I spent last weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico!
I’ve been part of a mother’s group that meets on Zoom for over a year now, and I met 7 of the other women from the group in Santa Fe for a long weekend adventure. It was the first time I had met any of them in person and it was wonderful to be together and to explore a new-to-me town, too.
I had never been to New Mexico before! I was expecting warm desert, but Santa Fe is actually high desert – over 7,000 feet high, actually! It’s the highest altitude of any U.S. state capitol apparently.
And quite cold this time of year but that didn’t stop us from having fun. 🙂
The architecture was interesting to see – everything is made from adobe, which is Spanish for “mudbrick”. There were also strung pods of dried red chiles hanging outside a lot of the homes and shops.
The red chile ristras serve as a symbol of welcome and good luck, apparently. It was fun to explore the downtown area and check out some of the shops as well.
If you ever find yourself in Santa Fe, the shop pictured above, Keshi, is a good and ethical place to shop – they focus exclusively on Zuni Pueblo art and buy directly from the artists. Their sister organization is a charity that benefits the Zuni People as well.
Santa Fe Food
We had some good meals while in Santa Fe! One of my favorites was breakfast at a really cute spot right around the corner from our Airbnb called The Teahouse.
Right after getting there it started to snow! It was beautiful. Here’s the view outside the window:
Someone saw me taking a picture out the window (I was there a little before my friends to secure a table for us, so was alone) and offered to get one of me in front of the snowy window, so here I am!
While waiting for my friends to arrive I had a really yummy carrot orange muffin that I forgot to take a picture of to start, and then for my main meal I enjoyed their bacon, eggs (on top of polenta), and balsamic brussels sprouts.
It was delicious and pretty, too!
Another great meal we had while in Santa Fe was at a spot a few of us stumbled into while doing some sightseeing and shopping in the main downtown area of Santa Fe.
It was called Apothecary and we immediately loved the vibe – calming and mellow and with a delicious and nourishing menu. Apparently it’s also an oxygen bar, but we didn’t try that!
They even had kombucha on tap! I tried the berry flavor and it was great.
The cold weather had me craving soup, so I ordered a chicken soup with bone broth, veggies, and noodles. It was super spicy but really delicious and hit the spot.
I also had two yummy meals at the restaurant on site at Ojo Santa Fe, which is a lovely spa that the ladies and I spent the day at on Saturday. We all had massages scheduled and spent the rest of our time there hanging out in the various outdoor hot tubs and pools.
It was glorious and the contrast of the super cold air and the hot water felt really good!
We had heard you needed to get there right when it opened to secure a day pass, so a few of us decided to grab breakfast there so we’d already be on site. I had their avocado toast with eggs, salad, and fruit.
The bread was delicious and I loved that the salad had truffle oil, but I felt like the avocado situation could have been more interesting – mashed vs. sliced, and with some seasonings.
For lunch at the restaurant in between my massage and soaking (I know, best day ever), I had a roasted poblano pepper stuffed with quinoa, and a side of salmon.
It was delicious, and came with a really yummy (unpictured) smoky cashew-based red sauce. I also loved their blue cornbread!
As for dinners in Santa Fe, the first night I met the group out at a Northern New Mexican food restaurant called Tomasita’s right after arriving from the airport.
I forgot to get a picture in all the excitement of meeting everyone but I had some chips and guac and then got their tortilla soup, which was really delicious… I wasn’t in the mood for a huge meal since I’d been snacking all day on planes so it was just the right amount, and super cozy and comforting.
For our other two dinners we decided to all stay in and be cozy and order food! One of the nights we had an Asian dumpling feast (forgot to get pictures, but it was yummy), and the other night we ordered a whole bunch of tacos from a spot called Fusion Tacos.
Yum!
Running in Santa Fe
I got out for two solo morning jogs while in Santa Fe and they were both fantastic – despite the fact that I was at over 7,000 feet, I felt really energetic and had a blast exploring and seeing a bit more of the neighborhoods and views of mountains in the distance.
It was fun to just meander around and go wherever I felt like with no specific agenda or route in mind!
Running up even gradual hills definitely had me more out of breath than I would be at home at sea level, but I kept it casual and did a run/walk and really enjoyed myself out there.
I always love running in new-to-me cities – such a great way to explore!
And I like running in cold weather so the 20 degree temps didn’t bother me. 🙂 Although one of the days I ran was cloudy and the other was sunny and I preferred the sunny weather of course.
I discovered some pretty neighborhoods:
And found this lovely trail along a creek:
I loved this poem:
A closer view:
I also loved this raven sculpture:
I had wanted to get out for a hike while we were in Santa Fe, but the reports I read online said all the trails were still quite snowy and icy. Bummer – I bet the trails in the mountains around Santa Fe are gorgeous!
I ended up covering about 2 miles one of the mornings and about 3 the other and it felt just right.
The only downside to meeting in Santa Fe was that it took forever to travel there – I had a long 3+ hour layover in Dallas on the way there and back so it took me about 12 hours of travel on Friday as well as Monday. But, it was worth it!
I was sad to say goodbye to everyone on Monday – it was so nice to be with them in person instead of on a computer. Until next time, friends!
Oh and one last thing – have any of y’all ever seen/tried this “Farmer’s Fridge” situation in an airport? There were a bunch in Dallas, and I saw one in the airport in Chicago while traveling last month, too. Their website shows locations in hospitals as well which is a cool idea.
It’s a vending machine, but with really fresh food. It was so good! I want one in my house… 😉
I had this salad (the “green goddess” with quinoa, lettuce, chickpeas, feta, pickled onion, celery, and candied pecans with a Greek yogurt herby dressing) one of the days, and a different one on my way home, plus their chia pudding with pineapple both days.
All of it was super delicious and really fresh, and I loved eating something yummy but nourishing and that didn’t feel heavy while traveling.
Have you ever been to Santa Fe? Or anywhere else in New Mexico?
