Our Itinerary (July 9 - July 15, 2014)
Wednesday, July 9
We arrived in Albuquerque around noon. From there, my parents spirited us off to Santa Fe to walk around/explore the Downtown. First we stopped at the condo to drop off our stuff. The condo was a great find by my parents - immaculately clean and beautifully decorated. It really felt like home for the week we were in town. It's also conveniently located - only a 10 minute walk to the Plaza, the main hangout. And it's about a block away from the Fort Marcy Complex-Magers Field Park, which we all used for exercise at some point or another.
A few blocks from the condo is this fusion Southwest and Moorish building that happens to be for sale for the bargain price of $6 million!!!
When we got Downtown we visited The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
Next up we visited The Loretto Chapel for an overpriced and overhyped view of the "floating" staircase. But before I get into that, we saw a hummingbird moth in the lavender (?) bushes right outside the Chapel. It was pretty neat and very hard to capture on camera.
So, here's the famous staircase:
It's not nearly as impressive as it once might've been because sometime in the late 1800s one of the nuns asked that railings be added to make the staircase safer. What a killjoy, right? After the fact I read the story about the making of the staircase in one of my mom's Santa Fe guides. Apparently, this carpenter showed up out of nowhere, as in, they hadn't yet advertised or made public that they wanted a staircase, made the floating staircase, and then disappeared before payment was even discussed. *cue the Twilight Zone theme*
We spent the latter part of the afternoon/early evening sitting in the Plaza with the rest of Santa Fe. Everyone gathers there to listen to all varieties of music performed in the summer months.
We ate dinner at The Shed, a highly recommended/lauded restaurant that my mom had high on her list of places to try. Three out of four of us enjoyed our New Mexican inspired food but I discovered that I should always ask how spicy the red and/or green chile is before ordering. It's also important to know that it differs. In other words, you shouldn't assume that green will always be milder or red will always be spicier. I had green chile with my cheese and onion enchiladas and my mouth/lips were on fire!
Thursday, July 10
One of the best parts about visiting my parents in Santa Fe is that they already knew where to take us attractions-wise and also, where to eat. One place that my parents had raved about from their past trips to Santa Fe is Cafe Fina. Well, the breakfast is exceptional. It's so good, in fact, that we ended up going there twice during our trip. I got the migas - as my mom said, it's like a Mexican version of matzo brei - both times. Another highlight of the Cafe Fina experience is their resident cat, Tiger. He's extremely friendly but will leave you alone unless you seek him out. Once you've sought him out, he really makes himself at home.
Here he is snoozing in Evan's hat:
He also helped himself to several sips of my water. Fortunately, I was glad to share.
We spent quite a bit of time in the car today. After Cafe Fina we made our way toward Taos, a much smaller but equally as artsy town as Santa Fe. On the way we stopped to take some pictures of the Rio Grande Gorge, which we got a closer look at later in the day.
Then we proceeded to the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church. We couldn't figure out why it was spelt "Asis" and not "Assisi" but we figured it must be the same thing. Maybe the sign maker was a bad speller...? One of the things that makes it special is that it's so well-preserved and it's real adobe.
We didn't spend any time browsing the various galleries in Downtown Taos. I got the impression from my parents that we weren't missing anything we couldn't experience in Santa Fe. The wonderfully unique experience that we did have involved visiting the Taos Pueblo, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Taos Pueblo was absolutely the highlight of the day and one of the highlights of the whole trip.
We took a 20-minute guided tour of the Pueblo with Monique, who pointed out the ovens in which her people have historically made bread, explained how their church fuses the traditional nature-based beliefs of the Native American people with the Christian beliefs of their oppressors, and also shared with us about the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. She also showed us the ruins of an old church and bell tower, which were left as a monument to the Native Americans who hid and died there in a skirmish with Americans in the late 1800s.
Monique said that a few families (about 30 individuals) still live on the Pueblo, which has no electricity or running water. Most of the people from the Pueblo, like her, have modern conveniences off-site but still maintain their family home in the Pueblo.
This is the "iconic" image of the Taos Pueblo where there are multi-story adobe homes. Incidentally, the doors and windows were a European import. Originally the only "doors" were on the roofs. It made it easy for the Native Americans to keep safe from intruders. They would climb their ladders up and into their homes and the last one in would pull the ladder.
Evan took this neat shot of a man in contemplation:
We ate lunch in town at a place called Bella's Mexican Grill, formerly known as Antonio's the last time my parents were in the area. Apparently, there's a high turnover rate with businesses in Taos. We all enjoyed the food but no one enjoyed their lunch as much as Evan. He got elote, which looks an awful lot like the corn Nacho Libre's sidekick is constantly snacking on in the movie. At one point, Nacho yells: get that corn outta my face!
After lunch we strayed from the path a bit to get a closer look at the Rio Grande Gorge. We even walked halfway across the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge for a better vantage point. It was a little scary for all of us.
On our way back to Santa Fe we drove through Carson National Forest and just barely made it in time to visit El Santuario de Chimayo before it closed. Chimayo is famous for its "healing dirt" that's allegedly cured all sorts of ailments including the inability to walk - there's a whole row of crutches that people have left there after they've been healed. My mom and I scooped some dirt into a ziplock bag but I've yet to figure out what I need healed. I'll have to think on it.
We closed out the evening at Whole Foods across from the Rail Yard, which was hosting the parade associated with the International Folk Art Market. Basically, it was an introduction to the various vendors/countries that are represented at the Market. My mom and I both got our dinner from the Jambo Cafe stand. It was a mix of Caribbean/African flavors. We really enjoyed it.
Friday, July 11
We got up bright and early again and set out for Bandelier National Monument to check out the cliff dwellings.
On the way into the Park we stopped to admire this amazing vista:
It wasn't even 9:00 by the time we got to Bandelier but we were already starting to feel the heat. There are longer hikes you can take but we didn't venture too far. Still, we got the gist of it and as you might imagine and will see, the rock formations are breath-taking.
From Bandelier we took a scenic drive into Valles Caldera National Preserve. My parents had been told that it was a great place to see and hear elk. Unfortunately, we only saw cattle but we did spy a coyote and some adorable prairie dogs.
I love this picture because it looks like I'm trying to capture the scenery and then out of nowhere there's this little prairie dog saying, hey, look at me!
The colors in this picture are so perfect it looks like a Windows desktop background.
From there we drove to Los Alamos, which might be as creepy (I'm guessing) as Roswell. They do weird stuff there. Weird. I wouldn't want to live there and even driving through made me nervous!
Our final destination of the day was Abiquiu and then Ghost Ranch/Georgia O'Keeffe country. We stopped for lunch at Abiquiu Inn/Cafe Abiquiu, which was just so-so but the best part was the hummingbird watching.
Last but not least we drove through some of the country's most beautiful landscape to arrive at Ghost Ranch. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones there that day so we couldn't enjoy it the way it deserved to be enjoyed. It's one of my mom's favorite spots to sit and reflect. When we pulled up some incredibly comfortable Adirondack chairs under the most perfectly shady tree to do just that, we were rudely interrupted by a gaggle of kids loudly counting their blessings. Ugh. I would've been counting my blessings too...if they hadn't been there!
This is the Pedernal, a favorite of O'Keeffe's:
Some storm clouds coming in:
A cabin left over from the City Slickers set:
I would count the scenery in O'Keeffe country as a trip highlight. It was the most dramatic and colorful landscape we saw on our trip. Truly spectacular.
Saturday, July 12
Today was the event that inspired the trip (aside from a visit to my parents). My mom and I were very fortunate to get "early bird" tickets so we were some of the first people that attended the International Folk Art Festival. The doors opened to us at 7:30am so we had first dibs on all of the goods that the rest of the crowd wouldn't get to see until 9:00. It's a good thing too because by the time 9:30 rolled around the crowd was downright oppressive.
My mom and I both got some lovely items. I bought a small Mexican wall hanging, a colorfully painted Mexican decorative tray, and an original painting from a Cuban artist. I'm very much looking forward to adorning our new condo with my acquired goods.
It really was an interesting experience. It's the biggest event of its kind in the world. Apparently, some of the craftsmen make enough money from this three-day event to support their families for a year. It's a great cause and I'd absolutely go again but with a bigger budget next time.
We left around 10:00am and made our way over to Canyon Road. It's famous for its expensive art galleries/studios and shops. We window-shopped a bit but most of the things we admired were too rich for our blood. We also had a lovely and light lunch at Cafe des Artistes.
We ended our afternoon in Downtown Santa Fe. I was able to find three beautifully and artistically enhanced photographs that I bought in the Plaza. And with that, I blew my shopping budget for the trip.
Then we visited the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, a must-see for any fan but it also really complemented our earlier visit to Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch. It's a very small and intimate museum, showcasing very few of her masterpieces. It was a very pleasant visit and I also really enjoyed watching the two video presentations about her life.
The whole time my mom and I were shopping and gallivanting around Santa Fe, my dad and Evan were hiking in the Valles Caldera with a group organized through the local community college.
Some pictures that Evan took:
When they finally got home around 6:00pm we went to dinner at the Santa Fe Baking Company. I think I speak for all of us when I say it was just OK.
Sunday, July 13
Today was kind of a nothing day and it was great.
We had a repeat performance at Cafe Fina and then went home for a siesta. I can't remember the last time I had a proper nap - 1990?
Once we were feeling reenergized we got in the car and discovered Shake Foundation. We split a couple of the cheeseburgers, fries, and a chocolate adobe mud shake. Delicious! We all enjoyed it but they really hooked Evan. If he had it his way I think we would've eaten there for every meal of the rest of the trip.
For dinner and a novel experience we went to La Casa Sena La Cantina. Honestly, the food wasn't great so I wouldn't recommend it for that. It was cool, however, to hear the servers sing show tunes (even if I didn't recognize most of the selections) in between taking orders.
Monday, July 14
What a great way to close out our trip. I have to say, I might've enjoyed our day-trips outside of Santa Fe even more than I enjoyed our time IN Santa Fe.
We drove out to Cochiti Pueblo for a "Feast Day" celebration. I have no pictures of the event because photography is strictly forbidden in the Pueblo. Despite that, it was a really special experience and even if I can't share it visually, I'll do my best with words.
There was a large circle of younger tribal members - ranging from children to middle-aged adults - and within that circle was a cluster of older tribal members leading the ceremony with chanting, a single drummer, and another man, whom I assumed was some kind of shaman or spiritual leader. All of their movements were slow, methodical and involved a sort of coordinated shuffling with their feet. The tribal elders looked to be in regular dress - sort of bowling/Hawaiian shirts, though they were probably Native American-themed - and the tribal members in the large outer circle wore nature-themed adornments. The women had headdresses that I thought symbolized corn crops, while the men wore flowers or colored feathers on their heads that were possibly meant to look like flowers. There were also small groups within the large outer circle that had instruments like maracas. When they shook them they sounded like rainmakers or a sticks filled with rice. They'd shake them at what seemed like predetermined points in the ceremony.
It was almost unbearably hot so we only observed the ceremony for fifteen or twenty minutes. I'm not sure if the ceremony required a repetition of the same actions or if there were different stages. I guess I'll never know. It was a very special and unique experience that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in Native American culture.
Afterward we took a little drive to Cochiti Lake. It was a bit of a challenge to find but worth the effort.
When we got back to Santa Fe we had a light and refreshing lunch in the shaded patio of Vinaigrette. It's mostly a salad place but I got a tuna melt with a side salad and I very much enjoyed it.
Perhaps the best part of eating at Vinaigrette is its proximity to Shake Foundation. They're literally, next door to one another. Evan and I walked over and split a shake for dessert.
At that point my mom, Evan, and I split off to go Downtown while my dad went off on his own. We went to the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. I loved it. I can't remember seeing a better collection of visually appealing and evocative art.
There was one exhibit, in particular, that I found moving. The artist's medium was the traditional craft of her people - basket-weaving - and the material she used to weave those baskets were archival documents that were used to subjugate, manipulate, and demoralize her people.
Some more cool art:
We closed out the evening with a wonderful meal at La Plazuela Restaurant at La Fonda. I finally got the perfect enchiladas and Evan got to try elk, which he had been talking about since his hike with my dad. He was also able to get "Alien", a beer from Roswell. This amused all of us because Evan had expressed an interest in visiting Roswell the last few days of the trip. We'll tack that on next time.
Tuesday, July 15
Before my parents took us to Albuquerque to start our journey home, they took us for one last meal in Santa Fe at the Sage Bakehouse. It's what I imagine a rustic French-country bakery would be like. We got a little bit of everything - hot chocolate, eggs/cheese/Serrano ham/avocado tartines, and finally, a lemon ricotta torte. Everything was delicious.
This was very different from other trips we've taken in the past. First of all, it wasn't a destination we had selected (though we've considered Santa Fe before), and secondly, we based this vacation around visiting my parents, who were familiar with the area, as opposed to throwing ourselves into a new environment completely blind. It was kind of a relief to not have to plan anything. My mom and dad planned/prepared for almost all of our activities and food. They had also preselected our accommodations. That made it really easy for us to just show up and hit the ground running, but in a relaxed manner. We had a great time with my parents and a really great time in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico. I'd definitely go again.
Thanks Mom and Dad! You were great hosts and we had a wonderful time exploring the area with you.
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