Taos On The Cheap

I’m excited to find a super-discounted golf package for New Mexico residents to play all eight of the Santa Fe Trail courses for only $200. That’s 25 bucks per round, a very low par for these courses, and a saving of over $150.  None are in Taos, but Taos golfers will stumble on their soft spikes in the rush to take advantage of the deal to play at top notch courses between here and Santa Fe (Black Mesa and Towa) and in the Albuquerque area (Paa-Ko Ridge, Twin Warriors, Sandia, UNM Championship, Santa Ana, and Isleta Eagle.)  Buy your Twilight Pass for $200, and you can play all the courses through end of May 2010. Deal conditions are very reasonable: You can only play each course once, and the pass is only valid on Monday to Thursday, for groups of no more than four players, and for tee times starting from 2 pm. Which still gives you plenty of time for a leisurely game.  Book tee times up to seven days in advance.

I’m sorry to say that this bargain really IS only for New Mexico Residents. Everyone else, you’ll just have to move here…  But green fees on the Santa Fe Trail courses are extremely competitive even at rack rate, compared to other national courses of similar quality, so check ’em out anyway.  Passes are limited, and we’re not sure how long this deal will last, so if you’re interested, don’t dally to tee off and buy your discount Santa Fe Trail golf pass online.

Summer Happy Hours at Vivác Winery’s Tasting Room offer two for the price of one glasses of wine on Wednesdays to Sundays between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Try new wines, hang out on the patio, listen to music on Saturdays, and taste Vivác vinos including Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, or Dolcetto at $2.50 a glass. On Fantastic Fridays there’s a free Happy Hour wine class too, although you must reserve a place in advance. See all the info on summer Happy Hour at Vivác Winery.

Find Vivác Winery at 2075 State Highway 68, Embudo, on the corner of Highways 68 and 75 at the Dixon turn off. It’s 25 miles south of Taos. Please just remember: Don’t drink and drive.

Another free golf event, this time for parents with kids, as part of Family Golf Month. Tee off for free golf clinics for families at Angel Fire Resort on three Fridays in July 2009 – that’s July 10, 17, and 31, between 3:30 and 4:30 pm. You’ll learn about golf basics and safety, with fun family games. Here’s the registration info for the free family golf clinics.

Angel Fire Resort Golf Course and Country Club is 22 miles east of Taos.

Reminder that it’s the LAST MONTH to try your luck to win a trip to Taos!  If you love Taos, or if you’ve never been but want to find out exactly what you’re missing, it’s a no-brainer to enter the Taos Summer of Love sweepstakes FREE online, to win a fabulous $4000 trip for two to the heart of the Land of Enchantment.

Grand Prize: Four day Taos trip for two including airfare within the US, staying at your choice of three hotels (El Monte Sagrado, Taos Inn, or Sagebrush Inn), plus meals at three favorite Taos restaurants (Joseph’s Table, Lambert’s, Old Blinking Light), spa treatments at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs, a $1000 certificate to spend in a Taos art gallery, tickets to five Taos museums, a Harley-Davidson tour (if you have a motorcycle license), and a choice of outings (ski, raft, balloon, golf, or llama trek.)

Come ON people, why are you even still reading this? Go to Taos Summer of Love to enter free online by 11:59 am MST on July 31, 2009. I’ve never heard anyone in Taos be so precise about time, we’re usually pretty casual around these parts, but there’s a lot at stake here. The best trip of your life, for one. Drawing on August 1, prize trip to be taken by Dec 31, 2009. Good luck!

As part of American Express Women’s Golf month, free Chicks with Sticks Group Clinics run at Angel Fire Resort every Tuesday in June, between 3:00 and 3:45 p.m. Then you tee off for a 9 hole Shamble, which hopefully won’t be such a shambles if you’ve taken the clinic first. The whole shebang ends with she-bonding in social hour from 6:30. Here’s the registration info for the free golf clinic.

Angel Fire Resort Golf Course and Country Club is 22 miles east of Taos.

The delicious Joseph’s Table restaurant is even more delicious through June, with Half Price bottles of wine when you dine on Wednesday nights. Chef Joseph Wrede’s menu is full of flair and fabulous flavors, from Alaskan Halibut with Fennel and Strawberries on Tarragon Beurre Blanc, to Red Chile Chocolate Nib Cheesecake. And if they’re serving his amazing Bay Leaf Panna Cotta the night you’re there, your dessert decision is made.

Find Joseph’s Table in the Hotel la Fonda de Taos, in historic Taos Plaza.  This Vino Special is just on Wednesday nights in June 2009, for 50% off full bottles of wine only.