Santa Fe and the surrounding sites
Getting to Santa Fe is not challenging, especially in the 21st Century. While Santa Fe does have an airport, it is only serviced by two airlines, and they only fly commuter flights to local cities like Denver, Los Angeles, etc. Instead we chose to fly into Albuquerque where we rented a car and drove less than an hour up I-25 to historic downtown Santa Fe. Santa Fe is not a big city, it has roughly 70,000 people, so navigating our way to our hotel was simple. While we were in town we stayed at the Old Santa Fe Inn, an old motel right in the heart of the town, but well kept and convenient to every site. If you need another reason to stay there, they serve tamales on the breakfast buffet every morning, and they are worth the price of admission.
You can easily walk around all of the sites in Santa Fe in one day. We started with a walk to Old Fort Marcy Park, a scenic overlook of the downtown area. The site of a fort during the Mexican-American War, in recent years it has turned into a great set of walking trails for those who want a light hike through the hills. From there we visited downtown Santa Fe, and stopped at the San Miguel Chapel, arguably the oldest church in the United States. Built between the years of 1610-1628, the small church has been rebuilt and repaired numerous times, but is still quite a site to behold. Faith must have been a key component to survival in such a remote place, and their faith helped them keep their church alive for centuries. Right beside the church is a home called the De Vargas Street home, which claims to be the oldest home in the United States. It is believed the home was built in the mid-17th Century. From there take a walk to the Santa Fe Plaza, a four hundred year old square that is the heart of the downtown area. Lining the edges of the square are the Palace of the Governors, which was the seat of Spanish power in the 17th Century, and the Saint Francis Cathedral, the largest of the Catholic churches in the downtown, which has a unique version of the stations of the cross that any guests can walk through.
When you decide to leave Santa Fe head out to Bandelier National Monument. Located only about an hour from Santa Fe, Bandelier is one of the earliest inhabited locations in the United States, and is home to some amazing pueblos and petroglyphs that have weathered the centuries thanks to the low humidity of the West. Many of these ancient villages are carved underneath the cliff faces to provide what protection there was against the elements. While you are there climb down into the pits they used for cooking, storage, and water collection to understand how challenging life must have been.
While we were very impressed with Bandelier, the real prize for us that day was the Chaco Culture National Historic Park. Located about a two hour drive from Bandelier, gas up before you hit the road because it is a largely uninhabited area between the parks. There is actually a gas station at the turn off to head into the park, and you may want to stop there because there is literally nothing else around the park for miles. The park itself is located within the Navajo Reservation, and they are not real excited about people passing through their land to get to the park. The road to the park is nothing more than two deep ruts in the dirt. I would not recommend anyone taking a car on this road, only an SUV or truck, something with elevation. The road itself was actually washed away from snow melt that was running down, but we dared to cross it anyway. Thankfully we made it across, and when we arrived at what seemed like an hour long drive down this winding desert path, we found one of the most unique sites in the nation. Chaco Canyon is believed to be the best kept pre-Columbian native site in America. At the height of this city, between the 10th-12th Century, early native tribes were building monumental stone villages with buildings that had multiple floors, giant cisterns for holding water, and community centers for people to live together. The most famous of these villages is Pueblo Bonito, which is estimated to have had more than 600 rooms. While you are there walk the trails out to the grave of Richard Weatherill, the Colorado man who rediscovered these long abandoned homes while exploring in the 19th Century, and was murdered while living there in 1910. Be sure to take the guided tour while you are visiting. The rangers there told us they only get a few visitors a week, so they are happy to spend some time telling you all about the history of this once great center of Native American life.
From here we hit the road for Colorado to visit Mesa Verde National Park. We decided to take a side trip for one last sight in New Mexico with a visit to the Four Corners Monument. All alone on US-64, the Four Corners Monument straddles the line between Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Sitting on Navajo Reservation land, the site costs $5 per person to visit. While there is very little to see other than the meeting point of the states, it is fun to stand in four places at one time. Circling the monument are local Navajo artists selling their crafts, so spend a few minutes checking them out. I can't stress enough there is literally nothing around here, I felt like I was going to meet Walter White and Jesse Pinkman for a pickup. The site is also not really on the way to anything, so you have to make a special detour to add this to your trip, but it is worth it.
While I know we didn't get to see all that New Mexico has to offer, I can't speak highly enough about the great history on display in this still challenging environment to live in. I hope everyone has a chance to see this corner of New Mexico, and then thanks God for air conditioning and automobiles. While you are driving, make sure you keep your eyes open for suspicious characters roaming the streets.
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