TRAVELING THE SANTA FE TRAIL

Visiting Santa Fe quickly makes one know why they call New Mexico, "The Land of Enchantment."


We boarded a plane to begin our flight to the oldest capital city in America. Santa Fe, is rich in history, beauty, the arts and architectural heritage. New Mexico, with her bold mountain views and serene havens of tranquility is the 47th State added to the Union in 1912. The city of Santa Fe is a true vacation spot as well as home to very friendly and gracious local folks. Did I mention the great shopping yet? Unique shops line the old town Santa Fe with all sorts of boutiques, stylish markets and truly a shoppers paradise for every taste and shoppers experience. Jewelry, artwork, leather goods, fabrics, pottery and more can be found in great abundance.

Restaurants with just about every type cuisine, positioned between adobe buildings and most with outdoor dining, were all truly excellent. We even had our anniversary dinner on the rooftop of a Latin restaurant called Amavi ~ meaning, Love of Life. The food was incredible and the atmosphere divine.

Art museums that highlight the treasured talents from the area give way to culture on every corner. My favorite museum and highlight of our trip, was to visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. It was a joy to view the wonderful works of this great American Artist, specializing in modern abstract. The collection was the largest and foremost exploration of her work, life and vision. We later had lunch in the outdoor museum cafe.

Another joy during our week was to visit the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi. We attended church there and it was a beautiful service and spirit filled hour. The local residents welcomed us to the area and wished us a wonderful stay.

The weather was picture perfect the entire week. Temperatures in the 80's with low humidity made walking around town all day a pleasant experience. The town square had daily concerts that we enjoyed with outdoor food stands for grabing a snack or even lunch. The time in Santa Fe went all to quickly as vacations always do, but looking back at our pictures, we already know, we will be going back again for a third time to enjoy the warmth and beauty, the arts, the history and the relaxation that beautiful Santa Fe has to offer. I hope you enjoy some of my pictures. I could not possibly show them all here, but I do have a few to share from along the Santa Fe Trail.

From the landing in Albuquerque we drove to Santa Fe and my picture taking began.



The Beautiful Cathedral, St. Francis of Assisi.

Concerts on the square, ethnic food stands and town adobe buildings.




The historic Route 66 runs right through Santa Fe.

Beautiful city buildings and the crowd gathers for the concert.


The great shopping included this darling dress shop called, The Pinkoyote, I had to take a picture of the pink fireplace inside, for all of us pink girls.


Just a few of the detailed and ornate sculptures that grace the city. The one with the bears is called, Two Pooped Bears. It is fabulous!




Resturants included, rooftop dining, garden dining, paris style outdoor cafe between the buildings and the O'Keeffe outdoor cafe.




Our adventure also took us for a day drive up into the mountains. It was beauty at it's finest work in God's creation. Along the way we ran into a few animal friends and this beautiful mountain art work in lifesize sculpting of a covered wagon and it's horse team. Gorgeous horses grazing in the desert mountains and a few sweet cows wondering who we were and if they should let us pass.





Lastly, I took a few pictures of Santa Fe's beautiful blooms.







Thank you for stopping by to view some of my pictures and for staying to the end of this long post. It was a great trip and one I highly recommend.
Till next time, I will be back in the studio, painting and working on a few new additions in the toile studio to share next post. Have a wonderful and safe Labor Day weekend and Blessings always, Celestina