Walking My Feet Off in Old Santa Fe

February 27 - March 1

Our friend Chuck invited Dennis to attend a tech conference in Albuquerque, where he would be giving a talk and demonstrating how amateur radio signals can be bounced off the surface of the moon. I decided to tag along, ride the Railrunner, and spend the day walking around Old Santa Fe.

Chuck and Jenna joined us for dinner and we persuaded them to caravan over Emory Pass. There are great views from the top of the pass, and an interpretation board about the Silver Fire that burned nearly 140,000 acres in the Black Range in 2013.

We timed our departure to arrive at the Hillsboro General Store and Cafe before "rush hour", and enjoyed a wonderful lunch on their patio.

Jenna with Coco, a Very Very Good Boy.

Dennis and I booked a room at the Monterey Motel, an artfully restored Route 66 motel that's within easy walking distance of Old Town Albuquerque.

It's easy and cheap to ride the Railrunner. You can buy a one-day five-zone pass for $7 ($6 for seniors) online at riometro.justride.tickets. Navigating the downtown train station is another matter. There is no parking, the Amtrak station is only open from 10 am to 5 pm, and early in the morning the only people about were rough campers and potential pickpockets. Finally another passenger — a woman — showed up, and hovered nearby. She was visibly shaken after a narrow escape from crazy guy who pursued her across town on the bus. My return train would put me back at the station at 7:45 pm, well after dark. My new friend suggested I tell my husband to pick me up at the next station up the line, where at least there was parking nearby.

The Railrunner runs north through a nondescript industrial area, and then suddenly the city disappears and the tracks roll across a dusty plain punctuated by clusters of adobe buildings at the hearts of the pueblos of Sandia, Santa Ana, San Felipe and Santo Domingo. The view from the train is absolutely unique, and I realized that despite having driven I-25 countless times, I had never truly seen this area. The sprawling suburb of Rio Rancho lights up the sky at night, but Bernalillo is a tiny village next to the tracks on the edge of Sandia Pueblo. I could see The Range Cafe one block away as we passed. I quickly texted Dennis to pick me up there instead of Montaño Station.

I came to Santa Fe not to shop, dine out, or even visit the famous galleries. I wanted to see — or at least imagine — the Santa Fe of Willa Cather and Archbishop Lamy. I reviewed the itineraries for various downtown walking tours, researched each stop, and plotted a route that would take me to the most important historic sites.

First, a quick stop for a cup of coffee at the Santa Fe Railyard. The weekly Farmer's Market was in progress, and the area was crawling with tourists.

This lovely stone building caught my eye. It's part of the Inn of the Five Graces, a five-star hotel whose rooms include historic homes dating back to the 1600s. Rates start at $956 a night 😲

After detouring through someone's backyard ("Excuse me!"), I found myself in front of the Roundhouse, New Mexico's very handsome state capitol. Built in 1966, the Roundhouse was designed to resemble the Zia Sun Symbol when viewed from above.

Next stop: San Miguel Mission. The chapel vies with the Mission of Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine, Florida, for the title of oldest church building in the continental United States.

Originally constructed in 1610, the church was rebuilt twice — in the mid 17th century, and again in 1710 following the Pueblo Revolt.

The San Miguel Mission is constructed from adobe, with five-foot-thick walls and a ceiling supported by massive wooden vigas. One of the vigas is inscribed in an ancient script claiming the building was erected by the Marquis de la Peñuela in 1710. A wooden reredos behind the altar was added in 1798, and includes a statue of Saint Michael as well as paintings of Jesus, St. Michael, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Gertrude, St. Louis, and St. Francis of Assisi.

The famous De Vargas Street House — purported to be the oldest house in Santa Fe — is primarily a souvenir shop. It still warrants a quick stop, if only to see photos and early drawings of this building, portions of which may be pre-Spanish in origin.

For my money, the San Miguel Mission is much more interesting than the Loretto Chapel, but the latter is more popular with tourists. Now a privately owned museum, its claim to fame is a helix-shaped spiral staircase. It was completed in 1878 as an adjunct to a girls' school comissioned by Sisters of Loretto.

Some of the other sites on my list — the Delgado House, the Bergere House — are privately owned, so one can pass by, but not visit. By 1 pm I had mostly completed my loop, and it was time to hydrate and rest my feet. I had planned to eat lunch at the Dolina Cafe, an Eastern European 😋 restaurant. I walked an extra mile to get there, but the restaurant was jam-packed, with a line out the door.

But along the way I stumbled onto the Santa Fe Community Gallery on the last day of a fabulous exhibit entitled, "Truth, Memory, Joy, Resistance: Black Expressions in New Mexico". The piece above is the work of Tintawi Kaiziabiher. Titled, "Sango's Ashere", it is composed of gourd, glass seed beads, juniper, turtle shell, felt, cowrie, suede and gold thread.

I retreated to The Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse, where I enjoyed a delicious bowl of squash soup and a most welcome respite.

Did I really say I didn't go to Santa Fe to see the art? What nonsense! There is incredible art everywhere, in front of both private and public buildings*, spilling onto the sidewalks, and beckoning on the walls of more than 250 galleries (over 100 on Canyon Road alone). Above: "Barn Dog" by Don Kennell is a 12-foot by 20-foot corrugated sculpture with a bench swing hanging from its belly.

And so I ended the day wandering, slack-jawed and foot-sore, among the incredible sculptures, fountains and gardens along Canyon Road.

Taking it all in with my buddy Mark Twain III, a life-size bronze sculture by Gary Lee Price.

Back at the Railyard, I realized that Santa Fe tourism is a balloon that puffs up to enormous size around noon, and deflates quickly by late afternoon. By 4 pm, the coffee shops were closed. The two breweries were still open, but they didn't serve food. I was too tired to walk, and the temperature was dropping like a rock. What would I do to pass the time while I waited for the train back to Albuquerque? I buttoned my jacket, wrapped my new scarf around my neck (haha didn't I also say I wasn't going to shop ? 😜), and took a seat in the fading sunlight on a bench by the train station. A young man asked me about the schedule. He didn't realize there were far fewer trains on the weekend. A soldier and a new citizen in his late 20s, we were worlds apart in age, life experience and ethnicity. And yet somehow we discovered we were both avid hikers, travelers and photographers. For two hours, we shared photos on our tablets of our favorite hiking destinations. Eduardo, if you are seeing this, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. It was a pleasure meeting you, and I wish you a long, happy and adventure-filled life.

I didn't run a track, but I walked almost non-stop for seven hours, fueled by nothing but a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee. I was very happy to see the neon lights of the Range Cafe, and Dennis waiting for me at the train station. We had a fabulous meal and two giant desserts, and another night at the Monterey before heading home to Silver City. Pretty great trip. Dennis enjoyed his day as much as I did mine. Fingers crossed that we don't end up with a BUD (big ugly disk) in the yard. 😨 (Photo: Dennis and me having lunch in Hillsboro on the way home.)

*There are more than 2200 works documented in the City of Santa Fe Public Art Archive.