We flew into Albuquerque and immediately Kathie and I drove 64 miles north on I-25 to Santa Fe—“The oldest Capital in the United States” founded in 1610.    A friend of mine, Dr. Tony Beonde and I went through Santa Fe in 1984, but all I remember was seeing “adobe style buildings.”

This time we were going to explore for four days. Staying at a charming Inn of the Governors, Kathie and I really had time to see many of the sights.

The first morning we were the first ones at the Loretto Chapel.

There is the “Miraculous Staircase” that was built in around 1880 by an unknown carpenter.  A show was made about this staircase on “Unsolved Mysteries.”  It actually is free standing and quite beautiful.

Like all “Spanish towns,” there is a relaxing “plaza” in the center of old town.

Close by is the famous La Fonda Hotel. It was one of the original Fred Harvey Hotels and designed by Mary Jane Elizabeth Colter. We later took a tour of this hotel with the emphasis on the beautiful art work that was on every wall and pane of glass.

We became exposed to famous local artists like Gerald Cassidy and Ernest Martinez.

The tour took us to view the exclusive suite section of the hotel.  La Fonda is actually a “Hotel in a hotel.”  The staircase had an unusual Jack Rabbit figurines.

On the other side of the plaza was “Palace of the Governors,” now a museum. Inside was a bust of governor and Civil War General “Lew Wallace,” who wrote the novel “Ben Hur.”   Lew was not very compassionate to Billy the Kid as he allowed the young man to be hanged.

And just next door is the New Mexico Museum which entertains the “Death Mask of Poncho Villa,” and letters from William Bonny—known as “Billy the Kid.”  I think William Bonney had very good hand-writing for being an outlaw.

 

There is plenty to see and do in historic Santa Fe. One of our biggest discoveries was the six million dollar art collection at the New Mexico State House.  It is free.  Our favorite piece is of a “Buffalo” made with all recycled material.

We were lucky that the Santa Fe Congress was out on a season break.  New Mexico is one of two states that do not have a dome.  Nebraska is the other.

We did make it to Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Unfortunately, many of her paintings are elsewhere and we did find this museum disappointing.  Although, there is an informative video about her life we found interesting.  Georgia is well known for her work for paintings flowers, scenes from the west and cow skulls.  The skulls were missing at this museum.

Taking the Tram, Tours by Candice, we discovered that Santa Fe has one of the larger “art communities” in the world. There is Canyon Road which is filled with art galleries of all types.

My favorite pieces, though, was the “Arch of Knowledge,”

The huge head of a bronze horse is quite impressive.  One of the largest “horse head” sculptures in the world.

In Canyon Road, we ate at El Farol restaurant which is the “oldest” restaurant in the entire area. We had shrimp appetizer and later I had good tasty steak Fajitas.

We did have a number of fine meals while in Santa Fe. We ate at the popular Shed Restaurant and met a nice couple from Grand Junction, Co

At the Inn of the Governors, every morning I would have their scrambled eggs with “green chilies” with cheese. So good.

In the afternoon, they would offer “Sherry and Tea” with the New Mexico State Cookie, Biscochito.  It is made with anise and cinnamon.  I ate quite a number of these tasty cookies until I read the recipe.  The Biscochito calls for your normal eggs and sugar, but also “lard.”

Four days went by extremely fast. We highly recommend a visit to the historic area of Santa Fe as there is plenty to see and do.