How New Mexico Grows Its Beer
A historic Santa Fe farm helps New Mexico brewers tap into the local terroir. Continue the Full Story
Madrid, New Mexico, Now Has a Booming Art Scene
Above: Cowgirl Red in Madrid. On a warm day in 1988, Riana Peaker-Newman, then 16, and her father, Waylan Peaker, drove the 20 miles south from Santa Fe to Madrid, a once booming coal town nestled in the foothills of the Ortiz Mountains. Waylan, a self-taught jeweler and miner, had come in search of turquoise located in the nearby hills. When the pair came upon Madrid, they found a beautiful, sleepy town full of abandoned miners’ cabins.
Madrid Keeps It Weird
On a warm day in 1988, Riana Peaker-Newman, then 16, and her father, Waylan Peaker, drove the 20 miles south from Santa Fe to Madrid, a once booming coal town nestled in the foothills of the Ortiz Mountains.
Waylan, a self-taught jeweler and miner, had come in search of turquoise located in the nearby hills.
When the pair came upon Madrid, they found a beautiful, sleepy town full of abandoned miners’ cabins.
There was a bar, a few shops, a few more tourists, and, according to Peaker-Newman, an abundance of possibility.
Frito Pie-Eyed
IT ARRIVED IN A SMALL yellow bag, cut open lengthwise, with piping-hot red chile, ground beef, and beans poured directly over the corn chips inside, all topped with diced onions, yellow cheese, and lettuce. A server handed it to me across the lunch counter of the Five & Dime General Store in downtown Santa Fe. I was 10 or 11, and this, my first Frito pie, was magical. A rich and iconic New Mexican meal.