Santa Fe

This past weekend CP and I jetted off to Santa Fe, NM for our five year anniversary celebration trip. I originally had suggested just driving somewhere within 4 hours of our house for a weekend, but CP realized that he had airline miles and hotel points so he suggested NM. I have been wanting to go to NM for a while and we didn't have the time to go when we lived in Denver, so I was happy he suggested the destination. 

Fun fact, now that I have been to NM, that knocks another state visited off my list! I am only missing ND, SD, MT, ID, OR, WA and (I think) OK. I will get into the Pacific Northwest at some point. That is definitely a priority!

We arrived Thursday night and luckily found a restaurant still open for dinner at 10pm at night (Elevation Bistro).  It was delicious and due to the 7200+ altitude in Santa Fe, my one glass of wine hit me pretty quickly.

Friday we decided to start the day off with a walking tour of Santa Fe to get our bearings. We learned about the architecture and arts scene in Santa Fe, went into the room that was the gateway for the Los Alamos complex (aka the Manhattan Project), and we went into a few churches. (We ended up buying the book 109 East Palace  to learn more about Los Alamos. CP has it in Mississippi on his current trip and will be taking it to Thailand this weekend...hopefully I get a crack at it soon.)

Learning about the architecture of the New Mexico Museum of Art

Outside of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

Admiring the beautiful painted arches in the church

The "miracle staircase" in Loretto Chapel

After the tour it was suggested that we go to lunch at The Shed, so we headed over there for delicious margaritas (and I usually don't like margaritas) and food. Afterwards we hit up the Georgia O'Keefe museum which was a mistake. I would not recommend a trip there. We walked around the city a little and then headed up to Canyon Road, a road with galleries on either side of the road for what seems like forever. There is quite a mix of landscapes, modern art, sculptures, mixed media, etc. so it was like going into a lot of small art museums. After a seven mile run the day before and tons of walking in the altitude, my legs were starting to really hurt so we decided to go for a less expensive meal at El Paseo Bar & Grill. Too bad the Yelp stars were unwarranted- it was our only bad meal of the weekend. We ended up going home and passing out by 9:30pm after watching the World Series!

Saturday we woke up and ate breakfast at Cafe Pasqual's, a famous restaurant in Santa Fe. It was well worth it. We then had a busy day at the New Mexico History museum, shopped a bit at the Palace of the Governors, visited Nedra Matteucci Galleries (a large gallery with some works of art selling for over $200,000!), did a wine tasting at Vino del Corazon, then headed up to Bell Tower Bar for great views of the city. We finished the day with our anniversary dinner at Coyote Cafe which was amazing.

Palace of the Governors. The oldest continuously occupied public building in the US. Every day American Indians from the pueblos come to sell jewelry and other handmade items underneath the overhang.

Los Alamos room in the New Mexico History Museum

Outdoor garden at Nedra Matteucci Galleries

One of the amazing, but ridiculous sculptures at the Nedra Matteucci Gallery. Can you imagine putting this in your backyard?

Wine tasting in downtown Santa Fe (we didn't have a car so this was the only winery within walking distance)

View from the Bell Tower Bar

After our fantastic dinner we went back to the hotel and had a drink at the hotel bar while watching the World Series.

Sunday morning we knew we didn't have a lot of time before our flight so we had a great breakfast at the Plaza Cafe before heading back to our room to pack up and head to the airport. I already miss the mountains...

Goodbye Santa Fe!

I know that CP is sick of traveling but I'm glad that I pushed for this trip. We both love Izzy and are so excited that she is here, but I think that it is healthy for parents to get some time away from their child. Especially with CP traveling so much it's not like I get to see him that much these days as it is- so to have three whole days of just us was nice. I can't imagine that this is something that we would do every year, but I am excited that we were able to get away while Izzy got some special time with her grandparents.