Aperture Photography Blog

In a random “Let’s go to Madrid to hang out with friends” event, Amy and I visited Madrid, NM, for their Crawdad and Blues Festival which was held behind the Mine Shaft Tavern. I have to admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of “mud bugs”, but this was not only a ton of fun, a ton of food, a ton of beer, and a ton of great music … but those mud bugs can be really tasty! The billing says “Live Blues Crawfish and Shrimp Boil” and yes, it was indeed live crayfish being boiled! It doesn’t get fresher.

After arriving, we met up with Barbara, the owner of Barbella’s Gallery in the middle of Madrid. At her suggestion, we let many, many batches of fresh crayfish get boiled to “dirty the water” with flavor, and settled for a interim repast of shrimp, boudin balls, and potatoes. Thus, we forced ourselves to listen to good music, talk to great people, and drink amazing NM microbrewery beer. This is the town where you stand out if you try to hide. Friendly and straightforward discussion is the norm.

Madrid offers the best of what a small town in NM can offer: art, culture, and good people that give mutual respect.

I was the only one walking around with a huge lens on my camera and drew a few sideways glances, but this is how Madrid must be captured… in its true beauty. I cannot imagine visiting without a camera. One biker jokingly asked me if I was an undercover cop… is there more than one answer to that?

We wandered about, visiting the stores and galleries and listening to music. Most of the owners were out enjoying the music, although the stores were all open. Madrid is a great place to take visiting relatives and friends.

Much later in the day…

After hours of watching hundreds of pounds of crayfish be consumed, we struck. The water used for boiling was now a thickened, deep-red broth which instead of boiling out the flavor from food, it would be adding extra crawdaddy-goodness to it. This image was taken hours earlier, and already the broth is starting to take on a spicy essence of its own.

I don’t have any shots of myself enjoying the crawdads, but this pictures sums it up well: