Wow, if I though that day 1 of the show was great…day 2 was outstanding on a whole new level. While the trade hours (no crush of the crowd) was only two hours, we certainly made the best of that time. Besides shopping for some spicy delectable yummies, the people that I had the chance to hang out with today really made my trip to this point. This includes:

- Mike Greening of Mike and Diane’s Gourmet Kitchen. I have met few people from the industry who are as forthright, genuine, and refreshingly blunt about what he does as Mike.

- Dr. Paul Bosland of the NMSU Chile Pepper Institute. Dr. Bosland’s knowledge of chile peppers has a depth of which I can only envy, and I would have loved to pick his brain for a few more hours. Also a genuinely nice man, for which I may be forced to being a member of the Institute.

We made the trek up to Santa Fe with the full intention of plowing through the Green Chile Cheeseburger trail…and yes, there is such a thing. Our adventure (and ultimately our empty stomachs) led us to Bobcat Bite for some decent burgers. Not great, but very palatable. After that, we did our men-go-shopping trip (yes, be afraid…be very afraid) in downtown Santa Fe. Quite a cool town.

We braved the mass of humanity at the show at the end of the day before heading off to the Monte Carlo steakhouse for dinner. After a good dinner with some chilehead friends, Mike Wilbur (the Hot Sauce Guru) and I decided to revisit the casino to try our luck at the craps table. Given that we played for several hours today and I only lost $15 total, I consider that a victory.

Much fun today, and more to come on Sunday!