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How Much Do I Live Santa Fe?

By JO ANN HOLT
Special to Focus Daily News

SANTA FE, New Mexico—To paraphrase the poet, let me count the ways! Santa Fe has history, romance, mystery, scenery, great food, art, and culture; accompanied by temperatures that are usually 20 degrees cooler (especially at night) than my hometown in Texas. All this, plus a recent trip to Santa Fe convinced me it is home to some of the friendliest people ever, perhaps because many of them hail from Texas.

Apparently lots of Texans have either moved there or they maintain a second home there. And a large percentage of the summer visitors to Santa Fe come from the Lone Star State. This percentage is likely to grow now that American Airlines carrier American Eagle has started a new flight direct from DFW to Santa Fe. Airline officials were pleased to note these flights are filling up so fast they may have to add more.

Years ago, when we were 20-somethings, my sister and I spent a memorable week at the historic La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe. This time I stayed just across the street, at the equally beautiful and historic Inn and Spa at Loretto.

The recently renovated Inn provides a number of luxurious touches, featuring balconies for every room and incomparable service by everyone on the staff. Their restaurant, Luminaria, has such fabulous food it’s hard to imagine wanting to eat anywhere else while in Santa Fe. The Loretto’s spa also features a menu of decadent-sounding treatments that shouldn’t be missed. For information, visit www.innatloretto.com.

Since Santa Fe is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, there are so many historic and exotic sights to see it’s hard to stay in one place long. Start with the Loretto Chapel’s “miracle staircase” next door to the Inn and Spa at Loretto. The legend goes that when the chapel was built in the 1870s, there was no staircase for the nuns to use to ascend to the upstairs choir loft. After praying for help, the Sisters of Loretto were filled with joy when a man appeared on their doorstep offering to build them a staircase that would fit their small space. Using only a few old-fashioned tools to carve his masterpiece, out of lumber that mysteriously appeared when he did, the unknown carpenter disappeared without payment. The magnificent staircase has stood the test of time while continuing to befuddle artists, architects and scientists who can’t discover why or how it works. The Loretto Chapel has become a very popular spot for weddings, since the newly-weds are the only people allowed to pose for photos on the staircase.

Next head to Canyon Road, where there are art galleries for every taste and pocketbook interspersed with jewelry, antique and designer clothing stores. Favorites included the In Art Gallery and the Heidi Loewen Studio, where the irrepressible artist is often found teaching tourists (including travel writers) how to throw porcelain vessels…a priceless opportunity!

Another must-see is the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, showcasing the work of the legendary artist who helped cement New Mexico’s fame as an artists’ haven.

After her first visit to the area in the late 1920s, O’Keeffe eventually moved to New Mexico in the 1940s, living there (at Ghost Ranch and Abiquiu) until her death at the age of 98. In reading the biographies of artists who came to New Mexico for the light and stayed to make it their home, it is noteworthy that most of them lived to an advanced age of 90 or even 100. There seems to be something in the Northern New Mexico climate that is healthy for everyone, artistic or not.

There are great shopping opportunities at every turn, from the downtown plaza where native American tribal members sell their tax-free hand-made items to unique designer clothing stores like Origins, where I found a “steal of a deal” on a deep purple handkerchief top marked 60% off.

Other highlights of last month’s trip to Santa Fe included lunch in the canteen and a tour of the famed Santa Fe Opera, North of Santa Fe on land that was once a ranch. Since 1957, the Santa Fe Opera has produced a July and August season that is set outdoors with a background of mountains and azure skies emphasizing the beautiful music of such operas as this season’s “Madame Butterfly,” “The Magic Flute,” “The Tales of Hoffman,” “Life Is a Dream,” and “Albert Herring,” developing a reputation as one of the best in the country. For more information, visit www.santafeopera.org.

One unforgettable morning we climbed the Puye Cliffs (poo yay), since 900 AD the ancestral home of the Santa Clara Pueblo people. From our vantage point on the Pajarito Plateau, with a panoramic view of Northern New Mexico’s mountains and valleys, it was easy to visualize what it must have been like for the pueblo dwellers who lived, literally, on top of the world. Our native American Indian guide, Porter, made the climb especially memorable with his knowledge of the pueblo dwellers and stories from his own childhood as a wild turkey herdsman at the pueblo.

The cultural tours were arranged by Santa Fe Mountain Adventures, a company that provides destination services, outdoor adventures, and arts and cultural activities for Northern New Mexico, (www.santafemountainadventures.com), with the motto “one place, many paths.” They are also sponsoring the Santa Fe Geocaching Challenge that uses GPS technology to find some of the city’s historic treasures.

To participate, download a free Santa Fe Adventure Passport from www.santafe.org and start trying to locate eight different sites to get your passport stamped. Players redeem completed passports at the Santa Fe Visitors Center or Convention & Visitors Bureau.

There is so much to do in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico, it seems a shame not to go back two or three times a year. And with American Eagle’s new direct flights, it’s only an hour and a half away from Dallas.

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