Handsome Husband and I kept hearing about how fabulous Santa Fe is so we decided our “empty nest” trip (the one we take to cheer ourselves up after the children disappear off to college in the fall) should be to New Mexico.
It was a little scary at first because we had to drive through a dust storm on our way from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. I felt like I was in the Sahara Desert…
When we told our innkeeper about the phenomenon, even he was taken aback. Evidently, dust storms aren’t all the common, even in New Mexico. Our inn was spectacular, an Arabian nights fantasy. There’s just one of the courtyards:
And here are the sinks in our bathroom. I wanted to bring the entire bathroom home with me and plunk it down in my Victorian house (where it would have looked like a peacock in a hen house but who cares!).
Santa Fe is old (well, for a place in the United States). My children and I have a running joke about the second oldest church in the New World because I always drag them to places like that. So I texted them photos of 1) the oldest church in the U.S., the San Miguel Mission:
And 2) the oldest house in the U.S., made of adobe, of course, because most everything in Santa Fe is made of a adobe or an imitation thereof. It’s very lovely and warm.
I also shared 3) the oldest government building in the U.S. and 4) the oldest bar in Santa Fe with the kidlets, but I won’t inflict them on you.
Santa Fe has great restaurants which we sampled with gusto, including this fabulous lobster dish at Geronimo on Canyon Road. It combined mesquite-grilled lobster and chili sauce, along with delicious Lima beans and other goodies, truly New Mexican cuisine.
I also discovered the deliciousness of dark chocolate with chilis embedded in it. Yum!
Canyon Road is also famous for its concentration of art galleries. The sculptures ranged from weird to beautiful to whimsical. Some of my favorites:
They love horses in Santa Fe!
An artist with an inner child!
Not sure what this one says to me…
You didn’t have to stroll the expensive galleries of Canyon Road to find visual pleasures though. I found this just strolling down a random street in town. Ah, the colors of the southwest!
Stay tuned for Part 2, wherein we venture outside of Santa Fe.
My daughter and I were in Santa Fe just a few weeks before you. We loved the people–very friendly–and the artistic atmosphere. the Museum of Contemporary Native American Art and the Georgia O’Keefe Museum were highlights! Also the weekend we were there was the Indian Market, and we got to meet Native American artists and crafters and see so many fantastic examples of their work.