A Quick Food Guide to Santa Fe

I didn't want to let the day go by without giving you a quick list of must-eats in Santa Fe:

• Blue corn cheese enchiladas with red sauce at the Shed. Here's a review and here's the site for the Shed. Red sauce to weep for; what all chilis dream of while they're hanging around Chamayo. Get the enchilada plate with pinto beans and posole. When you eat the pasole, DO NOT make hominy jokes, no matter how tempting.

• Chile Rellenos at Maria's. I haven't been to Maria's in more than a decade, and it's still one of the great Southwestern restaurants on earth. The chili rellenos are beyond amazing, piquant local chilis stuffed with a tangy cheese. I got mine with green chili, and I'd suggest you go that way as well.

• Chocolate croissants at La Fonda. Get there early, like before 9 AM, or they're all gone. Get, like, 50 of them; lock yourself in your hotel room with a gallon of coffee and knock yourself out. Insulin shock has never felt so good.

• I can't even begin to sort out the margaritas! Santa Fe is ground zero for the gods of tequila. Every tequila ever distilled by man on earth is available somewhere in Santa Fe. The guys at Maria's like to point out that they quite literally wrote the book, which is true. They offer 100 margaritas...I tried two, and they were both REALLY HONEST TO GOD WORLD CLASS. The Shed's were not exactly chopped liver...I went with Silver Coins, although I really like gold margaritas made with a s...m...o...o...o...o...o...o...t...h, smoky Reposada.

So anyhow, how come I didn't buy new boots? I saw a set of Rocket Busters I really liked, but for $1895? With some judicious shooping, that's an S&W 329PD, 2 of the new Ruger Flattop 2006...oops, I didn't say that!...and a used SIG 228, for god's sake! I saw a couple of red Luccheses in the $800-900 range, but all I could think of when I tried them on was that it was either the boots or one of the new Detonics CombatMaster mini-.45s. My Sweetie says I've got to either buy a pair of high-dollar cowboy boots or GET OVER IT and stop kicking tires. The last pair of cowboy boots I bought came to $150, and I've worn the heels off 'em. I'm talking to Caboots about a pair of 15-inch custom black boots with Chinese dragons snaking form the toes to the tops, a little something special for SHOT Show. Good taste is, after all, timeless. Or maybe I'm still kicking tires.

I did however buy two things...a black cowboy shirt with embroidered macaws (tactical, of course) for the SHOT Show episode of SHOOTING GALLERY. I'm also going to get a balaclava embroidered with happy faces. The other thing I got was a tactical non-tactical (or non-tactical tactical, I get confused) oilcloth duster-type vest from Outback Trading Company. Sucker's perfect for concealed carry! Just to be sure, I got a size larger than I needed, and it's perfect for belt carry with my SIG 225 and Alessi CQB snap-on, to say nothing of various and sundry IWBs. Got about a billion pockets and is waterproof to boot. Plus, you don't look like a refugee from a National Geographic photo shoot!