One of my favorite parts of the conference though wasn't an official part of the conference. On Friday night I went to an authentic Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe called Castro's Restaurante (wish I'd snapped a photo of the place, but I didn't think of it at the time) with a couple of friends who I haven't seen for a while and we had a great time. Several years ago, the three of us went to this same restaurant after it was recommended to us and we enjoyed it so much that we decided to recreate the magic--something that rarely happens.
But somehow it happened again.
One of the guys lives in Florida and he has this sort of infectious laugh. He is well read and loves conversation. The other guy is a pastor in Michigan who is also well read, who also loves to laugh, and he has a huge heart when it comes to understanding people and their struggles. I don't know how or why I fit in with these guys, but somehow I do. We talk about deadly serious issues and our conversations flow just as easily to the insanely comical. So, we ate a bunch of great food, had a great time catching up with each other, and then we headed to Old Town Santa Fe to do a little exploring.
We couldn't resist stopping by this bookstore:
We walked by a couple of rather bizarre types of coffee shops:
And we stopped to admire a little art along the way:
I don't know when or if the three of us will ever have a chance to get together again, but I couldn't help but think about people who spend their entire lives looking for activities or hobbies or experiences that will bring them happiness, when in reality, having dinner and spending time with friends might be exactly what they are looking for.
