Pretty much everyone we talked to prior to our New Mexico road trip assured us we would really enjoy Santa Fe. It’s such a cool place, they said. Quirky and artsy and historic.
And it definitely is all of those things. But honestly, I didn’t love it as much as I felt like I should have.
Maybe that’s because everyone talked it up in advance. Or maybe it’s because art isn’t really my thing, so we didn’t really spend any time wandering through the galleries or art museums. I still enjoyed Santa Fe, and I’m glad we spent the day here, but I’m also glad we only allocated one day for it.
We woke that morning – the day before Thanksgiving – in Albuquerque. It was early and chilly as we loaded up the car and began the 45 minute drive to Santa Fe. Our first stop was the New Mexico State Capitol, located in the heart of oldtown Santa Fe. The capitol building has the unique distinction of being made of adobe. In addition, it lacks the giant dome of other capitol buildings. It was unusual to not see it from afar, towering above the surrounding buildings.
The interior, aside from the house and senate chambers, is essentially one giant art museum. There’s so much artwork on the walls. We were able to walk around all four floors and over to the annex, taking time to admire the many pieces of art adorning nearly every surface. Some of my favorites are below.
After wandering through the capitol, we popped into the visitor center to grab a city map. We were also in search of a warm beverage – November mornings at 7200 feet (2195 m) are chilly – and the employees pointed us in the direction of a food truck selling coffee and freshly-made donuts. I’m not a huge donut person, but I did have a bite of the salted caramel one my husband ordered and I will admit it was pretty tasty.
Next, we began making our way toward the Santa Fe Plaza. It was less than 1 mile (1.6 km) between the capitol complex and the plaza, so we left our car where it was (pro tip: parking is free in the capitol garage on Galisteo Street) and set off on foot.
On the way to the plaza, we took a slightly meandering route that took us past three historic churches. The first – the San Miguel Chapel – is the oldest church structure in the US, built in 1610. The original adobe walls still stand beneath the stucco exterior, and the altar is original as well. We weren’t able to enter, unfortunately, as it was closed.
The St. Francis de Asisi church was also closed, but it was still pretty spectacular from the outside.
The most impressive, though, was the Loretto Chapel. Built from 1873-1878, this was the first gothic-style structure built west of the Mississippi River. From the outside, it’s certainly pretty enough to warrant a moment of contemplation.
The interior, however, warrants many moments of contemplation. The Loretto Chapel is home to a spiral staircase called the Staircase of Miracles because there is no central support structure. Over the years, various architects and engineers have expressed their disbelief that the staircase was ever able to be constructed, let alone used. Photos of an entire choir standing on the staircase prove that it is, however, plenty sturdy.
Today you aren’t allowed to climb it, but you can enter the church for $5/person. It’s worth the cost; the interior is beautiful!
Our next stop was the Santa Fe Plaza, which is really the centerpiece of oldtown Santa Fe.
On the north side of the plaza is the Palace of Governors – the oldest public building in the US. It was originally the seat of government for New Mexico – first under Spanish rule, then Mexican, and finally American. It wasn’t all that impressive inside because it’s been mostly emptied out and the first stages of renovation are beginning. The building has not undergone a complete restoration since it was built in 1610, so it’s long overdue. Nonetheless, we’ve now walked around in the oldest public building in the US.
Attached to the Palace of Governors is the New Mexico History Museum. There are dozens of museums in Santa Fe; we only had one day, so we chose to only visit this one. Admission is $12/person, which we felt was completely reasonable.
The building has three stories and a variety of exhibits, spanning about 5000 years of history. There was an expansive collection of indigenous artifacts and art, information about the colonization of New Mexico by the Spanish and US, the more recent history of New Mexico as a territory and later a US state, and exhibits about the Civil War, WWI, and WWII.
It was now early afternoon and we were more than ready for lunch. We had kind of a weird schedule for the day and ended up having a very late lunch at Santa Fe Brewing Company. The brewery has three locations, the original of which is near oldtown, but we opted for the southern location which has a large beer hall and on-site food truck. The beer was pretty tasty and I really enjoyed my food as well. My husband wanted to enjoy his food, but it was just a little too spicy for him and his non-existent spice tolerance. He was kind of miserable.
If you’ve read this far, you might be wondering if we managed to spend an entire day in Santa Fe without going to Meow Wolf. Well, fear not; it was our final stop of the day.
If you haven’t heard of Meow Wolf, it’s described as an interactive immersive art experience. It’s also expensive, so we debated for quite a while before adding it to our itinerary. We just couldn’t get a good read on whether it was something we’d enjoy. If you ask people about it, most will tell you that they weren’t sure about it initially but were glad they decided to go. If you ask them what it’s like, you’ll pretty consistently get an answer of “I don’t really know how to describe it, you kind of just have to experience it for yourself.”
None of those are useful explanations, but they are in fact accurate.
I honestly don’t know how to describe Meow Wolf, other than to say it was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. There are three non-identical Meow Wolf locations in the US, with Santa Fe being the original. This location – called the House of Eternal Return – begins by introducing a mystery that you can theoretically solve as you make your way through the colorfully chaotic labyrinthine experience.
But honestly, I’m not sure there actually is a solution. If there is, we came nowhere close to finding it.
Admittedly, we also didn’t try very hard.
Visiting Meow Wolf was certainly an experience like no other. Do I feel the need to go again? No. Am I glad I went? Yes.
We departed Santa Fe the following morning en route to Los Alamos, where we would be spending the remainder of our trip. The two cities aren’t that far apart, so we figured we had time to stop for a hike on the way. It was a short hike that doesn’t really warrant its own post; since it’s not that far from Santa Fe, I’m going to tack it onto the end of this post.
The Diablo Canyon Trail departs from Diablo Canyon Recreation Area about 30 minutes north of the city. The last few miles are on a dirt road, but it’s well maintained. I did have to drop a pin in the map in order for my iPhone GPS to get us there, and there isn’t service once you get out of Santa Fe, so screenshot the step-by-step directions in advance just in case.
From the parking area, a trail leads into the canyon… which is really just a wash (and should therefore not be entered if it’s raining or about to rain or has recently rained, due to risk of flash flooding). The trail continues quite a few miles, extending all the way to the Rio Grande. We opted to just walk through the deepest part of the canyon before turning around, and it ended up being a relatively flat but sandy 1.3 miles (2.1 km) round-trip.
If you’re heading between Santa Fe and Los Alamos and looking for a place to camp, picnic, or just stretch your legs, I’d say Diablo Canyon is worth the detour. I’ll be writing all about our time in Los Alamos in an upcoming post. But up next: Bandelier National Monument. Stay tuned!
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