2024 New Mexico Vacation

The Land of Enchantment…

Wikipedia info on New Mexico

Because of a date change for a major fund-raising event at work, we were able to plan a fall vacation around our Anniversary for the first time in several years. We thought of returning to Savannah, then thought about Charleston with a day trip to Savannah, but as it got closer, we did a 180 and chose to visit Santa Fe. So happy that we did! We left on Wednesday, and like we most often do, we avoided interstate highways, we stopped for the night in Lubbock.

We arrived on Thursday, 10/31, and checked in at the Pueblo Bonito Inn, our home for the stay. The lodging included a kitchen, fireplace, and separate bedroom, perfect for a long stay and close to everything. At around 5PM, we arrived and proceeded to unpack, buy groceries and drinks, and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

On Friday, we visited the Tumbleroot Brewery, where we plan to attend some events next week. Interestingly, it was the final day of the season that the outdoor patio was available. The venue is amazing with welcoming people. Later, we dined at Cafe Castro before strolling around downtown.

On Saturday, we visited the Farmer’s Market in the Railyards area. The market is open every Saturday throughout the year, and more frequently in the spring and summer. It was a fascinating place with both outdoor and indoor sections. Apart from the locally grown produce, there were numerous arts and crafts vendors.

During the evening, we participated in the Dia de los Muertos festivities at the square. It was a fantastic experience, filled with music and positive energy. While there, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at The Shed.

For Sunday, we booked seats on the Sky Railway train for the Sunset Serenade. Late clouds sorta obscured the sunset but it was a beautiful evening. Musicians on the train were cool, and the views were a nice touch, great night.

On Monday, we woke up to beautiful snow. We decided to mostly stay in and chill until our dinner reservations that evening for our anniversary. We had a wonderful meal and great evening at Dinner for Two, even though it was close, we ubered so we would not have to drive and could both enjoy a few a drinks. Happy 10th Anniversary to us!

Tuesday was drive and hike (walk) scenic day. It is so beautiful in this area. First stop was White Rock Overlook which offered views of the Rio Grande River as it runs along the Jemez Mountains and expansive views of the river, distant mountains, and rugged canyons. As luck would have it we had the place to oursleves until we we walking back to the car to leave. Great experience.

Next we headed to Bandelier National Monument National Park. The parj Bandelier National Monument is a 33,677-acre United States National Monument near Los Alamos in Sandoval and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico. The monument preserves the homes and territory of the Ancestral Puebloans of a later era in the Southwest.

Tuesday was a day for a scenic drive and hike. The area is incredibly beautiful. Our first stop was White Rock Overlook, which offered stunning views of the Rio Grande River as it flows alongside the Jemez Mountains. We enjoyed expansive vistas of the river, distant mountains, and rugged canyons. Fortunately, we had the place to ourselves until we started walking back to the car. It was a great experience.

Next, we headed to Bandelier National Monument. This 33,677-acre United States National Monument is located near Los Alamos in Sandoval and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico. It preserves the homes and territory of the Ancestral Puebloans from a later era in the Southwest. We had fun exploring the area on mostly easy walking trails and climbing up to some of the ancient caves in the mountains that were once inhabited.

We also drove around Los Alamos a little and stopped there to eat before heading back to Santa Fe. We had a great late lunch/early dinner at the Blue Window Bistro.

Snow again Wednesday, this time lots! We stayed closed during the day, walking around downtown and the square a bit. We toured the small Loretto Chapel with the famous staircase, very cool. Click here to read more about it. Grabbed some Frito Pies for lunch at Cowgirl BBQ, pretty cool place.

That evening we went to see the first of two shows while here, Lucero and The Vandoliers @ Tumbleroot. It was very good, we’ve seen Lucero before (in New Orleans) a favorite band of mine. I’d heard the Vandoliers before but had no idea they were so good live, such raw energy, they rocked it.

Oh boy, Thursday brought so much snow! Our reservations at Meow Wolf were cancelled for that evening. This was the earliest big snow 12″ plus in decades, and some of the ski areas were going to be able to open early this year. This was LOT of snow. We pretty much just hunkered down and enjoyed the casa and fireplace. We knew it was coming and stocked up on food and snacks.

Friday would be our last full day here, we did some organizing/packing, cleaning up, and I think we managed to get in a nap before going to the Waco Brothers show. The roads had been cleared, and travel was not an issue, thankfully. Big WB fan, and all the other bands the members are associated with, going back to the Mekons, a British post-punk band formed in 1976. Because of the weather, one of the main members, Jon Langford, could not make it. I was kind of bummed, but the band was awesome anyway, since this is band where lead vocals are shared and songs are written by various members. It was great.

We took a different route out so we could stop by Roswell, had to since we were this close!
There were some things we planned to do, and didn’t becuase of the weather or time, and there is so much more to do than what we even had planned, we generally like to explore new places for our vacations, but I could really see us coming back to this area again. We really enjoyed it…