Friday, May 31, 2013

The Plaza – Santa Fe, NM

Raton Pass, NM  High 81  Low 41

We covered all of 70 miles on Wednesday into Santa Fe. We had planned on camping at the Camel Rock Casino but their parking lot for RV’s is dirt and the wind gusts were 50 mph. It was a a mess. So we broke down and went into a park in town.

We stayed at the Los Suenos de Santa Fe RV park. Santa Fe is an expensive area to visit. Our two nights, with a Good Sam discount, was $70.50. That is definitely more than we usually pay. However, it was the cheapest rate that I could find.

It’s hard to find the park because the city council won’t let them put out a sign on the road. That’s the same city council that won’t let the Fairgrounds rent out campsites any more either. So if you plan to stay there, call and get the directions which involved parked Ryder Rental trucks and The Lofts.

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The major plus for this park is the fact that the city bus picks you up right outside the park and takes you downtown to the plaza. For $1.00 you can get an all day geezer pass. Or you can pay $1.00 for the ride down and $1.00 for the ride back to the park. This is definitely the way to see downtown Santa Fe. Very narrow streets and no parking.

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P1030498 The Spitz Clock – The Spitz Jewelry Store was established on the Plaza in 1881 and a clock, without works, was place in front of the store for an advertisement. This clock was replaced by a functioning clock and stood until 1915 when it was knocked down by one of the first motor trucks in Santa Fe. A used clock was found in Kansas and was put back up. When the plaza was developed in 1967 the clock was donated to the city.

Lots of colorful murals all over the city.

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Santa Fe Plaza has been the commercial, social and political center of Santa Fe since about 1610 when it was established by Don Pedro de Peralta. The original Plaza was a presidio (fort) surrounded by a large defensive wall that enclosed residences, barracks, a chapel, a prison and the Governor's palace. Eventually the wall gave way to large houses built by high-ranking Spanish officers and officials. 

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Look at how green the grass and trees are. Been a long time since we’ve seen that kind of green.

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The original palacio, the Palace of the Governors, was built between 1610 and 1612. The Palace of the Governors is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States. It is now a museum and outside on the sidewalk is the Native American Vendors Program where licensed artists sell their wares.

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This picture is for Denise. Lots of Harley riders.

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Santa Fe is going to take several posts. There is just so much to see and do and we barely scratched the surface while we were there. We didn’t visit any museums and there are several of them. We didn’t stop in any of the little shops and there are hundreds of them. We didn’t make it to the capital or the railroad yards. Both stops I wanted to make. Next time.

But we did see these clouds. Been a long time since we’ve seen clouds as well as the green in the plaza.

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14 comments:

  1. Kinda wished I had gone back to Santa Fe... I was there a few years back but didn't spend as much time there as I wanted.

    I am enjoying your tour through there. I remember it with no green. A very nice ambiance, however and good food!

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  2. Santa Fe is a place we've yet to visit so I'll be looking forward to your posts about best places to visit. I like that geezer pass for the day ... great idea. Pretty expensive two night stay.

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  3. I think that you can stay at the Wal*Mart in Santa Fe. Also, if you belong to the Elk's they have a place you can stay also.

    If you like green chile cheeseburgers, try the Second Street Brewery (two locations) and get the kid's burger - it's huge!

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  4. I've only stayed in Santa Fe overnight on my way to a COE campground, so now I'm getting to see what I missed.

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  5. I'll take the green; some of those clouds spit on us today.

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  6. We've only visited Santa Fe once but really fell in love with it. Like you, I really appreciated the "green" we found there. Such a nice city.

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  7. A dirt parking lot with a 50 mph wind doesn't sound good, so you were wise to pay for something better. I've been close to, but never made it into Santa Fe, so I'll visit it through your blog.

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  8. It's been a long, long time since we've been to Santa Fe. You broke down and moved in 50 mph winds???? That's not a good thing.

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  9. That sure is expensive for two nights. Glad to see you getting out and seeing so much 'cause I know you love it. Don't wear Jim out though !

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  10. We have been in SF several times. It's a very nice town, but like you say not a cheap place to stay in.

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  11. We had a great time in Santa Fe. There was a big Indian party of some sort going on in the center plaza. It was so colorful and the food was great.

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  12. Over the years we were in Santa Fe quite a few times; once taking my daughter when she visited us while we were staying in Durango. Reading about it and pictures in various blogs always brings back good memories. I pick up a lot of "facts" that I missed (more likely forgot by the time I got to write in my diary back then). When Jack and I went by ourselves in 2010, we met friends and enjoyed the area--for some reason I had altitude sickness almost all the time I was in New Mexico.

    We generally headed up toward Taos after a few days, then on to the San Juans. Thanks for posting, Sandi. Scratches and pets to S&S and hi to Jim.

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  13. Nick and Terry were also in Santa Fe and they weren't impressed. Have fun and take your time.

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  14. We visited Santa Fe before we went fulltiming, there is a lot to do in the area. We need to visit in our RV.

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Thanks for visiting today. I look forward to reading your comments. Have a beautiful day.