Santa Fe- Land of Enchantment Indeed

1. Loretto Chapel, 2. San Miguel Oldest Church, 3. Snow Day at Canyon Road, 4. Frito Pie at the Five and Dime, 5. Oldest House in the US, 6. Hotel in Snow, 7. Santa Fe Trip Snow, 8. French Pastry Shop, 9. Canyon Road Horses in Snow

You can click any picture for a bigger view.

I was surprised by these pictures because the light is pretty gray and they seem gloomy. I assure you that while it was cold, and snowy even, the mood was bright. My memories of each of these places are plenty sunny.

Another vacation fact: I took 99 pictures on my trip and only one of them has us in it!

We both agreed that our favorite part of the trip was just wandering around downtown Santa Fe. We went into lots of churches and a few stores. We had breakfast at a French Cafe, lunch at Cowgirl BBQ, and dinner at the Italian restaurant, Pronza.

One night we went out and listened to blues. The other night we went to a coffee house for what was supposed to be poetry night, but turned out to be folk singing. Both were fun.

We loved the Waxlander Gallery on Canyon Road. It was large and had a lot of variety. My favorite was Lori Faye Bock. She really celebrates women aging. That's not an attitude we see much of in LA.

At the New Concept Gallery we saw the works of Lynn's friend Reg Loving. It was definitely cool to "know" an artist on display. Speaking of Lynn, she is doing awesome, for someone in their seventies with a broken neck. She told us a few hilarious stories about her time in the hospital. Surely, attitude and laughter are the best medicines.

Also at New Concept Gallery was a show, "Voices Against the War" sponsored by the Veterans For Peace. The art was amazing and devastating. My favorite piece as called "The Rat Pack" by Kawana Edwards. It featured real rodent bones. Reminded me my days back in NJ dissecting owl pellets.

We only went in three galleries because we also squeezed in both the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and SITE Santa Fe in the same day. O'Keeffee was worth a visit, but a bit disappointing since they only display ten percent of her work at any given time. There were some paintings that I had hoped to see and did not. SITE Santa Fe merits it's own blog post. Tune in tomorrow for that drama.

We stayed at Garrets Desert Inn which was both affordable and right in the heart of Santa Fe. We walked everywhere with ease. Well, until it snowed! It was so cold and we were so unprepared! You would think that growing up in Rochester, NY I would have seen my fair share of snow. Still, it was so beautiful and surprising that I was like a kid on the first day of winter.

Tomorrow I will share Santa Fe's inspiration on my own art.