Even though it was grey and cold, we were ready to take a look around Santa Fe on Friday. We had such high expectations…..
Not a good thing as it turned out…..
The first problem was finding a place to park near the Plaza. We found street parking spaces easy enough, but since we take up two spots at a $1.00 per hour, it wasn't our first choice. Things only got worse when we found a parking lot with RV Parking close by, only to learn that it would be $4.00 per hour to park there. Sheesh.
Ok - here's my rant. I cannot figure out WHY cities charge for parking - particularly in the downtown. We come, we park and we spend money. But not if we can't find parking …. ideally for free. LOVED that about a few towns we have been in - namely Breckenridge. Two hours free parking - perfect.
Since we also wanted to visit the Railyard district, we figured we would try there and walk back. More pay parking, so we went even further to what looked like a free spot and parked. Fingers crossed that we weren't missing something and would find a ticket upon our return.
Really like the architecture theme of the Railyards. The planners and architects went the right way with the warehouse/industrial design - a break from the pueblos.
Hmmmm - although we love our craft beer and this one would be a good one to try - 10 am or so it just a tad too early.
Love the old trains - riding down in the bottom looks cozy.
Even better - this is the Rail Runner Express taking you to Albuquerque and back.
The train station and visitor center.
The Railyard area of Santa Fe looks to be our kind of place - edgy and funky - however, today it was quiet and cold. I'm sure during the summer months when the Saturday farmer's and artisan market is in full swing it is a great place to hang out.
We continued on to the Plaza. It was about a 15 minute walk.
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Again - still a bit early but we went up to take a look - yup - not open yet - we'll come back.
The famous Santa Fe Plaza. It's been almost 20 years since I was last here.
Also 20 years since I took a picture of this Church.
St. Francis - also the Patron Saint of Animals.
The oldest part of the Church - sorry - forgot to write the date down.
Too bad the stained glass circle above doesn't show because it is beautiful - you can see it a little better with the reflection in the Baptismal.
Yup - cold.
By this time it was nearly lunch and we were cold - so back to the Blue Corn Brewery to have some of that green chili stew we saw on the menu.
Very good although a bit hot for me - a side of sour cream helped that out perfectly.
Ronny was our server - great guy and very helpful. Too bad I missed getting a picture of him. Although it was still early for Derek and I we decided that we couldn't miss out on the BCB flight.
We enjoyed the selection because - again - we aren't really up for hoppy beer. BCB was nice and smooth. Of course, the stout was our favourite.
Thanks again Ronny for the great service!
With that we decided that our tour of downtown Santa Fe was complete.
In a store window on our walk back to the Railyard.
A few more building shots of the Railyards since we came back to it from a different direction.
Oh sure - we could have wandered over to Canyon Road and we could have taken more time to look around the shops and museums, but we just really weren't into it. In comparison to the previous few days with our tours of Madrid and Albuquerque, Santa Fe just seemed to lack something. I'll call it a soul. It's all shiny and such but it lacks some personality. Just our take on this day.
I'm sure it's a great place if you want to shop.
Since we wanted to be in Santa Fe Saturday afternoon for Santa Fe Brewery's release of their Irish Ale we only had about 24 hours to kill.
We decided on a road trip. Which turned out to be quite the craft beer road trip. It was fun!
Meanwhile, I am slowly getting caught up on the posts. We are way ahead - spending the night here in Alamogordo. We've had a crazy few days that involved S N O W. Yuk!
We might be off the map for a few days since we are headed to a State Park for a bit of luxury. Not sure if they will have wifi there or not.
The Wood Clan had a super fun day today - it involved two words - white and sand.
All for me tonight.
This is our second post of the night by the way - the funky town of Madrid was the first - scroll down or you can check for it in the archives.
Teresa
If you are looking for more of Rantin' n Raven we are not hard to find out there in the social media world. We are on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. See you there!
Yeah, SantaFe never did much for me either.....way to touristy......supposedly you can get good deals on turquoise/silver jewelry, but I never found the right place I guess!!
ReplyDeleteSafe Travels..............
Thanks for the tour, but looks too cold for our liking. Keep warm and have too much fun.
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ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the parking thing. I could understand it in a city like Vienna, where there are so many other options for getting around. Fairly cheaply too. A transit ticket is €2,00. But unless you have some OTHER way for me to get around or see your city, I'm not paying for parking.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Santa Fe has no tax base or not much of a one, since everyone would be up in arms if their taxes went up.
Looks too cold for me too. At least to be outdoors anyway.
Enjoyed your pictures again ! Have not been to Santa Fe .
ReplyDeleteTrivia: Behind that row of people selling crafts and pottery is a door of historic importance. There was a lab nearby that was active during development of the atomic bomb and many of the workers lived in Santa Fe. Every morning the workers would walk through that door one or two at a time so as not to attract attention and then immediately exit out the back into a bus where they were whisked off to work for the day. I guess this was in case Soviet or German spies were lurking around. There is a plaque on the door but it is always hidden by the vendors.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the historic info Croft! Crazy…..
Delete"Santa Fe just seemed to lack something. I'll call it a soul. It's all shiny and such but it lacks some personality."
ReplyDeleteThis sentence conveys perfectly what I felt about Santa Fe when I visited. Even though it was cold, at least you didn't have the crowds. I visited in July and it was crazy busy. The cathedral was packed and it's so hard to really enjoy when there's so many people.
A bit sad since I had vague but good memories from my visit back in 1994 - should have just left it at that….
DeleteTrue - the crowds would have made it that much worse although the people watching would have been at least a little interesting and may have given the place some interest. Thanks for commenting!
Yep. whatever soul SF ever had was glossed, or rather plastered over years ago. I lived there for a year and a half. I'll always love visiting but never more than a few days. Taos is much better. I hope you make it up there.
ReplyDeleteExactly Jackie - Taos seems to be the place now - hopefully the same thing doesn't happen there….
DeleteYou will enjoy it much better with this memory in your mind - it will help get you past all the high priced shops LOL. I hope you guys make it there next year Cj.
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