Roswell & Santa Fe

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Roswell, New Mexico

April 30

After a campsite breakfast and coffee, we rolled up camp, said goodbye to our hosts and headed out of the Guadalupe Mountain range and towards Santa Fe, New Mexico, with a planned stop in Roswell to meet some aliens. We were again treated to some beautiful New Mexico scenery and a pretty funny roadside oddity.

Roswell was about 160 miles away and we got there around 12:30 PM.  We discovered that Roswell doesn’t really take itself too seriously, and is more about kitsch than actual alien conspiracy and fact finding.  The famous “Roswell Incident”, the supposed UFO crash, actually occurred about 75 miles north of Roswell.  So, in Roswell itself there are hokey museums and other things that leverage that fame for tourist dollars.  That’s not to say it’s not a fun place to visit…it was just a bit different than we had expected.  We had a lot of fun there for the afternoon.

We walked historic downtown finding endless references to aliens and UFOs.

We also hit major alien-related “to-do’s” in town such as the Roswell Spacewalk, Spaceport Roswell, and the International UFO Museum and Research Center. The Spacewalk and Spaceport were very fun interactive and virtual reality hokey adventures.  The guy at Spaceport Roswell could barely keep a straight face as he tried to stay in character guiding us to our “flight”. The Museum and Research Center was more focused on the famous Roswell Incident, the people involved, and the government “cover-up”, but there were also cool alien and UFO displays and exhibits.

By late afternoon we got back into spaceship Jeep and headed to Santa Fe, about 3.5 hours away.   Here, we met up with Emilie’s nephew Korey at a very nice, somewhat remote Airbnb house about 20 minutes from downtown Santa Fe.

Take out dinner from Panera Bread, conversation with Korey, and then bed.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

May 1

After breakfast at the house, the three of us spent the first part of the day exploring historic downtown Santa Fe, the oldest capital city in the country.

Our first stop was the State Capitol building.  The building is known as the Roundhouse, and is the only round state capitol building in the country. If we didn’t know we were in the Capitol building we would have thought we were in an art gallery.  The Capitol Art Collection inside the Capitol contains over 500 pieces of contemporary art by New Mexico artists.  The art itself is worthy of an entrance fee, as with any art museum, but being in the Capitol building, it’s free for everybody to enjoy.

Santa Fe is definitely one of the most artsy capital city’s we’ve ever seen.  Between the art galleries, museums, and historic architecture, downtown Santa Fe is a great place to spend time just walking around.

We stopped in the magnificent San Miguel Chapel, the oldest church in the country.

Our entry time for the Georgia O’Keefe Museum was for 2:00.

It was very busy at the museum, and for good reason.  The art here is really great, as is the history of Georgia O’Keefe. It was actually hard to differentiate her art from her history…the collection of the artist’s belongings and personal portraits were art in and of itself.  Emilie’s favorite of course is the “Calla Lily Turned Away”, as it reflects the lily ring that she wears.

After the O’Keefe museum we found a late lunch at the oldest restaurant in Santa Fe, an historic diner called Plaza Cafe.  Of course, we didn’t know it was a diner since we ate in the outdoor shaded patio.  It wasn’t until we used the restrooms after lunch that we discovered just how retro-cool this restaurant is on the inside.  But we still enjoyed excellent food, drinks, and service outside on a gorgeous day.

By the time we were done eating it was time to head over for our 4:00 entry time for Meow Wolf Santa Fe.

This is the ultimate immersive art experience, and the reason Korey flew in from Oregon to meet up with us in Sant Fe.  I had no idea what to expect, but then again, I’m not sure anybody could really be prepared for what one encounters at Meow Wolf Santa Fe.  The featured exhibit was “House of Eternal Return”.  I’m not usually at a loss for words, but I am here. So, here is the description of the exhibit from its web site:

“Explore a curious family home, a mysterious tragedy born out of scientific experimentation, and the spectacular dreamworlds that have emerged in its wake. Simultaneously an expression of punk subversion and magical humanness, Meow Wolf Santa Fe is an art experience that’s boldly playful in its presentation”

Various artists contributed their own “room” or pathway in this bizarre “house”.

Wow, now that was fascinating.  So glad Korey knew about Meow Wolf!   Now we need to go to the other locations, all have a different exhibit.

Dinner back at the Airbnb. Then off to bed.

May 2

After breakfast we said goodbye to Korey who headed back to Oregon.  Today was a rest day for Emilie and me.  We just hung out at the AirBnb until a very nice dinner downtown ad La Plazuela in the swanky La Fonda Hotel.

It was raining so our plans to have drinks on the rooftop of the hotel were thwarted.  Too bad, too, since their rooftop bar is considered one of the finest places for drinks in Santa Fe. Oh well.

On the way back to the car, we took a short diversion near the San Miquel Chapel and strolled past what is debatably considered the oldest house in the country. Some say part of the home date back to the 1400s, some say 1600’s, some say nobody really knows for sure.  But, hey, it’s here and worth looking at, even though it was closed at this time and we could only see the outside.

We made our way back to the house for the night.

Next: Great Sand Dunes National Park