Fourth of July in Santa Fe, NM

More travels! I know, this is turning into the summer of traveling for Andy and me. Following our trip back from Minnesota, Andy had planned a long holiday weekend for us in Santa Fe, NM. The drive from Denver to Santa Fe is a bit less than six hours, so it’s a great distance for a long weekend getaway. We couldn’t believe we hadn’t done it before and are already looking forward to our next trip down there.

Both Andy and I were done with work after lunch on Thursday and the car was packed and ready to go by the time I powered down my computer. We drove through the city, suburbs, desert, and were in Santa Fe by dinnertime. Andy had rented us a home through airbnb.com and we had a fantastic residential location just less than a mile walk from the rail yard district, which housed galleries, breweries, and the farmer’s market. Thursday night we went right to the brewery (surprise!) for beers and dinner, which turned into beers and a shared order of fried brussel sprouts and fries.

Our lovely home for the weekend.

The living room and kitchen in our rental. Not pictured is the bedroom and the huge bathroom.

Rail yard district at dusk :o)

 

  

Cheers and beers! 

Friday we took off fairly early to the Tune-Up Café less than two blocks from our rental. It’s quite clearly the hot spot in the neighborhood for coffee, mimosas, and brunch. We were lucky enough to snag the last table on the patio and hung around just a bit longer than our welcome playing games and requesting more refills on our bottomless coffees. We walked the one and a half or so miles into downtown with the intent of wandering shops and restaurants for the afternoon, and ended up pleasantly surprised as our agenda ended up including two churches, an art gallery, and live music during dinner at Cowgirl’s.

This is what the fourth of July looks like during the World Cup.

Quick! Does somebody have a bucket of water to pour over him from above?

Beautiful staircase at the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe.

Side street in downtown Santa Fe.

We happened upon a free day at the museum and really enjoyed this woman's work that was displayed.

One of these is not a cowgirl.

Saturday Andy and I thought it’d be nice to walk to the farmer’s market held in the rail yard district and buy some food to make breakfast back at our vacation rental. And, my goodness!, what a farmer’s market! It brought back memories of the robust Madison, WI market with the local produce and farmers, varied selection, and friendly farmer’s and patrons. We did find veggies to make breakfast, though we ended up back at Tune-Up since it was pushing noon by the time we would have started cooking. Our Saturday day was the same as our Friday: Wandering enjoying what the city has to offer with no agenda. My only request was to have some real New Mexican cuisine since we’d enjoyed a couple meals so far at brewpubs. And we found a restaurant that’s a tourist favorite and, despite trying to hate it for all the non-locals it brings in, the locals love the offerings, too. I got my real New Mexican dinner and was happy and full as could be! 

The coffee mugs at Tune-Up were the coolest.

Enjoying some delicious, happy hour cocktails at a local bar.

Sunday Andy cooked a delicious breakfast with the potatoes, tomato, and scapes we’d purchased the morning before. We the packed-up our vacation rental and hopped in our car for the first time since Thursday evening and drove to the farmer’s market building where there is a local artisan market every Sunday. We bought a few items for the house and then went back to Cowgirl’s, where we had dinner Saturday night, to have our last meal of the trip before going back to life in Denver.

Watching over the kitchen sink, I guess?

Looks pretty lovely, doesn’t it? It certainly was. And it was so nice for Andy and I to take a vacation with no agenda: No wedding, shower, family holiday, etc. Just Andy, me, and a new city to explore!

-Breanna