Adobe and Hollyhocks- Santa Fe
New Mexico has a special place in my heart having grown up in nearby Colorado. My grandmother resided in Farmington for spell, and I also spent a magical week with a friend’s family on their ranch in Dulce (near Chama) when I was a girl. New Mexico is alive with historical traditions from convergent cultures in a perfect mash up with surprising beauty. The result is an inspiring landscape, a cuisine all to its own and a place where artists go and live for inspiration. My last visit to New Mexico was in college with my mom. We stayed in Taos and had a much needed weekend of chatting with artists, walking the festive plaza and having a lovely dinner at the Apple Tree (which has since closed). We took a day drive to Santa Fe but that was the extent of the time I had spent in the town previously.
On this visit we settled in Santa Fe at the La Posada de Santa Fe. The hotel itself has historical significance, and the historical building has become the bar and lounge for the hotel and has been expanded around and modernized. The hotel itself is adobe like much of the architecture within Santa Fe. The rooms have kiva fireplaces and timber ceilings heartening back to an uncomplicated design and time that inspire stillness and reflection.
On our first full day we drove to the Rio Grande Gorge after a glorious green chile smothered breakfast at Café Pasqual’s. We walked across the bridge. The gorge is deep, and the river is long and has been carving this canyon for eons. The view was spectacular and at times dizzying (I enjoyed the handrails). We drove through Taos, stopped in art galleries, and walked the plaza. The drive back to Santa Fe was fun with beautiful red stone outcroppings and a river that seemed to follow us along our journey.
We arrived back at our hotel in time for an artist’s talk with Sara Eyestone, the curator of art for the hotel. She has been piecing together the history of the hotel and the area for a book. Her sources of information are old letters and historical knowledge. She gave a colorful history of the hotel, her childhood and starting her art journey (and time that she talked her mom into painting in the garden in Santa Fe). The hotel and area history stories were also wonderful from the merchants who settled in the area, the history of the railroad, and the wild west all around Santa Fe.
We finished our day dining where we had our favorite meal at Radish and Rye, a mix of olive-green velvet, and concrete mixing high end bourbons, southern inspired menu mixed with green chilies in a way that felt like a hug. The fried green tomato with pimento cheese was like nothing I had ever imagined and so delicious. The polenta was creamy and the perfect base for protein, and we spoiled ourselves and any other old-fashioned cocktail we will have in the future by indulging in Blanton’s Old Fashioned. We are ruined!
Our next day in Santa Fe we enjoyed the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. The audio tour added context to her work and the museum was a nice snapshot of her life and her development as an artist and infatuation with New Mexico. We decided to stroll the plaza of Santa Fe after the museum and enjoy the local artist set up on the plaza, the fun stores, and the car show going on in the plaza which was a Lowrider Car Show. We saw glittery cars in every color close to the ground and configured to pulse to the beats. It was festive. We enjoyed a great lunch at Plaza Café that featured blue corn enchiladas, fish tacos, and of course red or green chiles on anything you like.
On our last full day in the area, we drove to Chaco Canyon via Abiquiu home to Georgia O’Keefe during her later years. The drive was beautiful, filled with red hills and mountains dotted with seeded sage and incredibly scenic. It was easy to see why Georgia O’Keefe settled in Abiquiu as a source of inspiration from the environment around her. We stopped for a roadside breakfast at Bode’s General Store. In addition to anything you might need for your ranching feed supplies, or groceries, they sold homemade burritos and the most beautiful fruit pies! I was delighted to see the staff pinching the crusts in the kitchen. In Abiquiu we took a turn south toward Chaco Canyon and passed a scenic view of the reservoir and more beautiful scenery.
The road to Chaco Canyon is unpaved and worn. It is a bit of a winding slow drive but worth the time that it takes to get there is you enjoy learning about ancient civilizations. Chaco Canyon, home to Pueblo Bonito (the primary structure) which was unearthed in seven different expeditions starting in 1920. Once occupied by the Ancestral Puebloan people it was restored in part so you can see the structure of the buildings, and civilization. The people who once lived there lived using astronomical guidance and cycles and I read later that it was a matrilineal society. Symbolic circles, linked rooms, spirals, and other animals were a part of the culture and symbols that we saw at the sight. The windows were ever-present throughout the ruins and seemed to highlight things, scenery, and a sense of space.
