Our 1st stop was the local farmer's market in downtown Santa Fe. Most merchants were selling organic veggies and especially all varieties of peppers. We are learning to really enjoy grilling them with Ken preferring the hot and I like the milder ones.
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| Peppers, peppers everywhere! |
From there we drove into the Plaza Area and the hardest thing was trying to figure out how to park for over 2 hours. All of the meters would take quarters or a credit card for 2 hours but that was their limit. Well, we wanted to do some sightseeing before getting on the Clarice Trolley Tour and even the meter man said just put in extra quarters and it will give you more time - NOT! It just ate our quarters. So, we walked around for about 45 minutes and then went back and put in additional quarters.
Tony was our driver on the 1 1/2 hour ride around the city and he did an excellent job. We learned a lot about the history of the area and what is going on in the present. The city of Santa Fe, which means Holy Faith, is 400+ years old and is the oldest Capitol in the US. It is located at 7,000 feet elevation in the Sangre de Cristos foothills at the southern tip of Rocky Mountains. It also is the #1 city for clean air in the US. There are more than 200 World Class Art Galleries in the city and believe it or not the motion picture industry is very big here with over 200 million dollars of revenue each year! Many well known stars live near Santa Fe - Shirley MacLaine, the late Paul Newman, Ali McGraw, Carol Burnett, etc.
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| Since 1922, all the buildings constructed in Santa Fe can not be over 4 stories and have to be the Pueblo Revival Style or Territorial Style! The Sotheby's building is Pueblo Revival with step backs and rounded corners. The other one with the brick trim around the roof and square corners is the Territorial Style. |
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| Masonic Lodge in Santa Fe. Kit Carson was a member! |
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| Osteria Italian Restaurant in Santa Fe is frequented weekly by Shirley MacLaine! Note the luminaries on the roof. At Christmas time luminaries are on the rooftop ledges of most of the buildings in the city! It must be breathtaking! |
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| This is the Convention Center. |
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| During the tour we only made one stop at a circle of beautiful art galleries. This one was my favorite where there were bronze statues of children. |
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| They were adorable..... |
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| ....and so unique! |
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| Might be called a "bookworm"! |
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| This fountain was so amazing.... |
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| ...as well as this one which used a "2 pour method" giving the dimension and color to the very detailed sculpture! |
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| A park like setting for these metal spinners! |
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| This is Canyon Road that is lined with so many galleries! Santa Fe is next to New York and Paris in art sales! |
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| Galleries, galleries, everywhere! |
After the tour we put more quarters in the parking meter, ate our packed lunch in the park in the Plaza and went to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi again because today we could actually go inside! It was amazing and much larger than expected!
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| The La Fonda Hotel dates back 400 years! |
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| Another photo of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi! |
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| Such an ornate interior! |
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| This is life size! |
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| Looking to the back of the Cathedral. |
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| St. Francis! |
After leaving town we decided to drive to the upper part of Santa Fe and check out the larger homes, some in gated communities. Supposedly that is where some of the "stars" live. When on the tour, Tony told us that during the down turn of the housing market some new condos in downtown Santa Fe (not overly large) sold for $800,000. to 1 million dollars. I can't begin to imagine how expensive these homes might be!
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| These homes were sprawling and nestled in the mountainside! |
We stopped at Sprouts Market on the way back to the CG at the recommendation of Suzanne Balmer. What a fantastic place to buy fruits and veggies at such reasonable prices!
We spent the late afternoon and evening getting ready for our departure tomorrow. Cortez, here we come!
Also talked to Ernie and Noela today and they took their 5th Wheel back to the repairman and he (really Noela had it figured out!) found the leak around the roof air conditioner unit. So, they are leaving home tomorrow and heading towards Arches National Park where we will meet them on Monday if all goes according to plan. We are excited!!!
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