I lived in Albuquerque for three years in the 1960’s and have returned to the state on several recent visits. I have limited this article to Santa Fe to reduce the number of photos needed to cover the entire state.

Although it has sprawled out into the suburbs like most cities in recent years, the buildings around the original city square have remained remarkably the same. The Governor’s Palace and the La Fonda Hotel still face each other on opposite sides of the plaza. The Palace dates back hundreds of years; the hotel dates from the 1920’s.

The city sits in a plain below the Sangre de Christo Mountains (12,000 ft.), a chain of the Rocky Mountains, but still is 7,000 ft. above sea level. Winter is the ski season, but summer is the season for the huge Indian Art Market and the Opera. The Indian Market celebrate its 100th year in August. The opera is located several miles north of town in a large amphitheater and runs through July and August. The nights are so cold that you need to take a blanket even in July. Several new museums are in a complex southeast of the downtown area, but most of the tourist attraction are close in.

Canyon Road hosts more than 100 galleries of Southwestern Art, some of which can be quite pricey. The number of galleries has now expanded across town and doubled in number. Santa Fe has become a favorite summer home for New Yorkers and has an active arts scene, including chamber music concerts. The New Georgia O’Keefe Museum is on the edge of downtown.

Santa Fe does not have direct Amtrak service, but a station is located a few miles from town on the line between Las Vegas (NM) and Albuquerque and provides a bus service connection. It has a commuter airport, but a commuter train runs between Santa Fe and the airport in Albuquerque, so you don’t need a car unless you’re going to the Opera.

New Mexico still makes a clear distinction between those of Spanish heritage and those of Indigenous (or Indian) heritage. The Indians were rounded up into reservations, called Pueblos. The reservations are in all corners of the state and not just near Santa Fe. The residential schools for Indians were intended to educate them and provide a background for a more modern lifestyle. In recent years, they have tried to reclaim their native heritage.

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