New Mexico with Donna and Dick!!!

 

In July 2023 we had the GREAT pleasure of joining our good friends Dick and Donna in New Mexico!!!!  We spent a week exploring this amazing state with these two travelers.  We met Dick and Donna on our transatlantic cruise in 2014 and have remained great friends with them.  We share their great love of travel and friendship.  I am sure you recognize them from several posts on this blog!!!

We had such a great time exploring Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Taos and parts between with these two.  This is our story of our adventure in the Land of Enchantment!

Albuquerque

We met in the Albuquerque airport, having flown from separate cities.  It had been just over a year since we last saw them, so we were really excited!!  After checking into our hotel, we decided on dinner at Sadies new Mexican restaurant.  Excellent food, huge portions (too big, actually), and a realization we were not in California any more🤣.  We had to Google so much on the menu.  Foods we never heard of: sopapilla, a fried dough that is stuffed with many different items, or with honey- delicious!!  and Calabacitas, a zuchini dish.  We also learned their spicy is different from CA spicy- LOL.  Further in our trip, we also learned their tacos are much different than CA's.  Where CA carne asada is bbq'd and great with charred edges, theirs is much softer and seeping in a liquid.  Since we were not used to it, we were happy we tried it, but did prefer the CA style.  Their salsa's come in red or green, or Christmas if you want both.

Waking up, we went to explore Albuquerque, starting with the Albuquerque museum (https://www.cabq.gov/artsculture/albuquerque-museum).  Fantastic museum with art and sculpture- really recommend it!!!  On the outside, there is a very expansive sculpture of the history of NM from conquistadores to native peoples to wagon trains.  Inside is some really great art from NM artists:

From there, we visited the old town Plaza and San Francisco cathedral.

On our way to Santa Fe, we stopped at the Los Poblanos lavender farm for a quick tour and, of course, a drink

A cool old tree trunk!

Santa Fe

First, Santa Fe is BEAUTIFUL!!!  It's a very walkable, compact city with art galleries and restaurants everywhere!!  We loved it!!!!  Our favorite restaurant was Pasqual's (https://pasquals.com/).  So good we ate there twice- because the mole' enchiladas were amazing!! Although Dick and Donna had a lunch at Oaxco restaurant and said their mole' was even better!  Margaritas on the roof top bar of the La Fonda hotel to see the sunset was amazing- as was the interior of the hotel and their restauant!

In Santa Fe we took a ghost tour with Ken of Old Santa Fe walking tours (https://oldsantafewalkingtours.com/)- one of the best ghost tours I have ever taken- he combined history with folklore and ghost sightings! It was fantastic! 

Our group: Rich, Dick, Ken and this nice young woman from Denmark!

The Cathedral of Saint Francis (https://www.cbsfa.org/) is an amazing church in the heart of Santa Fe!  The grounds are as beautiful as the interior!

  

Sunset margaritas at the roof top bar of the La Fonda hotel was one of our favorites!!!  New Mexico has amazing sunsets!

We visited Los Pecos (https://www.nps.gov/places/pecos-national-historical-park.htm) a national park and abandoned adobe.  It is about 20 miles from Santa Fe.  We rented a car for the trip so it wasn't a problem.  I do not know if there is public transportation to the site.

The Georgia O'Keefe museum (https://okeeffemuseum.org/) was excellent!  Gave a good overview of her life and her different styles of painting as she progressed in her artistic creativity.

We took a tour of the state capitol (https://www.nmlegis.gov/).  Francesca our guide is a legislative intern and did a fantastic job of giving us the history of the capitol and of the 600 art pieces in the capitol!   

The state motto: it grows as it goes

Francesca

The one weird thing we did was go to the Meow Wolf museum!!!  (https://meowwolf.com/about).  This is an absolutely fun and interesting place to see!!!  Santa Fe's is 70 rooms over 2 stories, with each room developed by a different artist!!  It is interactive, colorful, bright lights, interesting!  You travel room to room by hidden doorways, through the refrigerator, through the washing machine, under a fire place, or through ladders!  it was amazing!!!!  Staff said there are 3 in the US, the other two in Las Vegas and Denver.  They said the Denver location is 4 times as big!!!  Many of the staff said they had been there and loved it.

 

One place Donna the Intrepid found that we loved was the Tesuque (Native) market (https://tesuquevillagemarket.com/), complete with a fantastic restaurant!!  It's about 5 miles outside Santa Fe, but so worth a see, either for lunch or dinner!

a notice in the bathroom- LOL.  the entire bathroom was walpapered with this patter.

What is Santa Fe- ART!  There are so many galleries, so many areas to wander and see art!  One area we loved was Canyon Road- a street approximately 3/4 mile long with over 100 galleries!  Plus, its beautiful!!!

Santa Fe is all about the art!  These are just a few samples of what you would see.  but trust me, it's all fantastic!  And the people- all of them- were so very welcoming!    And now for our side trips to Los Alamos (site of the development of our nuclear program) and Taos, another fantastic city to explore!

Los Alamos!  

Home of the development of The bomb!

Los Alamos (https://visitlosalamos.org/heritage) is just under an hour's drive from Santa Fe, but the vistas are amazing!!!  The number of buttes, the blue skies, the clouds!  It is a magnificent drive!  The city is small, however, the historic area that preserves remnants of the Project are very well set up.  A series of museums to the project and to the cold war, and the Bradbury museum on the campus of the University (Norris Bradbury, NOT Ray Bradbury- LOL.  we actually made that mistake- LOL).  The area is a National Park, so you can get a stamp in your National Park Passport!!  Free to see and roam, though.

As you enter the park, there is a statue of Oppenheimer and General Groves, complete on a star pedestal with a cool plaque:

From here, you walk through a courtyard to the Fuller House, which was part of the boys school before the project.  It is totally worth walking through, but every picture I have is boring.  Better to check it on line.  The walkthrough is VERY fast.

From here, you walk to the Los Alamos history museum, which provides good history of the town before the project, during the project, and after the project through a video and dioramas, with some historical items on display.

Oppenheimer's house is still in existence, but it needs too much work to be open the public:

There is another museum of the cold war that is quite interesting.  it includes so many quotes and news items from my own youth.  It brings the reality of age right to the front of the brain

The Bradbury Museum (https://www.lanl.gov/museum/index.php) is just a couple blocks down on the campus of the University.  It's a fantastic interactive, science=oriented museum!!!  If I was 12, I would never leave!!!  It includes 2 20 minute videos, one of the making and deployment of the bomb and one on what they are currently working on.  Amazing!  But we went to see the bombs- LOL

Dick and I at a model of Fat Man (Nagasaki_

Me at a model of Thin Boy (Hiroshima_

A model of "the gadget"- the model bomb

 

Taos

Taos is about 1 1/2 hours from Santa Fe, also through incredible scenery and vistas, but also slow= construction and the one or two lane road goes through towns.  But it's fine= you're on vacation🌝.  So first, we thought Taos was a bit run down looking.  Lots of peeling adobe, need for repairs and clean up.  That said, it's packed with sights!!!!

The Taos Pueblo (https://taospueblo.com/), a Native community that has been, and is, continuously occupied for over 1000 years (yes, one thousand years!!) provides independent or guided tours through the community and it's history and culture.  Take the guided tour!!!!  it's free (but tip big, they are volunteers).  OUr guide Kyrie is a recent college graduate.  she lives here part time with relatives; however, the family has a home with electricity and gas in the city (there is no electricity in the pueblo).

Interior of the Saint Francis church

Exterior of the St. Francis church

Kyrie, our guide- so excellent!

City of Taos- Kit Carson museum (http://kitcarsonmuseum.org/).  The Kit Carson historic museum is located in his home in Taos center.  it is a private museum and the property requires a great deal of work.  We spoke with the owner, and he is working to secure historic site funding.  I will tell you= it is filled with all kinds of cool stuff!!!  And it is his home!

   

Lunch at Orlando's (https://www.facebook.com/OrlandosNewMexicanCafe/) came highly recommended to us, and it was delicious!!!  New Mexican cuisine- so worth the stop if you are in Taos!

St Francis of Assisi church, Taos (https://taos.org/places/san-francisco-de-asis-church/).  The lady at the visitors center told us to check this church out!  From the road, you only see the back- a large blank adobe building- lol,  but from the front, its quite beautiful.  It closed at, so we were not able to go inside. 

the back- what you see from the road

Black Mesa Winery (https://www.blackmesawinery.com/).  Did you know New Mexico grew grapes?  That they have wineries?????  I sure didn't!  But passing it, we just had to try it out!!!  Below is a list of the wines they make, with several acres on site!  The owner said grapes are more prevalent down in southern NM. Who knew!!  So Dick and I each chose 5 wines to try.  I ended up buying the Montepulcino!

And that concludes our trip to New Mexico!  This state truly is the Land of Enchantment with its beautiful vistas, cultural mixes, food, cities and towns with so many things to offer, and of course, the incredibly friendly people!!!  To the last, they were welcoming and kind!!!  To close, I want to give you information on the meaning of the NM symbol.  There are 4 lines each top and bottom, left and right.  They are for the 4 directions: north, south, east and west; the 4 seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter; the periods of the day: sunrise, noon, sunset, and night; and the 4 stages of life: childhood, youth, middle years, and old age.