Southwest Road Trip Travel Series: Santa Fe, New Mexico

You guys, I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful 

Santa Fe, N.M. is.  

I have long admired Santa Fe from the internet afar.

So, when we got the chance to spend a night there on our trip,

I jumped at it!  

There is just something about that blue sky against adobe buildings that makes me smile.  

It is absolutely stunning.  

After spending two nights in 30 degree weather at The Grand Canyon,

and in a motel 

It was so nice to be in slightly warmer weather

and 

stay in an awesome hotel  

We stayed at La Fonda on the Plaza.  

The site of La Fonda has been a hotel for around 200 years.  

Yup.  

TWO HUNDRED years.  

The hotel is stunning.  

Beyond being historical, it was decorated by one of my favorite Southwestern designers,  

Mary Jane Colter.  

(Colter worked extensively on many Fred Harvey buildings.)  

The hotel is much larger than it appears from the outside.  

It is set in historic, downtown Santa Fe 

and is nestled among little shops and eateries on the main street.  

The hallway from the parking garage to the lobby

Main lobby, gift shop, and registration

We got into town in the evening and were super hungry, 

especially after making the long drive from Tusayan, A.Z.  

We decided to eat dinner at the lounge in the hotel.  

We had delicious guacamole and chips and probably the best margaritas I've ever had.  

Seriously.  

For dinner, I had the tortilla soup (which was out of this world.)

Tim had the green chili (a New Mexico specialty) that was spicy but good.  

The real treat was that there was a live band that played the best music.  

They started out pretty country, 

but quickly segued into the best kind of classic music.  

Covers of Linda Ronstadt, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison...

Amazing.  

We lingered for hours listening to music, 

watching cowboys dance,

holding hands,

&

sipping margaritas.   

Sorry for the crappy iPhone photos

We spent the night in this gorgeous room.  

The traditional New Mexico architecture

makes me want to build my own adobe style house.

I love the archway leading into the "living room" area.  

The blue headboard adorned with hand painted flowers 

was the framework for one of the comfiest beds of the trip.  

I just loved all the colors in the furniture.  

This room housed high ceilings, heavy wood doors, and beautiful, unique decorations.  

We woke up the next morning and had sandwiches and crepes at 

The French Pastry Shop.  

It was ok, 

nothing spectacular,

which was a little disappointing after how wonderful dinner was the night before.  

We also spent some time exploring, admiring really, 

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.  

You can read about the history of this amazing Cathedral here.  

&  

I usually feel strange about taking pictures inside places of worship.  

(So many are treated as art museums more than sacred spaces)

but the inside of this building is stunning.  

If you want to see the inside,

you can click through these

which are amazing and taken by a much better photographer than my husband or I 

and by someone with less hang ups about photographing houses of worship.  

We did take a few pictures outside the cathedral though...

This sweater makes a lot of cameos during our trip

This is what Tim's hair looks like when he actually styles it

So, basically we loved our short, but sweet, stay in Santa Fe.  

We took off shortly after this to head to our next stop on the road trip...

We had NO IDEA the panic attacks adventure that was waiting 

just around the corner.  

Where We Stayed:  La Fonda on the Plaza

Where We Ate:  French Pastry Shop , La Fiesta Lounge

Up next week:  A road trip headache and our alien sightings in Roswell, N.M.  

Do you take pictures inside sacred places?  Am I the only one with this issue?