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New Mexico Girls Trip

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Last weekend I had a chance to do a long-awaited girls trip with my tribe of HS friends! It was such a fun weekend to reconnect with them since the last time we got together was pre-pandemic when we had a lovely time enjoying Palm Springs. This time, we chose to explore Santa Fe mainly because it was a destination that was a short flight away and not a place that any of had been to before!

I flew out late late Thursday night and met Way at the airport in Albuquerque. We stayed at a hotel nearby, and then spent Friday exploring ABQ. We walked around the lovely little square in old town Albuquerque, drove around and checked out the city a bit, including the Rio Grande, and went to the Albuquerque Museum. After that, we picked up Becca from the airport and since Sayo's flight was delayed, we stopped to grab a drink at the upscale food hall Sawmill Market. We finally grabbed Sayo around 6pm and then boogied over to Santa Fe (about an hour's drive) to make it in time for our dinner reservations at La Plazuela. The restaurant is in one of the main hotels in old town Santa Fe and had a lovely setting and was the perfect start for us.

Chilis everywhere!
Walking around old town ABQ
The cute mariachi band outside Church St Cafe

Lunch of Pozole and Steak Salad

Inside Church St Cafe

Chili dusted margarita!

Insight the Albuqueque Museum

Tableside guac at La Plazuela

Girl friends for life!

On Saturday, our main activity was to check out Meow Wolf, which is this interactive museum where there's a bit of mystery to solve - essentially, a family is missing and you have to figure out what happened. I had no idea what to expect and it sounds creepier than it is, but the exhibit was amazing. It was so much fun and I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't been! Everywhere you turn there is something to see and it's a bit of sensory overload, but it was super fun and a great way to spend a few hours. 

We spent the rest of the day exploring Canyon Road, which is the main arts drag of Santa Fe, and walking around Old Town. We checked out the Loretto Chapel to see the famous staircase (pretty cool), walked to get chocolates at Kakawa Chocolate House, and then grabbed dinner to go from The Shed.

The start of the Meow Wolf exhibit. Everything is interactive; they encourage you to touch everything and explore. Way is being nosy and reading the mail!

One of the many cool rooms

Candy room!

The fridge takes you to an alternate universe!

Trippy....

Another funny roo

Best room ever. This had clowns all over. SO WEIRD.

Walking the galleries on Canyon Road

Sculptures everywhere!

San Loretto Chapel

The miraculous staircase. 2 spirals going 360 degrees, no center column. How does it stay up?

Beautiful adobe architecture everywhere you look

We headed out on Sunday to check out Bandolier National Monument to do a little bit of hiking and learn about the puebla indians who lived in this area. It was fascinating to see how they used the caves in the cliffside to live. The highlight was climbing up to "The Alcove" - it's 140ft up which doesn't sound like a lot but when you're actually climbing the ladders, it's a bit nerve wracking. Definitely not kid friendly.

We rewarded ourselves after the hike with a visit to the famous Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs. It's considered the oldest health spa in the states (opened in 1868) and has 9 soaking pools, many of them with "healing" properties like arsenic (good for arthritic), soda (aids digestion), iron (helps your immune system), lithua (depression), and mud (for baby soft skin!). It was a nice few hours to relax before heading back to Santa Fe for dinner at Geronimo. This was another highlight of the trip - great service and fantastic food, one of the best ones I've had in a long time! 

Baking in the hot sun

See those holes? Those are the cliffside caves the local native americans lived in!

View of "the Alcove" and the ladders you have to climb up to get there

Closer view. I think there were 4 ladders in total.

Not recommended for anyone who is scared of heights

Steep!


Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Spa

Fancy dinner at Geronimo

All in all, I had a great time in Santa Fe. The altitude (7,000 ft) surprised us and Becca had a hard time adjusting, but aside from that, it was a really beautiful, but quiet, city. We enjoyed the adobe architecture everywhere and I especially loved how they use chilis in all their food! It was also just plain nice to have the weekend away from work and to just pamper myself and hang with my friends. Thank you to Scott for watching the kiddos while I was gone!

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