Today we went on a replacement trip into Old Santa Fe. Last Friday we were on our way there when our beloved truck started making an expensive noise so all plans were null and void. Now that we have a rental car, we headed into town for a second try. Interestingly, the Toyota Camry we rented is an uncomfortable tiny little squirt but is ideally suited for driving on Old Santa Fe’s skinny and sometimes one-way single-lane roads.
We started out by finding a parking place behind Cathedral Basilica St. Francis of Assisi where the diocese only charges $5 to park. The lot’s a few blocks away from Santa Fe’s downtown plaza so we got to check out the southwestern style of building architecture that surrounds the plaza. The style is interesting but sort of scary. Not a single building we saw had a level parapet wall, plumb building walls or a square door frame to enclose the tiny doors into the shops. Taken as a whole, the downtown area is very attractive but the buildings would not be safe in any locale with earthquakes. The windows in all the buildings are quite small. Most are surrounded by adobe walls covered with a clay wash (the newer structures use cement plaster).
After a stroll of a few blocks, we popped into the New Mexico Museum of Art which is kitty-corner from the town’s main plaza. The museum is in a very attractive building but, unfortunately, it is puny. It also follows the southwestern architectural style with tiny or no windows so it was dark as a tomb inside. In addition to being small with only about 3 dozen pieces of modern art, the second floor was closed so the exhibit space we could visit was even smaller. It costs non-residents $12 a head to get in but, due to the scarce exhibits, we were on our way back out in about 45 minutes. They have some nice stuff; just not very much of it.
We strolled a bit further until we came upon the Thunderbird Bar & Grill where we ducked in for a couple pints of porter. The joint is on the second floor overlooking the plaza and offers great views of a big piece of the Old Santa Fe area. After quaffing our tasty beverages, we wandered down into the plaza and found a nice bench where we could sit and watch the vendors, tourists and locals do their things. We noted they even have a downtown multi-level parking structure almost completely concealed within southwestern adobe-looking walls.
We finally got off the bench and took another short walk to the Cathedral to take a peek inside. The outside looks pretty plain but the building has a gorgeous interior. We lingered there for a bit before heading back to our rental car and taking a circuitous but very interesting drive through the Canyon Road neighborhood where there are many galleries and art shops with great stuff visible from the road. We went up the good sections 3 times. It is a wonderland of snazzy outdoor sculpture. Old Santa Fe is a great, albeit touristy, area filled with museums, shops, public exhibits and scores of small vendors. I am surprised I found it so interesting.
For some pix, click here