Doug’s family is doing their annual get together in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, so we decided to come up a few days early and spend some time in Santa Fe.
We flew up Thursday afternoon (into Albuquerque), and stopped for dinner at Taco Sal. Travis had eaten here 30 years ago when he was interning while in college. They didn’t remember him! Oddly enough, it’s across the street from the car wash featured in the TV show Breaking Bad.
We’re staying at a really cute Santa Fe B&B (Pueblo Bonito). It was originally built in 1860 as a Circuit Judge’s estate. It’s a large complex (currently has 19 rooms), which has mostly been preserved with it’s original 2 foot thick adobe walls and viga (wood beam) ceilings. The 2nd owner bought it in the early 1930s and transformed it into a small artist community. The current (and only the 3rd) owners bought it in 1973 and have been running it as a B&B for over 30 year (not sure that they started the B&B right when they bought it). They serve fantastic pork tamales at breakfast!
Friday morning we head north of Santa Fe to the Puye Cliff Dwellings. The cliffs were home to approximately 1500 Puye indians from the 900s to 1580, when they moved to a location along the Rio Grand about 10 miles away. On the mesa, there are ruins of the community homes as well as a well preserved Kiva (community meeting building) and a replica of a Puye home that was built in the early 1900s. We get to go down into the Kiva (which is mostly below ground level) where our guide tells us about the history of his ancestors. The guide is really good and is able to really convey what the lifestyle was for the Puye living during this time. They lived on the mesa top during the summer months and then would move to the cliff side dwellings during the winter months. We were on the mesa tour (they do a total of 4 different tours), but ended up having the option of climbing down the cliff face using a series of “stairs” dug into the cliff walls, as well as a 30 foot ladder in one section. The stairs where space quite far vertically, especially considering most of the Puye were well under 5ft tall. Both of us could really feel our thigh muscles over the coming days. It was a fascinating tour and we’re both glad we opted to head out of town to see it.
After we leave the cliff dwellings, we stop for water at a convenience store, which is also run by the Puye. Doug asks about potential lunch places and the clerk recommends La Cocina, in Espanola, which she points out is across from the Dollar General. We are thinking something like a taco stand, but when we get there, it’s a real restaurant and is packed. We see honey on the tables so know we’ll be getting a sopapilla with lunch and are already happy. It turns out the food is fantastic and we leave very happy.
We drive back to Santa Fe and head to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. It’s a fairly small museum (9 galleries) fully dedicated to O’Keefe. It turns out neither of us knew of any of her work outside flowers and southwest themes, but learn that she had done many other types of works throughout her career. At the start, there is a 15 minute documentary that documents her life, mostly through interviews with the artist. The museum also has an app you can download which goes into a bit of detail in each of the galleries, as well as on some specific paintings. It’s all very well done and we leaving feeling like we know and appreciate Georgia O’Keefe much better than when we arrived.
We walk to dinner at a local Italian restaurant, Andiamo. The food is excellent and it’s really nice to be able to enjoy a dinner in July sitting outside.
Saturday morning, after more excellent tamales with breakfast, we walk to the Santa Fe plaza, and go to the New Mexico History Museum. Like Texas, New Mexico has a history of lots of conflict between Spain, Mexico and the US. The museum is well done and does a great job of outlining the states history. In particular, it does a good job of describing the impact of that history on the indigenous people of New Mexico. After the museum, we hang out in the plaza for a while, but neither of us feels the need to do any shopping. We find a restaurant to eat at and while walking there, visit an outside art show, which is quite nice.
After lunch, we decide to take the free Santa Fe shuttle to head to the State Capitol. We eventually learn that we easily could have walked to the capital much faster as we have to wait almost 20 minutes for the bus and then at one stop have to get off while the drive goes inside to the restroom. We determine we’ll just drive from that point forward. Once we make it to the capital, we head in and take a look at their art collection. We had been told it was good, but we’re both surprised by how much there is and in general, how good it all is. We started with a special exhibition of quilts, which were all quite amazing. The we headed off following along hallways, all of which are lined with art. It’s everywhere and just keeps going. The state capital art commission hasn’t been around for that long, but apparently has been very successful at finding art. Much of it seems to be donated by artists themselves.
After picking up the car at the B&B, which is close by, we spend the rest of the afternoon doing drive-by tourism, although we manage to force ourselves out of the car for some ice cream.
For dinner, we both feel like we’ve had enough mexican food. We opt for an African restaurant, Jambo Cafe, which is the 3rd highest rated restaurant on Trip Advisor. It’s definitely not fancy, or in any touristy area, but we both really enjoy what we order, including our “Goats Do Roam” red blend wine.
Sunday morning, we have breakfast, then hit the road on our way to Cloudcroft. It’s a boring drive, highlighted by the worlds largest Pistachio, in Alamogordo. It was a nice short visit in Santa Fe, but perhaps visiting it in July isn’t the greatest timing, as it was pretty warm.
