Santa Fe, NM

We started our September trip by flying to Albuquerque NM. After a day there we traveled an hour up the Interstate 25 to Santa Fe. If you want an interesting visit to a very old yet modern town, go to Santa Fe. Some of the shops were well beyond our credit card limits, but the town as a whole is a terrific combination of old (one of the oldest capital in North America) as well as  modern in the many art centers and shops.

We arrived the day of the town's annual festival (Fiestas de Santa Fe). Included in this festival is the Zozobra burning (very interesting video). People everywhere. Lots of street vendors too. Most of the residents were of Mexican descent. The building on the left is the original government building reaching back at least 300 years. Inside it's a museum (well worth the time to tour too). Outside local Indians sold their wares. 

To the right is the town square (below too). This is a pleasant town. Life may not be all that easy but you can't tell it by the people - both residents and visitors seemed to be relaxed.  

We stayed at Garrett's Desert Inn in the heart of the city. We highly recommend it for price and location. Downtown is only a couple of blocks away and an easy walk. (Most of the other modern motels are on the outskirts of town and about 15 minutes of driving away. Parking downtown is at a premium too. The city has several parking garages that are so well camouflaged in adobe style exterior that I didn't recognize them. The front of the motel lot is roped off to keep non-customers out.) This was a 1950s motel that had been modernized maybe once. Still, it worked out well for us. The land alone must be worth a ton.

The city parade was almost entirely people of Mexican descent. Horses, wagons, and lots of trucks made up the field. A number of princesses and school groups also marched. Our vantage was on a corner location just a block from the Georgia O'Keeffe art museum. In that sense downtown Santa Fe is quite compact. (Video) Notice the riders are wearing Spanish Conquistador helmets. I kept hearing "Viva", which was referring to Viva La Fiesta - "a curious blend of thanksgiving, revelry and pride in the hearts of Santa Feans who celebrate Fiesta annually to commemorate Don Diego De Vargas’ peaceful reoccupation of the City of Holy Faith in 1692."

One venue we thought interesting was the The Crosby Theater (opera) located on the outskirts of the city (route 285/84). This is quite a site and worth a look. You approach it using a frontage road that also turns off into what I would characterize as very high-end homes.

The city park (the band stand above was on one side) had a pleasant feeling. One fellow was playing the guitar (with amplifier) along with a partner on accompaniment. With the pleasant weather it was easy to just park on a bench and take it all in. 

The dancers on the bandstand were celebrating Mexican-American culture with traditional dance routines (like the ones we saw on TV as youngsters in the 50s). An announcer kept the patter up. All the dancers in this picture were American. The women wore traditional Spanish hair styles (long hair pulled into a bun).

I'm standing in front of what looks like a simple structure. Actually it's an upscale hotel. There were several downtown like this. The adobe style concealed a rather elegant interior. 

The Catholic Church influence is still important for much of the population. Below is one of the oldest churches in the city (as well as the country) Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

Interior decor is colorful and imposing. (Video)

A group makes it's way to the church.

For train aficionados this looks interesting. The route is from Santa Fe to Albuquerque.