Santa Fe, New Mexico: The Sky is Calling
Santa Fe is well known for its burnt sienna and buff-colored ridges, cliffs, canyons, moonscape desert and balmy heat waves. All good, but it’s the sky that will knock you over.
The license plates here would say “Big Sky Country” if Montana hadn’t already taken it. This big blue bowl with luminous white clouds is so huge you can see whole weather systems come and go. Once you ascend up in altitude, the movements of the sky begin to play with the land, painting giant abstracts for the eye. Then there’s the wind, so insistent that you’re sure it’s a mystical call from another world.
For years artistic souls have come here to paint or write. Thousands travel here to enhance their spiritual side. Native Americans consider New Mexico the holiest place.
My husband Mike and I began our road trip at about 5,000 feet in Albuquerque and climbed to 7,000 during the 90 minute drive to Santa Fe. We’re definitely not in Kansas any more. Same goes for our home in California.
It only took one day in New Mexico before Mike (a film professor and a huge fan of Westerns) started offering up historic detail of the wagon trains, the Santa Fe trail, the U.S. Mail treks across the unsettled West and of course, the thrilling lawlessness of the barely-settled territories.
New Mexico was called the Wild West for a reason and even today the mix of cultures has a story to tell. While the rest of the cultured country was busy with its abiding by social mores, the West was being settled by people who didn’t play by the rules. Native Americans, Mexicans, Spaniards and colony settlers all left their footprints here for today’s tourists to discover.
The poet Albert Camus believed we do not travel to stay safe, rather to shock the soul into seeing anew.
“What gives value to travel is fear…we are feverish but also porous…the slightest touch makes us quiver to the depths of our being. We come across a cascade of light, and there is eternity…”.
In Santa Fe we went local and decided to dine at La Choza. The spices in a simple plate of chicken enchiladas or chiles rellenos will wow the senses, the margaritas will please, and the tortillas will melt in your mouth. The winner for us was the traditional pozole, made with dried and boiled corn into a broth of sautéed red or green chilies and meat sauce.
Downtown the next day, we took in the broad carved doors of Our Lady of Guadalupe church that our friend Thayer Carter carved, then off to the Museum of Native American Contemporary Art followed by the Georgia O’Keeffe museum. The art was a mixture of traditional native and contemporary, all loaded with history. A walk along the square brings you to rows of local Native American jewelers sitting on their blankets full of silver treasures for sale. We stopped half way through the day at the Luxury Hotel Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi for drinks and a quick snack of guacamole.
I suggest you book a car at the airport for it’s your only means of exploring the surrounds and experiencing The High Road Scenic Byway through authentic remnants of Old Spain. Every ten miles there is another small settlement complete with historical sites like a church, a few run-down buildings, and always, lovely galleries. See the plaza at Nambe, stop at the Santuario (built in the early 1800’s), and find Cordova’s woodcarvers. Frommer’s has an excellent step by step guide. Be sure to stop in Truchas and the Cardona-Hine Gallery in Trampas. Meet the lovely owner/artists and delight in their abstracts and magically colored landscapes.
Once you get to Taos, splurge a little for a meal at Lambert’s. My husband’s enchiladas were flavored with a warmer version of cloves called carribe that brought the pork flavors to life. Wander from gallery to gallery and enjoy the landscape as there’s everything you could want here artistically. Our favorites were the Orenstone Delattre Fine Art Gallery and the Inger Jirby Gallery. Later, we ate at the famous Doc Martin’s in the Taos Inn, but we weren’t impressed. The Wagner Casitas are a delightful and authentic place to stay.
On Day three we packed the bicycles and drove to Santa Fe with longtime local friends. There’s a great bike trail bordering the botanical gardens called the Bosque Trail. Driving back to Albuquerque on the old Route 66 we stopped at the authentic Barela’s on 4th Street for some terrific green posole. Our cycling was blessed by early June hot sun, warm but not yet blasting.
Day four we took the car and headed about an hour north to Abiquiu. Our plan was to find artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch where she lived from 1949 until shortly before her death in 1986 at age 98. Tired and a bit lost we were thinking of turning back when we met two lovely people from Marin County who implored us not to miss the scenic beauty of Ghost Ranch. Little did we know how lucky we were to meet fellow Californians as the locals delight in giving out wrong directions to this place.
Passing by a drying lake and then turning into the ranch it was instantly obvious why O’Keeffe chose to live out her life here. We saw and felt the magic of the cliffs in their otherworldly orange, yellow and violet hues as well as the ever changing textures and shapes painted by the sun.
On day five we drove to the Rio Grande, stood on the bridge, and took in the gorge that historically marks so much of our American West lore. Next stop was a former Native American sacred spot, now the Ojo Caliente Resort and Spa, where we soaked our tired bones in the arsenic, soda, and iron hot mineral pools. Now bliss-ed out, we had a great meal at the Artisan Restaurant. Don’t miss the deep fried green chilies, the trout with garlic and pine nut paste and the light as air fried spinach. The resort had lovely, reasonably priced rooms where we spent the night.
Day six we were once again in the car, headed to Bandolier National Park, home to Native American cave dwellers for some four hundred years. It’s a nice hike up to the caves. Crawling inside you can see and touch the cave’s wall carvings. Farther up the path from the caves is a great view of the canyon.
On day seven we ventured north to El Valle, where our new friends have built a small custom cabin. Northern New Mexico begins to feel like California, greening up and rising into smooth, rolling hills, with pine trees and a lush higher altitude landscape. After a hike on the land, a walk in the creek and an outdoor meal, we were in love with the place.
On our final day we trekked to the shops and galleries of Canyon Road, the incomparable arts-centric neighborhood around downtown Santa Fe. A nice walk from the square, Canyon Road has the hipster arts scene. Much of the work is still quite affordable. We went home with boxes of art objects and quite a few pieces to frame.
Once again in the La Choza bar, we both agreed the spectacular heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico is something beyond its incredible art, beyond it’s culturally rich history. In Santa Fe, the sky is calling with promises of spiritual and sensual pleasure to last for days to come.
Eat:
El Farol, Santa Fe
808 Canyon Rd Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 983-9912
www.elfarolsf.com
La Choza, Santa Fe
905 Alarid St, Santa Fe, NM
(505) 982-0909
Pranza
540 Montezuma Ave
Santa Fe, NM
(505) 984-2645
www.pranzosantafe.com
Ojo Caliente Artisan Restaurant
50 Los Banos Dr
Ojo Caliente, NM 87549
(505) 583-2233
www.ojospa.com
Black Mesa Winery
1502 Highway 68
Mile Marker 15
Velarde, New Mexico 87582
1-800-852-6372
www.blackmesawinery.com
Lambert, Taos
123 Bent Street
Taos, New Mexico
575.758.1009
www.taosrestaurantgroup.com/lamberts_of_taos
Café Grecco
233 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 820-7996
Stay:
Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi
Santa Fe, NM
www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/innoftheanasazi
Hacienda del Sol
109 Mabel Dodge Ln
Taos, NM 87571
1-866-333-4459
575-758-0287
stay@taoshaciendadelsol.com
Wagner Casitas
Taos
www.taosterritorial.com/history_wagner_b.html
Inger Jirby Casitasm
Taos
adobe rooms next to Inger’s gallery
www.jirby.com
Ojo Caliente Inn
50 Los Banos Dr
Ojo Caliente, NM 87549
(505) 583-2233
www.ojospa.com
Ten Thousand Waves resort and retreat
3451 Hyde Park Rd
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 982-9304
https://www.tenthousandwaves.com
A Word of Warning:
Make sure to take photos before and after use of your rental car and get your customer service rep to sign your damage sheet before you leave the lot.
We had an unfortunate encounter with the Albuquerque Advantage Car Rental regarding a damage dispute. I recommend Enterprise Rentals, they will pick you up and drop you off, no extra charge.
