Sights, Sounds, & Colors of Santa Fe New Mexico

(Santa Fe New Mexico) 62 degrees, clear blue skies

Sculpture on Canyon Road

We have spent the past three days in Santa Fe New Mexico.  This ancient city just celebrated it's 400th anniversary and is rich in history, art museums, adobe buildings, and unique shopping.  We are staying at the Trailer Ranch RV Resort which is southwest of the downtown.  It is expensive ($42 a night for full hook ups) but the location is ideal and it is right on the bus line.  For $2/person we road  the bus making unlimited stops each day.  Parking is hard to find downtown and the roads are difficult to navigate. 

The first day we spent touring two of the famous art museums (Georgia O'Keeffe and Museum of Fine Arts).  We coordinated our visits to take advantage of a docent tour at each one.  You can really learn a lot during one of these tours and there is no additional cost. 

The second day we explored some of the churches and shops in the Plaza.  We had a great lunch at Cafe Pasqual's

Our last day was spent walking down Canyon Road.  It is a pretty street lined with over a hundred art galleries, studios, and beautiful adobe homes. 

Adobe home on Upper Canyon Road

Art gallery

The Plaza is a great place to start your visit.  Most of the hotels, shops, and restaurants are located around this area.   

Plaza

Street performers

Native Americans sell their art work and jewelry at one end of the Plaza.  Prices were a little more expensive than what we had seen in Sedona, however, there was a wide variety and the workmanship appeared to be very good. 

Visiting the Georgia O'Keeffe museum was the main reason why I wanted to visit Santa Fe .  This museum owns over one half of all her work.   Only a small amount is displayed and its changed three times a year.  Admission is $9/person ($6 military discount).  There are two movies that were very interesting and a small gift shop.  I love her art work.  It is very simple in design, large in scale, and sometimes a painting is just of a leaf or flower.  She loved New Mexico and creating images that displayed “the wideness and wonder of the world as I live in it.”

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

We also enjoyed the Museum of Fine Arts.  The building is worth seeing just by itself   It was built in 1917 specifically as a museum to display southwest art.  There is also a beautiful auditorium for performing arts and lectures.  Admission is $9/person and there were some beautiful, traditional paintings, and some modern art featuring local artists. 

Museum of Fine Arts

Courtyard inside Museum of Fine Arts

 

St. Francis Cathedral Basilica (1886)

Near the plaza area there are several beautiful churches.  The Loretto Chapel (1878) has a lovely spiral staircase inside that was used for over 100 years.  It was built so that the choir could access the loft.  Prior to the staircase they used ladders.   It has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support.  Legend says the nuns prayed for help in building the staircase.  On the ninth day an unknown  carpenter appeared, built the staircase and then disappeared without a trace. 

Loretto Chapel

Staircase

The oldest active church is located here.  It was built for the Tiaxcalan Indians in 1610 by the Franciscan missionaries.  It is very beautiful and is currently under renovation.  

San Miguel Chapel

 

Beautiful art work and shops abound.  You could spend weeks going in and out of the many shops and galleries.  Here are a few examples.  

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we continue our journey as we head to New York for the summer.