Santa Fe
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Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico. I first visited this delightful dessert oasis on the return leg of my month in the Caribbean. We had planned to stop overnight, but due to some engine trouble, we wound up spending three nights there, and a good thing too! Somehow, I would have missed out on Santa Fe had I not wound up there by circumstance alone. Yes, I'd always heard good things about it, but no one of those things really spoke to me. After seeing this quaint little town I just had to show it to my wife Kathy, so we wound up returning less than a month after I'd left on a romantic getaway for two. Santa Fe is a high altitude city, over 6000 feet, and sits in a valley at the base of the Watermelon mountains. As such, there are always pretty views, the weather is nice, and there are some spectacular cloud formations that are formed because of the mountains. Residents told us the drive to Taos, a 45 minute trip, is not to be missed, so we did that one day too. Taos itself is not very interesting in my view--same as Santa Fe on a much lesser scale. However, the drive is an excellent excuse to see the surrounding countryside. Don't forget to drive up to the ski area either. What follows is a walk around photo tour. Santa Fe is really a walk-around town--that's the best way to see it. Follow along as I show you what we saw. |
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Our Hotel...
We stayed at the Eldorado. It's a large hotel, convenient to the Plaza, and nicely appointed. This is the third hotel I've stayed at in Santa Fe. When I go back, I want to try to stay at the Inn of the Anasazi. It has the best location of all, and looks like a very fine small hotel.
The Plaza...
The Plaza is where the action is in Santa Fe. It's a town square in the traditional sense with interesting shops, galleries, and restaraunts radiating for blocks around. Each morning we'd get up and set off to explore a different corner of the Plaza area.
As mentioned, the clouds here are really quite beautiful.
Lots of old Spanish architecture here. Stucco is the rule rather than the exception. In fact, it's so uniform, there must be a city building code mandating it. This view is walking towards the square on the main drag, shortly after leaving our hotel.
Very stucco. This is a little art museum.
A gallery specializing in--you guessed it!--bronzes...
The Rainbow Man had a cornucopia of interesting minutiae in his little courtyard shop...
Another museum--the Indian Arts Museum...
This little tour bus really tickled my fancy...