The Gem of the High Desert; Santa Fe - Time Out #316

Last week I featured our recent travel experience via Southwest America's open roads and highways.

This week, I will share with you, readers in Our Town and far beyond, our 5-day stay at our trip's travel destination, Santa Fe, NM,

As previously mentioned, my bride, Lady Deborah, and I had not visited New Mexico's capital city in about a quarter century. Not sure exactly why we hadn't been able to re-visit this colorful city for such an extended period of time, but we were able to make it back recently.

For accommodations, we chose an Airbnb home to rent, our first experience with this vendor, Two months earlier, we had used the services of Airbnb's major competitor, VRBO, so now we have used both of these large vacation rental companies. I might (?) write a future installment on the general subject of assorted vacation rental possibilities.

Our beautiful adobe rental was a 2-story, 25-year-old single family home, about 5 miles west of the city's historic plaza. It had 3 west-facing outdoor decks that offered spectacular views of the city and distant mountains. It also had a hot tub, was fully furnished, and was on high-ground that was very peaceful and quiet. About the only noises we heard were assorted types of high desert birds, sitting in and among the semi-arid plants.

The entire state of New Mexico is sparsely populated, with just over 2 million people. By comparison, Our State has almost 4 million folks.

The population of Santa Fe is over 70,000; however, it seems larger, due to its significant vehicular traffic. Many of those cars and trucks are tourists, displaying license tags of most states. The center of Santa Fe activity is the iconic Plaza, highlighted by the historic Palace of the Governors. To give you insight into their history and traditions, the city celebrated its 400th birthday in 2010---Wow! The beautiful, tree-filled Plaza is anchored on the east side by the charming La Fonda on the Plaza Hotel, a 180-unit treasure. Our last city visit years ago, my bride and I stayed there, and it is ideal for it's central location and its overall ambience. This recent trip, we had a delicious lunch in their elegant La Plazuela Restaurant. We spent a couple of days, browsing through the lovely art stores in the quaint downtown area. They feature many high-end paintings and sculptures. There are certainly a few souvenir-type business establishments in the vicinity of the Plaza, but the upper end shops definitely are in the majority. We went in two of the famous downtown religious structures. The first was the awesome Loretto Chapel, featuring it's "miraculous staircase" to the chapel's choir loft. This staircase was completed in 1878, and features two 360-degree turns on a 23-foot tall staircase. It is constructed without any visible supports, using only wooden pegs. The second church we toured was the San Miguel Chapel, constructed around 1610, and thought to be our nation's oldest church. When we visited it, a small orchestra was practicing inside, and their beautiful music added significantly to the special atmosphere surrounding this historical structure.

The city center also consists of many art and history museums, along with the unique state capitol building; a large, round structure. It would be entirely possible to spend a couple of week's in Santa Fe, simply enjoying only its downtown area, because of the sheer number of attractions located in a very small area.

One day, we drove an hour northwest of the city to remote Los Alamos. In that area, we toured a couple of units of the U;S. National Park Service system. We first visited Bandelier National Monument, hidden away in the rugged mountain and mesa area of the Pajarito Plateau. I hiked and climbed into some of the cliff dwellings, inhabited by the Ancestral Puebloan community 7 to 8 centuries ago. That same day, we traveled into the town of Los Alamos, population 12,000, and we walked around the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. In 1943 during World War II, our government secretly selected obscure Los Alamos as one of three U.S. sites (The Manhattan Project) to develop the atomic bomb. In early August, 1945, President Harry S. Truman elected to drop these incredible bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Lady Debbie and I visited ground zero at the Nagasaki Peace Park and Museum several years ago. It is an experience we will always remember.

The weather, people-watching, and Mexican food were all excellent during our Santa Fe stay. Their area restaurants have an international reputation of offering a wide range of delicious food, with a distinctive Southwestern flare. Yes, we took full advantage of that dining opportunity, and the entire 5-day experience will probably lead us back to Santa Fe much sooner than later. It is certainly a special city.