Never Have I Ever Been To “Santa Fe”

Okay, so this is again going to be a long post. Maybe I just like to talk a lot.

So, after all the job related drama (https://myreallifeversion.com/never-have-i-ever-been-laid-off/), I was convinced I needed a celebratory / relaxing trip. I needed to get out and just relax for a few days before beginning the new job. So, as always, I started looking up for places to go. I have been binge watching on this show called “Gilmore Girls” (watching it the second time actually) and that show is about a single mother and her daughter. It is a fun show based in a fictional town called “Stars Hollow”. While watching that show, I figured I wanted a vacation like that. In a small town, away from the city. The other things to consider were : closer to the west coast, walkable and overall needs to be fun. And that’s how I landed with “Santa Fe”. I watched a couple of videos on youtube and it seemed cool, so that’s it I booked the tickets and was all set.

It was a three day trip and boy, what fun these three days were. So firstly, there is no direct flight from Seattle to Santa Fe, you have to take a connecting fight from Phoenix. Only way to get there. And the only reasonably good flight was the 5:12 AM flight from Seattle which would land at 10:45 AM in Santa Fe. To reach the airport at 3:30 AM, a normal person would sleep at like 10-11 and would get up by 2. But that’s not me. I did not sleep the entire night, obviously and then proceeded to walk through the airport like a zombie. The journey was adventurous from forgetting the second boarding pass in the kiosk, running to get it and standing in the security check line twice, getting black coffee which was surprisingly not that bad after the first sip, getting three seats to sleep (which is all I need considering I am 5’1”) and still not managing to doze off even for a minute to realizing that I have only a 30 min layover in Phoenix which means this flight better lands on time. But well, everything worked out and I did reach Santa Fe in one piece. I forgot to mention I watched this movie a couple of days ago “Runway 34” since there was nothing else to watch which is about a pilot saving the airplane from a crash. Not a good idea if you are going to go on a solo trip a few days later.

So, sorry for derailing, but I did land in Santa Fe, and the airport, well here it is. To say, that this was one of the smallest airports I have ever seen is a big deal, since I have seen some crazy small airports, like Jomsum / Pokhara airport. It was cute in an old charming way.

On my cab ride from the airport to my hotel, had a super fun chat with Dexter, the cab driver. He warned me about headaches because Santa Fe is 7500 ft above sea level and he told me to keep drinking water. I did ignore all warnings because that is just what I do. The city was beautiful and sunny. The whole of Santa Fe follows the Adobe style of architecture. This architecture helps the houses to remain cold in summer and warm in winter. I would have never ever believed there is a town like this in US. It is crazy, a completely different experience. At this point, I was very tired and was hoping to get an early check-in. The hotel people were nice and just gave me the keys. I was hoping to sleep for a couple of hours, but could not for some reason.

I got lunch after that. Enchiladas. But they serve a dessert with it. Pico bread with honey. It is a triangle shaped bread filled with a sugarish stuffing. It was good, not too sweet at all and different. (Just added sugarish in my dictionary. It is good to think you can make your own words). The only thing I regretted was having a drink with it. Because, Dexter was right, severe headache. I had booked my tickets to an art experience so I had to go there but that was it for me for that day. Reached hotel, got some medicines to be door dashed, and slept. Oh, forgot to share pictures of the immersive art experience – Meow Wolf. It was pretty cool.

So as you can imagine, I did not do too much on the first day. For the second day, I had something really relaxing planned. A whole day at the Spa! Yes, I heard of this really fun Spa resort “Oja Santa Fe“, and I was very excited to do this. I thought this would be perfect for the kind of vacation I was hoping for. Soaked in a hot tub for almost an hour, got a massage done, enjoyed the steam room. Talked to random people in the tub as well. Fun. Relaxing and very beautiful. It almost started snowing. Apart from that, I got to meet some “Silkie Chickens”. Apparently, they are not good enough to be raised for meat. But they are very cute. I picked one up too. The first time I did, she flapped her wings and rejected me outright. Second time was better. Got a very bad picture clicked but it was fun. They also have a puppy area, where they have all these cute puppies and rescue dogs which are up for adoption and some petting too. There was one rescue dog who was so scared and timid and I got him finally letting me touch him when the owner was near. Then there were four very energetic puppies who chewed on everything. My jacket, cap, the spa id, everything. Saw some ducks too. So pretty cool. Also, ended up doing a jigsaw puzzle for some reason. I love puzzles. This one had a very beautiful question on top of it “When storms come, what anchors you?”

So I spent a whole day there. One of the best things I could do. To top it off, I went for the sunset view at “Cross of the Martyrs.” By the time I reached there, it was already dark and it was snowing beautifully. I cannot tell you how I felt at the top there. It felt as if it is snowing only for me. Took some really cute videos and pictures. Headed to the hotel room back and called it a night.

The third day, well, this was supposed to be the day I just walked around town. My hotel was really close to the Santa Fe downtown plaza. I went around a few sights. Loretto Chapel, which has this stairway an engineering marvel, two 360 degree turns without any central support. Read more about their story here. The St. Francis Cathedral which was beautiful. Some really cool art galleries. Kakawa Chocolate House where I had a chocolate flight with whipped cream on the side. Never heard of such a thing. The flavors on the extreme were nice. Not a big fan of nutmeg or unsweetened chocolate. How is it even chocolate if it not sweet at all? Ugh. The oldest house and church in USA exists in Santa Fe. Too much history. In the oldest house, there is a coffin which has a headless skeleton. Some really spooky story of two witches cutting off the head of a guy, when he complained about the love potion that the witches gave him. Weird. The church has an enormous bell which you cannot ring. Also, visited some stores and museums in the downtown area. There is just so much art to look at. Talked to a woman who makes these dolls for her living. It takes her a few hours to make one. Very pretty in their native attire. Carrying babies for some reason. There is also a lot of pottery culture here. They make a design which is called three feather design. The three feathers are for blessing, healing and protection. The clouds depict the rain and the cross depicts love. Made a final trip to the plaza. After sitting there for a while, I noticed the decorations were just made of red chillies. Weird. Overall, a very fun day. Good food, better wine, and very beautiful sunshine day. Finally managed to get some cool pictures of me too.

So, overall, I am very happy I took this decision. Cleared my head and was the perfect vacation for me. I am really glad I took this call. Took the whole “Aisa mauka shayad pher kabhi na mile!” quite seriously. Because well you will always be able to go to NYC, LA, Miami but towns like these are rare to visit and that makes it so much better. It is special. I was back to Seattle yesterday night but I’ll miss you Santa Fe. I’ll miss the place, but more than the place, the people. The cab driver who warned me about the headaches, the second cab driver who told me he got so burnt out with the city thing, he moved here and now goes to learn tango every week. The old lady in the hot tub who has two houses, one in Texas and one in Santa Fe. Comes here every few months. The art gallery owner who had an Indian girlfriend who he dated for three-four years but never got to marry her. The two ladies in the church, one of them who visited India and had been to Mumbai, the other who had a grand son called “Arjun” and thinks it is a fascinating story. The hotel owner who refunded a small amount of the hotel because I complained of mosquitoes (even after me insisting to pay him back) and also told me how this was all a part of Mexico and how everything is cheap there. And the grand mother on my return flight who loved the language I spoke on the phone (Gujarati), was in back to back surgeries for 22 months, was super proud of her grand daughter “Nayeli” who secured a 75000$ university grant. Is it not wonderful? When you are open to listening, people tell you such beautiful stories.

I think every place you visit leaves you with a little more character and a little more wonder on how people live their lives. Please, please take a solo trip once if you can. It is scary, and could be boring, but you get to know so much about people, about the place, and about yourself too, if you pay close enough attention.

Signing off until next time. I hope you have a beautiful, beautiful day and if you are about to sleep, think of all the wonderful places in the world, that you are yet to see, yet to experience.