete of the 1920s, behind only Babe Ruth - won a 10-round match in the Gem Theater. 

Almost a century and a decade later, I spent an hour on a warm spring evening drinking Coors and watching A League of Their Own on the spot of that fight, now a dive bar called El Rancho. 

Have I mentioned how much I feel at home in this town? 

El Moro Tavern

Balcony Bar & Grill

Let's count the things I love: 

1) Outdoor bar

2) Not on the ground floor

3) Live acoustic music

4) Mountain views

5) John Prine song

6) Sunshine Wheat sign

7) Coors Light

11th Street Station

An old service station repurposed into a location for food trucks and stands. They have all kinds of food. 

But we just drank at the bar. Because vacation.