Our trip to Santa Fe was for sure a bucket list trip! Our major plans included New Mexico cuisine, hiking, and a hot air balloon ride.
We left on a Friday, had a 5 pm flight from Pittsburgh to Denver, then to Santa Fe (of course delays), so did not get a chance to go out to eat or explore Friday night as our 9:30 landing moved to 11:30 pm. But we made it! The flight from Denver to Santa Fe was on a tiny plane. Our carry-on luggage was taken to be plane side for arrival. When we landed, it was told that we would have to go to baggage claim to get it instead, of course, this added to the frustration of being delayed. We walked off of the plane, onto the tarmac, and into a small building with about a 12 ft platform of rollers to wait for our bags. Once we realized that was baggage claim, we laughed it off for how tiny this airport seemed. We walked out and realized there were only 2 gates in the airport! It Is the smallest airport I have ever been to and came to realize Santa Fe is not a large city at all-everything is small! We had trouble getting an Uber/ Lyft, but eventually got someone to take us about 22 min into Santa Fe, we had already scheduled a car to leave on Tuesday since we had a 4:30 flight so make sure you schedule a car for the airport transportation.
We were looking at the weather leading up to our trip, and it was planned to be colder than usual, but did not have rain, we did have to take long pants and jackets, and I actually had a pair of gloves. I guess in April, they always have 1-2 weeks of cold weather.
On Saturday, we got up and headed to The Pantry for breakfast. It was so good; we went back on Sunday too! We lucked out both days without a wait, but every time we left, people were waiting to eat. The Chile Rellenos were delicious from The Pantry, and my husband’s meal (a special) was just as good.
Every restaurant had some sort of chilis, and every building/ house/ hotel hanging chile- Ristras. They are really for hanging to dry out, but often used for decoration and said to bring good health and good luck.
After breakfast, we took an uber to pick up our rental car. We dropped it off at the hotel (Inn on the Alameda Reservation) and walked to Canyon Road for the Art Galleries. The items are beautiful and very friendly. This is a must-do to see, even if you are not big into art. After, we headed into the square for lunch, a drink, and to walk around. Choosing a lunch spot was tough, there was a wait for most places we looked up. We found somewhere for a drink but due to COVID-19, we had to get a small appetizer (chips and salsa were enough for where we went). Then we walked around, we walked past the Palace of the Governors, St. Francis of Assisi, Miguel Chapel, the oldest house in America, and into the square for shopping in the plaza. There was filming for ‘Holiday in Santa Fe’ coming out in 2021 with Mario Lopez, so the square looked very pretty and clean and had lights and chilis everywhere (no spotting of Mario, even though I was following him on Instagram). I know he was enjoying Chile Rellenos as well. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Kakawa chocolate house and got mini hot chocolate shots that were delicious.
For dinner, we first went in our hotel lobby to have a drink around the Kiva, then went to dinner at Tomasita’s, but had a wait so went to a cocktail bar called Santa Fe Spirits Downtown Tasting Room and sat at a table while being served delicious drinks. After 2 drinks we walked back over for dinner and again, had an amazing New Mexican meal- this time we got some Pasole- it is a puffed pastry served with honey to help with the heat from all the chilis! It all is so good.
The next morning, we got some donuts at Whoo’s Donuts, and drove over to the Railyard for the artisan market. We were able to park for free, and got come coffee at Sky Coffee, walked around the market for a little, then headed for a hike at Pecos National Historical Park. We had already planned to do the South Pasture loop trail, but there are many trails. The one we did was quiet, flat, and very beautiful. We did stop at the center for info on hiking and times for trails and gates to close (this was key since we did run into a closed gate when we left). We went back after our hike to walk the Gateway to the Plains for a little history lesson as well, this was an easy walk/ hike through with a lot of people walking around. On our way back we stopped at Second Street Brewery for a drink and later got dinner at Marias. (Marias was very slow service but has the potential to be very good and fun- again we went during a strange time with the pandemic.)
On our last day, we got up early and drove about an hour to Albuquerque for our Hot Air Balloon Ride with Rainbow Riders. Our pilot was great! This experience is for sure a bucket list item. You first arrive at the building, fill out paperwork, and they let you know your pilot, and then they come and grab you. You load into vans and drive to your area to start the process. The area for take-off is different every day based on winds and weather. Once you are there you get to see the entire experience of the balloon getting filled up. You hop in your basket and away you go. We did sign up for the sunrise, but by the time you are in the air the sun is up, but the view is amazing. We saw a coyote out looking for breakfast, porcupines in trees sleeping, we went over the Rio Grande (about 1 foot from it!) then back up and get to see all the mountain ranges- it is a smooth ride since you are going with the wind, it is not windy at all. Since there is no designated landing area- we ended up landing in a school parking lot, the same vans ended up finding us to back up the basket and balloon, and we had our champagne toast next to an elementary school preparing for kid drop off.
After the ride, we drove back to Santa Fe, got massages at Spa at Body, walked up to the Cross of Marty’s on Santa Fe Hill for sunset (unfortunately, we were not able to stick around to see the stars- I had brought my telescope since we had dinner reservations). We went to dinner in the square at The Shed and had a nice smoked mezcal margarita to end the trip!
Overall, I highly recommend a trip to Santa Fe, NM. The city is beautiful, the art is appreciated, and the food is tasty. If you have additional time, I recommend going to a hot spring and venturing out to look with your telescope. Check out the video from the trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCVSgJtnFQY
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