My work has occasionally taken me to New Mexico, but never to Santa Fe.  I have been curious about this city for a while, but I didn’t really know much about it.  So when I was planning my summer 2022 road trip, I made Santa Fe my first stop.  This trip had a time-stamped end goal – I had to get to Iowa by the end of the week to get to the Nascar truck race.  Therefore, no stop could be for very long or I wouldn’t make it in time.  I got to Sante Fe on Sunday and stayed until Monday evening.  I stayed in a Hilton that was a historic building, and it was right in the historic section of town.  This very walkable area made Santa Fe feel small and manageable – I didn’t drive once after I checked into my hotel.  During my two days there I was able to walk around that busy historic area and also take in the Canyon Road galleries.  It had everything you would think a stereotypical southwest tourist town would have – southwest jewelry, a distinct Native American presence in the art and museums, lots of references to cowboys and horses, and the southwest architecture that I expected.  However, it was far from a stereotype.  The art being produced and sold there was exceptional.  Even Europe, where people are painting, dancing, and playing music everywhere you turn, does not come close to the sheer concentration of art in this small city of just over 84,000 people. 

As I said, just about all I knew about Santa Fe was that it was an artsy town.  Walking around the historic area there was a mixture of shops, galleries, and restaurants, plus museums and historical sites to visit.  For this trip I stuck to shopping and gallery hopping.  I was pleased that a lot of places were open on Sunday and Monday since those were my only days in town and did not do much research before arriving.  I stuck to the historic section on Sunday and was able to walk around and get a feel for the area.  Some shops did start to close but others stayed open for the dinner crowds.  The second day I walked the Canyon Road gallery trail, which was still within walking distance of my hotel, albeit a long walk in the summer heat. 

The two biggest impressions that Santa Fe made on me were the art and architecture.  As I said, I knew this city was ‘artsy’, but I did not understand the extent until I got there.  In particular, the diversity of the styles of art represented was dramatic.  It ranged from delicately painted earrings (I bought some!) to large outdoor sculptures of all sizes (did not fit in the car!).  I have worked at a lot of hospitals, and I often see beautiful, playful sculptures of children in various poses outside children’s hospitals – after visiting Canyon Road, I would have to assume that many of those artists sell their work out of Santa Fe galleries.  There were also large sculptures of animals, a tree dripping with silver, wind spinners that must have been 15 or 20 feet tall, and endless abstract art.  At one point on my walk to the galleries, I even found a tall tree stump that had been carved into a fish.  It really was an emersion into art.  In some shops you could watch the artists at work, and one had a handwritten sign on the door that said the artist was busy painting and if you wanted to see the works to call the phone number listed.  In addition to the scope of the art, I was impressed by the sheer volume of it – more galleries than I had the energy to visit in two days. 

In walking around town, I got a chance to take in the architecture.  Santa Fe has a lot of traditional southwestern architecture, but if you stop examining there, then you are missing something.  Yes, there are bundles of chilis hanging on buildings, and yes, almost everything is made of adobe, but the magic is in the details.  The curves of the walls and the arches, the subtle differences in color of the adobe, the tiles and mosaics, the wrought iron gates, and the floral landscaping made everything feel warm and welcoming.  I started taking pictures and realized that it was weird because these were people’s homes, not a tourist attraction, so I tried to limit my pictures to businesses and other public buildings to capture some of the details.  I think the other thing that struck me as different than most places is that everything feels small and cozy.  If there are any large, modern office buildings I didn’t see them.  I can easily see why someone would want to pack up and move there, especially an artist or writer – the whole atmosphere felt like it would constantly feed creativity. 

And speaking of writers, I am always going to look for the local bookstores.  I visited Travel Bug, because there was no way I was going to pass up a travel-themed bookstore.  They had local books, lots of travel books, and travel gear.  I made my purchase and made some small talk with the woman who was working, telling her of my love of local bookstores, and she handed me a bookmark that listed the 18 independent bookstores in Santa Fe.  That was a pleasant surprise of Santa Fe.  I nearly jumped up and down with joy – a town after my own heart!  Of course, I did not have time to visit them all on this visit, but I definitely will be making another trip to this literary and art haven.  I think Santa Fe is worthy of a week-long visit on a future trip.

Below are the souvenirs I brought home from Santa Fe. It was good that I had my car because this was a shopping-heavy trip!