What's there to do in Santa Fe, New Mexico?
What’s there to do in Santa Fe, New Mexico? Santa Fe is one of the older cities in the US, founded in 1610 which also makes it the oldest capital city in this country. It’s also the highest state capital at 7,199 feet.
Some of the reasons people love to visit Santa Fe is that it is very much an arts culture city. The setting for this is also quite nice with the type of buildings associated with the Southwest being the architecture you’ll see. There are art galleries and artsy stuff all over the place here. You can buy a simple piece to adorn the wall of your home or you can buy art pieces that cost more than the RV you rode in on.
Famous Artist Georgia O’Keeffe is from the area and has a gallery but Chuck Jones, famous cartoonist, does as well. I wish I had known about Chuck Jones’ gallery, you know you’d find me there. I did go into a few of the galleries but all I could think of was “don’t knock that over, don’t knock that over.”
Parking
Being a very old city, the streets are narrow and the parking spaces must have been designed by owners of Smart cars. If you’re an RVer and want to be able to open the doors on something like a pickup truck, perhaps you’d do well to park somewhere on the outskirts of town and ride your electric bike in.
However this isn’t the most bike-friendly city I’ve ever been to either. There are almost no places to park a bike and secure it so know that you’ll be looking for street signs and such to lock your bike to.
There are a fair number of city-owned parking lots but these tend to fill up quickly. My suggestion is, if you’re visiting the area, keep your vehicles at the RV park and take an Uber or Lyft into town. The money spent will be well worth the lack of frustration.
Getting around
Once you’re in town; however, it is a very delightful waking town. Like many very old cities it was designed around being able to walk and you absolutely can. The number of galleries, shops and other things you’ll want to see makes walking the best way to visit Santa Fe.
Another thing, as an older town, it’s not gigantic so walking is absolutely a great way to navigate the area.
What would really make sense is if the city had larger parking around the outskirts of town and then trollies of some sort to move you around in town. Once you’re in town, walking really is the best way to get around.
The Plaza
Like so many older towns this one is built around a plaza right at the center of town. That’s definitely a place to see and there are often musicians of some sort performing in the plaza. Of course there’s a band stand but, on the day I went, there were musicians both in front of one of the stores on the Plaza as well as standing in front of the bandstand performing.
There was a guy and a guitar in front of one of the store doing a pretty good job of covering country and classic rock songs. Then there were two musicians dressed in full Mariachi garb playing traditional songs.
Even though there were already two performers, I saw a box truck full of sound gear backing up. I assume a larger band might have been taking to the stage.
Santa Fe’s greatest claim to fame is their artist community and this isn’t limited to just visual artists. There are an abundance of very talented performing artists as well.
The Governor’s House, which is an old residence of governors past, has a long covered walkway in front of it right on the Plaza. This is where I saw a very large number of Native American artisans plying their trade. There was an assortment of jewelry and other hand-crafted Native American wearable and decorative items on blankets. The artists were shoulder-to-shoulder and the choices were many.
More shopping
From furnishings to paintings, sculpture, native American art, jewelry and anything else you can imagine there are varying degrees of it represented in Santa Fe. Whether you want a simple piece crafted by a Native American or something very elaborate to bring home, you will find it here.
No Stress Chess at Doodlets
The thing that brought us here, other than just wanting to visit old town Santa Fe, was that there’s a Savory Spice Shop in town. I like the spices this company sells and was running low. My previous fix was about 90 miles from our previous home base in Northern California. This one’s just 55 miles from our present home base and, of course, I loaded up.
We also saw plenty of shops with touristy things like ornaments, shirts, that sort of thing. There’s also a really nifty toy store in town called Doodlets. The owners of this place are just the right people for this kind of business. A few of the products they have are made for the store and then they have a huge collection of puzzles, games, and so much more.
Stop and stair
I love old churches and one of the famous ones is here in the form of the Chapel of Our Lady of Light, or the Loretto Chapel. The Catholic church was finished in 1989 with one big exception - there was no stairwell to the choir loft. Oops.
The builders at the time suggested simply tearing down the choir loft and lowering it, but the sisters in charge of the church wouldn’t hear of it. Instead they prayed. At the conclusion of their prayer vigil, an elderly man stopped at the church and offered to build the stairs such that they wouldn’t take up much space.
Using just simple tools a spiral staircase was built that is, to this day, a marvel of structural engineering. The sisters believe that Saint Joseph himself was the older man who built the staircase.
Whatever the story is, the staircase is quite unique as a spiral that is unsupported going to the choir loft high above the church.
It’s $5 to get into the church to see the staircase and I thought it was worth the money.
The staircase itself is pretty impressive but I was even more impressed when I found that the hand rail that encircles the structure was added later. You know, after people who navigated the stairwell felt that it was a bit dangerous.
The fact that it’s not supported at all is really impressive. It was described as having been built by simple hand tools and that seemed disingenuous until the hand rail factor was included, as the wooden structure that is part of the hand rail assembly is rather elaborate.
I am fascinated by old churches and think they’re just beautiful. This one is no exception with ornate architecture. Some of these older churches have been stripped of the religious ornamentation that makes them churches, this one is absolutely intact. And quite beautiful.
Thunderbird restaurant
Like many, many older towns Santa Fe has a central plaza. We chose to eat at the Thunderbird Restaurant for a number of reasons, one of which was that there was no waiting. That can be a bad decision in some cases, but wasn’t in this one.
I particularly loved the mole enchiladas. Like any regional sauce, mole can be very different inducing being very spicy. This one was not spicy but was definitely very flavorful and, on this plate, plentiful in a good way.
You get a side of beans and potatoes with peppers which is something you’ll see in New Mexican cooking. While many of us are used to the Spanish-style rice on the side, in New Mexico you’ll get deep-fried potato cubes instead.
There was also the orange-chili margartia which was another treat. The glass is rimmed with a chili salt and the margarita, too, was quite flavorful but didn’t pack the punch I had thought it would. Still, who doesn’t love margaritas for lunch?
Frito pies are something the local five and dime store is famous for but Thunderbird definitely moves the needle up on these. They call it Upside Down Frito Pie and it features Fritos corn chips, of course, but also lettuce, pinto beans, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, diced onions, sour cream and the restaurant’s “All Business Chili.” Definitely a step up and quite good.
Frito Pie
While we had the Thunderbird’s Frito Pie the Five and Dime, just around the corner in the plaza, is known for being the first in the US with one. While we didn’t try it, we were told it is served in the Fritos Corn Chips bag and is essentially chili poured on top of the chips in the bag and topped with cheese.
We will definitely have to return to try their version and it’s nice to see such an American staple in a place that has so many very, very upscale and fancy things.
The peanut butter and chocolate brownie at Kakawa Chocolatier in Santa Fe
Chocolate overload
As much as walking the town was wonderful and the sights incredible, my favorite thing in Santa Fe is called Kakawa Chocolate House. They specialize in drinking chocolates and elixirs, as they call them. I’ve now been twice and each time there were standard favorites of drinking chocolates and then something different, too.
The young, friendly staff there are more than happy to issue samples of the drinking chocolates which are absolutely incredible. You can also get a flight of these which could be a challenge to finish yourself, they’e delightfully rich.
In addition to the liquid, and very incredible, chocolates; there are also candies. So, so many candies. However I didn’t try any of these. Yet. Like everything at Kakawa, the candies are made here.
But what they also have are brownies. Both times I was there I enjoyed a chocolate salted brownie and I would walk back from here to get one of these. And a cup of the drinking chocolate.
Peggy got a peanut butter and chocolate brownie which was terrific, but the chocolate salted one is still my absolute favorite.
Kakawa is one of those places that I absolutely will visit every time I go to Santa Fe. No doubt about it. Plus they actually have good parking which is another bonus.
The display case of chocolates at Kakawa Chocolatier in Santa Fe. Yum!
Things to see that I didn’t
Santa Fe Brewing Company
I have enjoyed a lot of Santa Fe Brewing Company’s beers - they’re really good. But we didn’t make time to visit the brewery guaranteeing a return trip.
Santa Fe Railyard
Surprisingly I didn’t stop at the Santa Fe Railyard. While the city has given up all of its vintage railroad rolling stock, this is still an open-air marketplace and has shops and galleries.
Farmer’s Market
One of the things we intended to see and didn’t was the farmer’s market. Reportedly this is one of the better farmer’s markets and so we intend to return for this. It’s held at the Railyard. Cool!
The oldest house
Thought to be one of the oldest buildings in the US, the house at 215 East de Vargas Street is a tribute to the architecture that you see around Santa Fe. This very old building is now a combination of a display of older-style dwellings and a curio shop.
But we did visit these things in our More Things to do in Santa Fe article.
In summary
Next time I go I’ll be more aware of the realities of this town, and also have my new travel trailer. Even though this is but an hour from our home base, I’d like to go stay at one of the local RV parks and then ride my Lectric bike into town. Or take an Uber.
If you don’t have an RV, there are also all sorts of lodging properties in town including some that just brush against my own grain as they’re incredibly expensive. That’s not my style. But the options are plentiful if it’s yours.
