Romantic Winter Getaway? Santa Fe
Romantic Winter Getaway? Santa Fe
Looking for a sunny, romantic
winter getaway for Valentine's Day
or family spring break destination?
Looking for a sunny, romantic winter getaway for Valentine's Day or family spring break destination?
On our recent winter road trip through the Southwest, we once again fell in love with Santa Fe and all it's historic adobe architectural charms. We'd been to Santa Fe as a romantic summer vacation as a couple before our world trip, but bringing our new teen for a family winter getaway to this amazing destination was brilliant too.
This was the sunrise view from our private, gorgeous, casita at Four Season’s Rancho Encantado Resort who hosted us while we were there. This place is breathtaking and I will be writing more.
We also took an amazing hike with their Adventure Partners to the ancient Pueblo Native American Tsankawl Archaeological Site within Bandelier National Monument.
There we had a homeschool family learning adventure discovering petroglyphs, ancient Pueblo dwellings originally inhabited in the 1400s and awesome views of the Sangre de Cristo and Jemez Mountains.
We soaked up local color and learned some history lessons with an entertaining walking tour of Santa Fe with our friends from Twitter, former concierge Billie Frank and hospitality veteran, Steve Collins who own the Santa Fe Traveler.
With a trilingual kid who is fluent in Spanish and after all our years in Spain, it was a delight to observe how much Moorish and Spanish influence was in this cities beloved landmark, St. Francis Cathedral.
A big part of the charm of this magical city is the mix of three diverse cultures; the Pueblo Indians , the Spanish and the “Anglos”.
Oh and the scrumptious food! We totally adored Chef Andrew Cooper who is a master at healthy, sustainable real food that tastes out of this world.
The burnt sienna colored adobe Pueblo Revival architecture ,which is mandatory, gives Santa Fe it's unique, artistic look and feel. That alone melts my heart and it is a very walkable city with 300 days of sun a year.
There are over 200 art galleries and handful of art museums in Santa Fe like this one on the famous Canyon Road with a traditional romantic kiva fireplace. "The City Different" has more artists than any American city its size.
The brilliant blue sky and stunning vistas will make your heart sing any time of day. This shot I snapped near sunset from a car window as the moon rose. Priceless.
We joyously made time to get together with old friend and author Rebecca Skeele who has lived in Santa Fe for a long time and we last saw in London. The people are a big part of what makes this sacred place special as it seems to attract soulful types.
As D.H. Lawrence said of New Mexico: "Touch the country, and you will never be the same again.”
Is it on your bucket list?
That look beautiful & remind me of a lot of the places I have been in Europe such as Morocco….I think it is the little painted windows..
Thanks Kathy! Yes, there are some similarities to Morocco and places in Spain and parts of Europe ( the light here is similar to Provence)…yet Santa Fe is unique and different than any where else on earth.
Wow, you really did get a lot out of Santa Fe in a short time! Love this! (As usual!)
I also love, love, love New Mexico and Santa Fe. I would live there in a heartbeat but I am worried about the extreme drought New Mexico is suffering. My husband and I were married in a little village in Northern New Mexico in an old adobe church by a Hispanic minister dressed in Franciscan robes. Just across the plaza from the church was a sty with two giant pigs. Very New Mexico and we loved it.
Thanks Margaret! We really did pack a lot in and it helped that we had been before so had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted to do before we arrived.
Soooo much more to tell!
It helped greatly that their Adventure Partners drove us all around to see sights…even up to Los Alamos National Lab!!
We didn’t have to worry about maps or getting lost…no wasted time in seeing many things with a guide who knew the area well.
The resort is about 10 minutes outside of downtown Santa Fe, on 57 gorgeous acres near the Opera…but has a Mercedes-Benz and driver that shuttles one to town and back…so again saved us so much time without hassle of parking, driving etc in a new city.
After some tea with our friend, she dropped us off on Canyon Road to explore galleries as she lives in that area. Perfect!
We wanted to pack as much homeschooling adventure in as possible and kiddo is now reading up on these things and writing about them.
I’ve just discovered D.H. Lawrence’s book about the area..so now it is on all of our lists! 😉
Thanks for including our tour in your post. We really enjoyed meeting the family. Mozart is a real joy!
So happy to that Caterina!! Isn’t it a special place?
Wow, what a sweet story and memory about your wedding in New Mexico – lucky you!
I can just picture that..thanks for sharing! <3