Trip to Santa Fe

Day 34  Saturday, March 4, 2023

Saturday's mean a trip to the Farmers market. Even if we don't buy anything it is fun to see what the vendors have brought. There was also a group of artisans' tents in the Railyard district which we checked out. This area was one we hadn't yet explored so that was today's task. We did window shopping and many of the stores were cowboy and Indian themes. Not our thing but we were fine with sopping for lunch at Cowgirl BBQ and Smokehouse. Ron had the pulled pork and I had the BBQ beef. From there our walk took us by the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, which was still on our list, so we stopped. I like O'Keefe's flowers but not into her modern work. It was interesting though because we had been to Abiquiu and the Ghost Ranch which were very important in her work. Because we were already downtown we went to 4:00 Mass at the Cathedral again.

                          Santa Fe Saturday Farmer's Market

Ristras, beans and chile

                                        Railyard District

The mighty? Santa Fe River

Georgia O'Keefe Museum

Tripn to Santa Fe

Day 33  Friday, March 3, 2023

Hi ho hi ho it's off to Chimayo we go. Only about 40 minutes away from Santa Fe it was a nice ride with beautiful vistas. On the way we tried to stop at Nambe Falls but it was gated shut. Many of the Indian tribes have restricted access to their lands since Covid. Our main destination though was the Santuario de Chimayo. This church was built in 1810. The story is that men found a cross illuminated in the dirt and removed it only to find it back in the same spot the next day. This continued until they concluded that this was holy dirt and a church needed to be built here. People make a pilgrimage here asking for healing and miracles. There are statues all around the church. There is a spot where you can also get some of the holy dirt. I have no pictures from inside as they were not allowed. We walked around the town and went into a few gift shops and a Cafe. Then we went into Santo Nino de Atocha built in 1857. Again no pictures allowed but I think this was my favorite church of all we've seen. It's interior was very simplistic with the art looking like it was done by local craftsman. The praying chapel had the ceiling covered with baby shoes. Then we stopped at two weaving shops. At Trujillos the man was a 7th generation weaver and we got to see his sister do some weaving. There was a small, 3 room, Museum that had glimpses into the history of the area. Hungry after all that we stopped at Rancho de Chimayo, a restaurant that had been recognized by James Beard. It was Friday so Ron had the trout almondine and I had shrimp enchiladas Ron also had a margarita and I had a Chimayo cocktail. An easy ride home and another wonderful day in New Mexico.

                              Views on the way to Chimayo

Many of the Pueblo have been closed since Covid 

                                  Santuario de Chimayo

Statue of the three cultures

                                       Trujillos weaving

Chimayo Museum 

                                     Rancho de Chimayo

Love the sopapillas!