Do You Know the Way to Santa Fe?

After our great visit to Colorado, we drove south for a few days stay in Old Santa Fe.   When I say old, I mean it.  The city of Santa Fe will celebrate it's 400th birthday next year!

We took a bit of a longer route through Taos, so that we could see the Taos Gorge.  It was absolutely beautiful.  You are just driving along and suddenly the ground drops away and you are hundreds of feet above the river below.

The first place that you go in Santa Fe is the beautiful Plaza, the heart of the city - where the action is, to be sure.  Everything else there is to see and do seems to be around there.

The kids made friends with the local balloon man.

Hey look.  Its Mater!

Our first stop was the Palace of the Governors and the New Mexico History Museum.  It is a really nice museum, and the kids enjoyed it.

Indian artisans have been selling their wares on the front porch of the Palace for hundreds of years.  It was fun to see their handiwork.

Somebody told us to take a peek in the old La Fonda hotel.  What a treat!  A fun and colorful place to explore.

We visited the beautiful cathedral there in Santa Fe.  I loved what it said on the back wall, "Love One Another Constantly."  We found our pew.  Look.  We are actually on time for church.

Outside of the church, there was a labyrinth set in the pavement.  The kids had a great time following the brick path around and around, back and forth, until they got to the center, then they had to follow it back out again.  

The architecture was so interesting there in Santa Fe, with pointy gothic cathedrals next to  square pueblos.

You might have seen my post in my other blog about the polarizing filter I picked up.  Fun.  This church was the first picture I took with it.  WOW!

I loved the lavender and chili peppers in the market across from the La Fonda.  A real taste of Santa Fe.

The New Mexico flag unfurls over the art museum.

The city has a geocaching challenge that the boys found quite fun.  We were given GPS coordinates, and clues to go with them.  When we found the spot, they stamped their papers, and when they got all the stamps, they got a prize.  This was right down our alley, so it was fun.  The GPS coordinates took us to all the historic spots that you want to see on a trip to Santa Fe.  Fun!

I loved the blue wood work on this old government building.

One of my favorite parts of this visit was the hour I spent at the Georgia O'Keeffe museum.  She is one of my favorite artists, and I just found this place so interesting.  It wasn't much about her life, but had lots and lots of her artwork, along with her own quotes on the walls about what she was thinking while painting particular pieces, or just her thoughts about art in general.  It was a fascinating look into the mind of an artist.  I was really inspired!

I was so inspired by O'Keeffe that I was soon taking pictures of flowers.  See?  I might have taken pictures of bones too, like she did, if only I had stumbled upon some.