Santa Fe, New Mexico

Cactus, New Mexico
Cactus, New Mexico

A recent trip to Albuquerque led us onward to Santa Fe even though we’d heard so many negative things about it, i.e. it’s expensive, the people are snooty, you’ll get sick from the altitude, etc.

Santa Fe is about an hour from Albuquerque via car.  We made sure we had plenty of water to keep us hydrated as that’s one of the reasons we’ve read that people get sick when heading to higher altitudes.

Our destination in Santa Fe was the street called Canyon Road which has many local artists and shops.  We arrived early and parked in the public parking lot although the parking pay station didn’t want to take our Chase Sapphire Visa Card because it was too thick. Weird, huh?  We wound up having to use one of our other credit cards.

We arrived just as the stores were opening so the streets were almost bare.  Although there were a few clouds, it was a beautiful day for strolling.

Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico

The absolute best store I walked into was Luca Decor Contemporary Art.  I immediately fell in love with the handmade wooden spinners.  Each one is made to order so you can pick your colors.  They are just a tad pricy though ~ okay, the truth is, they are more than a tad pricy, they are pricy.  They come in different sizes but at $900 and up … well, I’ll have to wait to see if one is gifted to me.  Yeah, right.

Luca Decor Contemporary Art, Santa Fe
Wood Spinners, Luca Decor Contemporary Art, Santa Fe

We saw a statue of a huge horse head.  It didn’t seem interesting to me until I thought about how long it took the artist to make it.  Then it had a WOW factor.

Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Large Horse Head, Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico

We bumped into a local artist who was quite chatty and did his best to sell us one of his paintings. His smooth “how much would you pay for it if you were going to buy it?” made us smile.

Canyon Road Local Artist, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Canyon Road Local Artist, Santa Fe, New Mexico

The one thing I found really interesting about Canyon Road is that there are no public restrooms.  One shop owner had a sign that said “Restroom” and when I asked to use it I was told it wasn’t for the public.  Uh, okay.

So, we went into a cafe in town called the Teahouse, sat down and had a scrumptious breakfast ~ just so we could use the restroom.  To top off the strangeness of Canyon Road having only one restroom, the Teahouse had ONE restroom for both men and women.  It’s quite a disappointment to only have one restroom in this famous area.

Having said that, I was glad we stopped in because I had a very unique “oatmeal.” It was gluten- free oats, buckwheat groats & forbidden rice, served with maple cream & whipped cream.  I had asked the waitress to forgo the whipped cream but she assured me I wanted it and had it served on the side.  It was the best whipped cream I’ve ever had ~ very light with just a hint of sweetness.

Teahouse Oatmeal, Santa Fe
Teahouse Oatmeal, Santa Fe

After we finished our “snack,” a gentleman came to our table and asked us how we liked our breakfast.  We told him it was great and then found out that he was the owner of the Teahouse.  He was really really nice and this gesture added sweetness to the visit here.  (We found no snooty people here …)

As the afternoon drew near, it started to get chilly so we headed downtown to a glass shop called Liquid Light Glass where we learned how they make glass chilis.

 

 

 

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