After two lovely nights in Taos, we hit the road for Santa Fe. This time US 64 took us over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which depending upon the Internet site consulted, is either 650 feet or 565 feet above that river. Some visitors choose to walk and admire the gorge from the span; we chose the park on the far side to stroll and gawk.
I think of my mother when I’m in the desert, because she didn’t like them. (Too flat? Too hot? Too much sky? I’ve no idea.)
I’d like to think that she would have changed her mind had she ever strolled through this one: vast, sunny, big skies.
We arrived in Santa Fe just in time to see “A Quiet Place 2” and then to check-in at La Fonda on the plaza.
On previous visits to Santa Fe, we used the bathrooms in La Fonda hotel as they were convenient and nobody seemed to mind. This time, we booked a room for two nights and enjoyed the place fully. We slept there. We wandered through the hotel shops. We explored the nooks and crannies — sitting rooms, balcony views. We strolled the nearby plaza. We ate southwestern food in the hotel restaurant and enjoyed drinks on the rooftop bar. I bought a Navajo vase.
Santa Fe plaza, like Taos Plaza, is a historical, touristy, walkable place. Santa Fe is not new. When John Smith and his lot were eking out a living in Jamestown, Spanish colonists had already pushed the locals out of Santa Fe. The oldest house in the US is here, built in 1646. Tourists can go inside and admire the adobe construction and purchase souvenirs at the gift shop, and outside they can admire the bees constructing a hive within the outer wall. “They showed up two weeks ago,” answered the gift shop guy when we asked. Old house, new hive; New Mexico, but not Mexico.
Jessica and Jasper joined us for our second night in Santa Fe, also staying at La Fonda. We rendezvoused at the rooftop bar, where we shared a plate of nachos and realized that the governor was at the next table. “Don’t look now,” whispered Jessica, “but I think that’s our governor right behind you.” It was.
Then, we walked a couple of blocks down from the plaza to enjoy dinner at La Casa Sena in an outdoor courtyard, amongst twinkle-lighted trees and gently-bubbling fountain.
And, before saying nighty-night, we four strolled the plaza one last time as the sun set.
