S for Santa Fe #BlogchatterA2Z

 Santa Fe, New Mexico 

Santa Fe has been our favorite town for vacation for a long time. 

Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico state. 

Camel Rock Monument, Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks Monument, and Bandelier National Monument are unique places to hike. We can watch rocks formed from volcanic ash, ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings, and petroglyphs. 

The architecture of Loretto Chapel and its unique stairs are worth a visit. 

We love the Mexican food. They ask our preference for red chile or green chile in all their dishes in Santa Fe. 

It is also an art city. There are innumerable art displays, metal installations, and creative displays on Canyon Road. There are more than 200 art galleries in town. 

Here is our travelogue.

Whatever might be your taste - hiking, architecture, art, food, etc., you will love this place. 

I love this art installation outside Meow Wolf. As the name sounds, Meow Wolf is a fun place to see unexpected and interesting art installations, such as illusions, interactive media, and confusing mazes.

Until next time,

I'm participating in #BlogchatterA2Z

Other A2Z Posts:

A for Arches National Park

B for Bigbend National park

C for Capitol Reef National Park

D for Disney

E for Escalante National Monument

F for Fort Davis

G for Great Smoky Mountains National Park

H for Hot Springs National Park

I for Idaho Springs

J for Jackson Hole

K for Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

L for Las Vegas

M for Monument Valley

N for Niagara Falls

O for Orlando

P for Pikes Peak

Q for Quiet and Secluded

R for Rocky Mountain National Park

S for Santa Fe

T for Talimena Scenic Drive

U for Utah

V for Vermont

W for White Sands National Park

X for Xtreme Weather

Y for Yellowstone National Park

Z for Zion National Park

 Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico. It is abbreviated as ABQ and gets its name from Spanish. ABQ is a great place for a family vacation due to its unique landscape and mild weather throughout the year.

5 Best things to do in Albuquerque with Kids:

1. Experiencing the International Baloon Festival

The International Baloon Fiesta organized every year in October is the most anticipated event in Albuquerque. In 2021, it is scheduled for October 2nd to 10th, and usually, the tickets start selling by June itself. 

The colorful balloons in creative shapes dotting the skyline during Sunrise / SunSet are considered to be a wonderful sight. Balloon rides also will be available to see the city from the air.

We are planning to attend this year, but have to see if we can make it.

There is a hot air balloon museum in the city if you want to know more about balloons!

Image by Thaddeus Moore from Pixabay 

2. Hiking the Petroglyph National monument 

This is a must-visit place if you are traveling with kids. Petroglyph National monument protects a landscape of 17 miles with designs and ancient symbols carved on volcanic rocks by Native Americans from 500 to 700 years ago.

The Park is split into 3 areas - Boca Negra Canyon, Rinconada Canyon, and Piedras Marcadas Canyon.

 Mesa Point trail in Boca Negra canyon is an easy 0.4-mile trail with a little bit of climbing to the top and is a good introduction to petroglyphs. The cliff base trail and Macaw trail are both easy.

Rinconada Canyon and Piedras Marcadas Canyon have options for longer hikes with more petroglyphs to view.

3. Ride the Sandia peak tramway

Reaching the Sandia peak of 11,000 ft elevation on the tramway in mere 15 mins is great to relish the views of this desert city. 

While the top of the mountain is 20 to 30 degrees cooler than city temperature, there are hundreds of hiking trails to access from the peak. There is also a restaurant TEN3 on the peak.

Watching Sunset riding on the tramway is considered the most memorable experience for any.

We couldn't ride the tram due to high winds when we went in February, but we drove to the peak. We came across the ski area and hiking trails on the way.

Photo courtesy: Flickr

4. Enjoy the Mexican Food

If you are like us who love Mexican food, Albuquerque seems like a paradise for food lovers. El pinto restaurant in North Valley is unique in the interior and exterior decoration and famous for the authentic and tasty Mexican food.

It's difficult to get a table on weekends and weekdays alike, so we reserved ahead for dinner. We loved the experience and 100% recommend it to all visitors.

Be prepared to answer if you want green chile or red or Christmas(a combination of both red and green).

Some other highly recommended Mexican restaurants are Flying star Cafe, Papa Felipe's Mexican Restaurant, Padilla's Mexican kitchen, Little Anita's, Cocina Azul, and Church Street Cafe.

5. Walk the Old downtown Albuquerque 

No trip is complete without understanding the culture and history of the place, right? I suggest you don't miss a walk downtown.

Church street cafe is famous in the downtown which you can consider for lunch. San De Felip Neri church is the oldest standing church. This church has an interesting Virgin Mary sculpture carved in the tree which is known as the Virgen De Guadalupe tree.  Turquoise jewelry is famous here! Don't forget to shop downtown.

San Felipe De Neri Church PC: Creative common license

  Bonus tips:

1. We loved exploring the National Museum of Nuclear science and history. It takes 2 to 4 hrs to cover the museum, but kids will love this. ABQ Bio park is another recommended place for kids.

2. Someday trips to consider from Albuquerque : 

a. Jemez Mountain scenic byway with hot springs and waterfalls

b. Santa Fe - Read this travelogue for more details

c. Sky city at Acoma pueblo (the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America) - around 1.5 hrs from Albuquerque 

d. Bisti Badlands near Farmington - 2.5 hrs from Albuquerque 

e. Chaco culture national historic park - 2.5 hrs from Albuquerque 

3. Read more about our New Mexico Road trip if you want to extend your trip from Albuquerque to Four corners monument, White sands National park, Roswell and Bandelier National Monument, and Kasha- Katuwe National Monument.

The weather is getting better, are you planning for any trip? Would love to know your travel plans. 

Feel free to comment.

Until next time,

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White Sands National Park, New Mexico - A Travelogue

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This post is the first part of our #NewMexico Family Travelogue. Read my post about the Top 5 places to visit in New Mexico, before this post. 

White Sands National park is around 500 miles from Colorado Springs. So, we decided to start driving from Thursday afternoon and reach Albuquerque by night and relax for the night before visiting the park. 

On the way to Albuquerque, we stopped at Santa Fe for dinner. If you love South Indian food, don't miss eating at 'Paper Dosa' restaurant in Santa Fe. We all enjoyed a hearty meal with Dosa and uthappam. Even the interior and decor are simple and pleasing. 

Paper Dosa

We reached Albuquerque by 10 Pm and relaxed for the night. The next morning after a full breakfast, we started our drive to White Sands. The drive is around 3.5 hrs from Albuquerque. So, we had lunch near Alamogordo, NM and reached around 2PM to White sands national park.

White Sands National Monument

White Sands is the world's largest Gypsum dune field. With white everywhere, even our eyes strained a bit. The dunes were white with soft sand. Fortunately, it was cloudy on that day with no/ less breeze. So, we had a lot of fun sledding on the sand.

White Sands national park is located in a dessert in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico. Around 100 million years ago, the water evaporated here leaving behind the deposits of salt and gypsum. 

As per Wiki,


The Sacramento and San Andres Mountains, with the Tularosa Basin between them, took shape approximately 250 million years ago. Giant upheavals in the Earth's crust distorted the land along with the gypsum deposits, forcing them high into the air about 70 million years ago. Rainfall and melted water came from the mountains causing the gypsum to percolate out and the concentrated solutions were washed down the mountainsides. The gypsum solution accumulated in Lake Lucero, the lowest part of the Tularosa Basin. Water in the lake does not have any means of escaping except by evaporation, which leaves behind thin layers of crystallized gypsum, or selenite. Weathering then reduced these crystals to fine, sandy grains. Winds then carried the grains farther up the basin, and the grains piled in steep dunes that often reach as high as 15 m (50 ft). The winds carved more dunes and, while at the same time, carried small amounts of the gypsum grains by distances of up to 9 m (30 ft) a year.


This constant movement still occurs today, and with the added alkaline and the little amount of rainfall makes it difficult for plants to grow here leaving the desert as desolate as it appears today.

The Visitor Center has many exhibits about the sand formation. $25 is the entry fee for each vehicle. You can get water only at the visitor center and, there is no availability of food and water inside the park. There are many picnic areas inside, so we can pack food and eat. Restrooms are available at the Visitor Center. The native plants of Chihuahuan dessert at the Visitor center are interesting!

 

Dunes Drive

We took the map, bought a sand sled, wax cube and started our drive. Dunes scenic drive is an 8-mile loop that goes into the heart of the White sands. There is sand on the road as well. At the starting of the scenic drive, there is a boardwalk built to walk and watch the dunes. We took some photos there, learned about desert life from the information posted.

Sand on the way too

The Rangers told us that the place where the drive takes a loop is good for sledding. With sunglasses ON, we walked, climbed on the dunes and enjoyed the sledding. Time went quickly and I would say, Kids easily spend 2 to 3 hrs on dunes by sledding.

Huge dunes of soft sand for sledding

We went on a cloudy day, but I suggest not to forget Cap, sunscreen, and sunglasses when you visit Sand dunes. Bring more water!!! There is an option to buy sleds and return them to get a few dollars back at the Visitor Center gift shop. We also bought a wax cube. By rubbing the wax cube on the sled, it slides better. 

These Picnic areas are so stylish!

We specifically wore bright color clothes just to look bright on a white background on all our photos. We had such a memorable experience and Kids enjoyed it a lot.

Our next stop was to Carlsbad. We took accommodation at White's city near Carlsbad Caverns national park. This decision was really helpful as the hotel was just 15 mins away from the entrance of the cave. So, it was easy for us to reach Caves early the next morning. 

Carlsbad is around 3.5 hrs from White Sands national park. We came through a route crossing a curvy road and mountains through Cloudcroft. The drive was beautiful and scenic. My next post will cover our travelogue on Carlsbad and the remaining New Mexico trip.

I hope you like my travelogue!

Until Next time,

Accommodations in Santa Fe:

The top 6 things to do in Santa Fe, New Mexico

This post may contain affiliate links, clicking on those links may earn some commission to us without any additional cost to you.

Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico. It is famous for its houses in pueblo style architecture and the art displays.

The town is vibrant, colorful and heaven for art lovers. There are innumerable art museums and several art stores displaying their creations. This place is also famous for its authentic Mexican cuisine. I am not foody, but I can vouch for it as I loved the Mexican food there.

How to reach and Where to stay?

Flight options below $300:

A few accommodation options in Santa Fe:

Here are a few places that you must visit on a 2-day trip :

1. Meow Wolf :
I have prepared this list keeping my kids in mind, so all these places are kid-friendly. The first one from the list is Meow Wolf. This is a unique house with art installations and interactive media which is interesting for kids to explore. This is also kind of a maze where there are confusing connections between rooms. Kids and parents can spend around 2hrs exploring the house.

The tickets are priced at $29 for adults and $21 for kids. Check this site for more information.

Meow Wolf

2. Art displays :

If you love art, there is not a second of a dull moment in Santafe. There are innumerable art displays and museums. Canyon Road is a street full of art displays, metal installations, creative designs etc. There are around 200 art galleries present in the same street. So, A stroll in the evening on this road is very interesting. Nedra Matteucci Gallery is beautiful. 

3. Museums:

 Even though there are multiple museums, some of them that I found interesting are :

• Georgia O'Keefee Museum - Every Friday, the admission is free from 5 to 8PM. 
• Museum of Fine Arts
• Palace of Governors / New Mexico History Museum

4. Architectural displays :

If you love architecture, visit Loretto Chapel for their famous spiral staircase and the Cathedral Basilica of St.Francis of Assisi for beautiful designs. Since they don't allow you to touch spiral stairs, I felt, the admission fee is not worth it in Loretto Chapel.

If you have time, Visit Shidoni Gallery. Entry fee is $5 and Kids will love this.

You can visit the Oldest House in the

Cathedral Basilica of St.Francis of Assisi

USA. 









5. Outdoors / Hiking:

If  you like outdoor activities like hiking, walking scenic trails and exploring nature, then you can add the below places to your list:

Camel Rock Monument is on US Route 84 near exit 175. It is a good place to take pictures.

Kasha - Katuwe Tent Rocks National monument is a unique place to watch rocks formed like cones. These cone-shaped formations are the result of Volcanic eruptions that occurred around 6 million years ago. This is approximately 40 miles from Santa Fe.

Image by : https://pixabay.com/photos/tent-rocks-kasha-katuwe-desert-796004/

Bandelier National Monument preserves the Petroglyphs and the ancient Pueblo style cliff dwellings. 

Also, Kids would love to visit Liquid Light Glass. It is a glass gallery/ studio. Children will be excited to see the demos of how glass is made and they can even take classes.

Santa Fe Botanical Garden is a good place to explore different plants and flowers. Even the road leading to the gardens has excellent mountain views. 

Camel Rock Monument

6. Food :

If you love Mexican food, do try 

The Shed 
Cafe Pasqual's
Compound Restaurant

For lovely desserts, check these places
Whoo's Donuts
Ecco
Kakawa Chocolate House

Kakawa Chocolate house is famous for Aztec Warrior Chocolate Elixir. Blue corn pancakes are the preferred local flavor for breakfast and Strawberry Habanero Gelato is a must try at Ecco.

How did you like this travel guide? What activities you might enjoy as a family in Santa Fe? Do let me know in comments.

Until next time,