Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado

After an intense morning climbing Balcony House and Cliff Palace, I was famished by lunchtime. We decided to eat at Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe since it's in the same area as the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum and Spruce Tree House, both places we intended to visit afterward.

I couldn't pass on another chance to eat Navajo fry bread. This time as a taco.


So the usual taco fillings, but served on top of fry bread.

Fry bread as part of the Native American diet didn't come about until the mid-1800s after they were all moved to reservations. :( Unable to hunt game, and on land that often lacked the bounty of natural resources they were used to before, they created fry bread to use up government rations of flour and lard.


Gourmet Pigs ordered a bison sausage. Tasted like lean beef to me.


Afterward, we walked around the gift shop for a bit. I got a mug and a magnet with pictures of Cliff Palace.


This Navajo pottery was a little unusual. After the pottery is made by hand and then fired, strands of horsehair was placed in various positions. The pottery then gets fired again. The cindered remains of the strands of horsehair leave these unusual patterns.


No horses were harmed in the making of these pots. They use horsehair that was shed during grooming.

The Jemez are a Native American tribe I've never heard of before. They are part of the two dozen tribes in the southwest that historians think are descended from the Anasazi.


Some blankets with Native American patterns.


Well-rested after lunch, and with another bottle of water purchased, we made our way over to the museum to learn a little more about the Anasazi.

Posts in this series:
Sadie's of New Mexico - Albuquerque - New Mexico
Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum - Albuquerque - New Mexico
Shiprock - New Mexico
Ted's Taco - Mancos - Colorado
Balcony House - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado
House of Many Windows - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado
Hemenway House - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado
Cliff Palace - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado
Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado
Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado
Spruce Tree House - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado
Petroglyph Point Trail - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado
Cortez Cultural Center - Cortez - Colorado
Main Street Brewery & Restaurant - Cortez - Colorado
Absolute Bakery & Cafe - Mancos - Colorado
Four Corners Monument - Shiprock - New Mexico
Pine Country Restaurant - Williams - Arizona
Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim) - Arizona

Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe
Mesa Verde National Park
P.O. Box 8
Mesa Verde, Colorado 81330
970-529-4521
10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

7-day vehicle fee $10, $15 from Memorial Day to Labor Day
$3 tickets are required to take ranger-guided tours of Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and Long House. Tickets may be purchased from inside the park at Far View Visitor Center and must be purchased in person.

*****
1 year ago today, my paternal grandfather's death anniversary dinner.
2 years ago today, 7 of 7 random things about me meme: I hate the word "foodie."