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Santa Fe

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 7:20 pm
by loria
We may go to Santa Fe with our kids (11 and 13) for a week or so in August--
I have never been to New Mexico. DH has a meeting there so we'd be tagging along--can anyone give me the lay of the land in terms of interesting things to do with teens/tweens? (or anything else for that matter!)

also we are thinking of maybe driving (from NYC) rather than flying --is that insane (i think it's about 30 hours on the road?)

thanks!

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:06 pm
by jmq
Spend a morning walking around the main square/historic district and visit the vendors who set up in front of adobe structure called The Palace of the Governors which I believe is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States. You will see some outstanding hand crafted silver and turquoise jewelry and pottery there and elsewhere. Santa Fe has some great restaurants. Some interesting architecture in town too with Saint Francis church and San Miguel Chapel.

Outside of town you have Bandolier National Monument which the kids might find interesting to climb about the cliff dwellings.

Consider taking the “High Road to Taos”, stopping at Santuario de Chimayo. There is a true spiritual vibe to that famous little adobe church. The restaurant near there Rancho De Chimayo Restaurante is excellent (still well reviewed on yelp).

In fact, the food in New Mexico was one of the highlights of our trip, with the green and red chile sauces, sopapillas and honey on every table, the marinated pork dishes – yum. Very different from Tex-Mex (and vastly superior IMO) with Spanish and Native American influences.

Serious art galleries in those towns too. New Mexico also equals Big Time artsy photo ops of weathered doors framed by an adobe wall and bright blue skies.

Note that it will be pretty damn hot there in August, and a little cooler up towards the higher elevations near Taos. The high desert is beautiful at night from a hot tub when temps drop and the stars come out.

I don’t want to be more specific because it has been over 10 yrs since we’ve visited, plus you are going with kids, but hopefully this will give you a start to see if any of this type of stuff appeals to you and your crew.

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:14 pm
by sailorgirl
I drove from Arizona to NY we did it over 5 days about 500 miles a day. New Mexico was the preittiest part of the trip along with rural Virgina, but alot of it is just long stretches of highway punctuated by Waffle Houses and Mcdonalds. Are you considering driving straight through?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:05 pm
by Chet
Book some time at 10,000 Waves. Treat yourselves.

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:06 pm
by loria
great advice JMQ--thanks very much-- sailorgirl, i wasn't thinking of driving straight thru, but trying to cut it into maybe 2.5 days? I am not sure what is reasonable with kids --but know that stopping is probably mandatory!--my kids travel well--and have been in the car for a good 10-12 hour stretch (and we now have a much more comfortable car)--but maybe i should just get the tickets and fly!

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:25 pm
by jimg20
SW Airlines serve ABQ. It may take 2 or 3 segments to get there, but it would probably be a fairly good fare. There is pretty good service and they have good fares from LGA. You may have to fly out of ISP, PHL or Hartford to get the best route and price.

JIM