My husband and I love to pile into our comfortable SUV, throw in a few small pieces of luggage, and head for the open road with our family pet. We enjoy the time we spend together and the freedom of traveling at our own pace without the inconveniences that air travel now involves. I determine the total experience: the destinations, restaurants, and hotels, while Joseph plots the navigation.
For our autumn tour, we had planned to travel westward to the Grand Canyon, perhaps the only major national park we have yet to explore, and from there visit family friends in Phoenix and San Diego. However, we were stymied by the severe weather front coming in from Colorado, so we spent the extra days working around the house and changed course to take us on an abbreviated loop through Amarillo, Santa Fe, Taos, Colorado Springs, and finally to Denver, where we would be reunited with our longtime friend Jon Tesseo—from back in the day at Lotus Development in Cambridge, Massachusetts—and his family. Heading back home to Oklahoma, we hoped to stop in Kansas City for its famous barbecue.
Days 1 and 2: Amarillo, Santa Fe, Taos
Interstate Highway 40 took us through the Texas panhandle and Amarillo. Having stayed awake all night, I fell asleep and awoke just as we began to approach the town. The Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States, punctuated the flat topography. Sightings of turbines in this windy corridor were in the distance. Amarillo had tripled in size since I last passed through the region and the old Route 66 back in 1994. The city was completely transformed with shopping centers, strip malls, and office buildings along both sides of an expanded highway.
Still, some landmarks remained comfortingly familiar: the Big Texan Steak Ranch, best known for its 72 ounce (4 ½ lb.) steak eating challenge shown on the Food Network and the Travel Channel, had not changed. And some miles outside of town, we were reminded of the thousands of penned cattle bound for major meat packing plants by the powerful stench in the air. I photographed the dynamic skies that stretched for miles, poised like a bell jar to envelope the landmass…the feeling was almost claustrophobic.
Fortunately, in just under four hours we would reach Santa Fe, our designated stop for the night. If the Texas panhandle were characterized by monotony, the breathtaking mesas that gave New Mexico its state nickname, “Land of Enchantment” took over the landscape. Nearing the city limits, my impression was that an advanced alien civilization had plopped this visually stunning settlement right in the middle of an arid plain. Santa Fe, quite simply, is breathtaking in its beauty.
Mountains, sky, and desert create a scenic environment quite unlikely to be found elsewhere in America. Against this backdrop, the consistency of the architecture astonished me, as though I were within a fantasy theme park. Everywhere we drove, this town of 70,000 was clean and beautiful. Spanish Pueblo Revival style based on indigenous adobe mud, straw, and wood construction is the adopted aesthetic, mandated by the city.
We hadn’t eaten all day, so we conveniently pulled up to a metered space near The Burrito Company, a family-run fast food restaurant serving Mexican/Tex-Mex/Southwestern food. Located just across from the plaza on Washington Avenue, the prices were affordable, and the combo taco and enchilada plate with sides was large enough for two.
We’re travelers, not tourists, so my husband and I generally eschew the sanitized, five-star hotel experience. But for our Santa Fe experience, I wanted a comfortable hotel that welcomed pets and was within striking distance of the town center. The El Dorado Hotel and Spa fit my requirements. I had asked my longtime travel agent, Joseph Tse, the president and owner of OT&T Travel Management, to book our regularly requested, charming room on an upper floor with a view. As always, OT&T did not disappoint.
As a New Age Traveler with a neo-Zen sensibility, I look for accommodations that are new, spotless, comfortable, and atmospheric. A part of the Preferred Hotels and Resorts Group, the El Dorado met my exacting standards. The location just steps away from the plaza was the perfect base for our forays.
An important art mecca, second only to New York City, Santa Fe is called the City Different and is a designated UNESCO Creative City. Truly, life is lived as art in this community. I had immediately noticed how unnaturally vibrant the light appears to be, the colors in nature more intense. The air 7,000 feet above sea level smells fresh and pure. For a self-defined conceptual artist such as myself, I sensed mystery and dynamic energy in this space. Artistry and public art is a facet of daily life. Whimsical wind sculptures appear unexpectedly alongside a church. Art galleries and boutiques abound, displaying everything from beautifully crafted Native American pottery and turquoise jewelry in contemporary settings to life-sized metal sculptures of native wildlife.
As we roamed the pedestrian-friendly streets, I was reminded of the sheltering, walled medieval cities in Europe, such as Carcassonne. Or of Kyoto where seemingly around every corner a picturesque sampling of still art could be found in the placement of garden plants or the positioning of window displays. The cultural cues may have been different, but a definable spirit of place imbued the sights, aromas, and sounds around me.
Our self-guided walking tour included stops along the Santa Fe Plaza, an historic landmark designating the end of the Santa Fe Trail. Here, historic buildings house modern vendors such as Starbucks. We strolled past the Native American artists selling silver and turquoise jewelry in front of the Palace of the Governors, then around the corner to the Institute of American Indian Arts. Directly across the street is the St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, with a road that curves toward the Loretto Chapel, then down a charming street past a sculpture gallery, to the greenbelt along the river where we could spend some time walking Joy-Joy.
As evening settled in, we were left trying to decide where to go for dinner. On road trips, fine dining is out of the question as we either bring Joy-Joy everywhere with us, or Joseph stays outdoors with her while I go inside for take-out food. We had planned a return visit to the landmark Coyote Cafe, but the restaurant was serving a special wine menu that evening. So instead, we walked a block away and decided on Indian food.
The restaurant reviews named the India Palace Restaurant the best ethnic restaurant in town. It was located inside a municipal parking lot, but in this case, I was right not to judge the book by its cover. The smells wafting outside were enticing, and a review of the menu showed authentic Northern Indian cuisine from the Punjab region. I quickly ordered tandoori chicken wings, vegetable samosas, Kashmiri naan, chicken korma, chicken curry, mixed pickles, kulfi, mango lassi, and chai, which we then spread out on a table in the hotel room. Maybe we were just hungry, or the enhancement of the senses that characterizes Santa Fe kicked in...the traditional cuisine and spices were delectable and aromatic. And since I haven’t yet visited India, I would go on record to declare that London and Santa Fe are the two places where I’ve enjoyed the best of traditional Indian cuisine.
Early the next morning, Joseph alerted me that we would have to leave Santa Fe by lunchtime if we wanted to visit Taos and spend the night in Colorado Springs. This plan was perfect, as I often photograph objects and landscapes shortly after dawn for the best natural lighting. Since time was limited, I shifted into television news producer mode and efficiently took close-up and long shots of still life around the hotel and plaza, picked up coffee for us at Starbucks and a fluffy brioche at Café Paris in Burro Alley, and scooped up an official, Santa Fe 400th year commemorative t-shirt at Dressman’s Gifts and the Santa Fe Trading Company, the one-stop shopping place for souvenirs. I especially admired the Native American arts and crafts and silver and turquoise jewelry.
Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery is another must-visit establishment. It houses an impressive collection of fine Native American pottery from the Southwest, including pottery from the Acoma and Santa Clara pueblos. The museum-quality pieces are among the best I have seen. In a contemporary vein, Kiva Fine Art showcases a comprehensive collection of Native American fine art—sculpture, pottery, weavings, paintings, gourds, woodworking, hides, and kachinas.
I made a beeline for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and museum store and soaked in the spirit of New Mexico’s quintessential artist for all of half an hour. At the Coyote Cafe rooftop cantina, I placed a take-out order of gourmet tacos and tomato soup garnished with generous portions of large shrimp. Celebrity chef Mark Miller brought Southwestern regional cuisine into the national consciousness when he opened the original restaurant in the mid-1980’s. I savored a pink, prickly pear Margarita and rooftop views while waiting for my order. After lunch, we drove along historic Canyon Road, a six-block stretch of art galleries, a sculpture garden, and The Compound Restaurant, a secluded property that boasts a James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southwest.
Our next destination was Taos, historically an artists colony and now also a haven for outdoors sports enthusiasts. For a time, Taos was the home of the English novelist D. H. Lawrence, and his ashes are enshrined in a small chapel on property he once owned. Located seventy miles north of Santa Fe at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the travel time is deceptive as the local scenic route winds through high desert plains and evergreen forests. Thunderstorms threaten in the distance, and the eerie combination provides spectacularly elemental photo opportunities. The route leading out of Santa Fe, through Taos, and on local roads leading to Colorado Springs reminded me of the sweeps and turns we encountered driving in Europe and through parts of the Black Forest of Germany.
At this point, we had spent $56 on gas and just over $100 on food for a party of three, over two days. Our neo-Zen aesthetic of spending wisely while optimizing sensory experiences was paying dividends.
Part II: Scenic Colorado Springs and Denver, Home
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(photographs, clockwise: St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Coyote Cafe, Dressman’s Gifts and the Santa Fe Trading Company, wind sculpture outside Loretto Chapel, banner by historic Santa Fe Plaza)
