This summer, we took a vacation to Santa Fe for a two-night stay at a bed and breakfast there. We had planned the vacation in the spring, as we knew that we wanted to use a weekend to do something special for the two of us. We did not get much of a vacation over Christmas, as my exam schedule was interrupted when my father passed away on December 10 (I had to come back after Christmas and take an exam, and then classes started almost immediately thereafter). Also, our anniversary falls right after school starts in the fall, so we decided to celebrate that a bit early as well (three years on September 2!).
Originally, we had planned on trying to make it back to Durango, Colorado, which is about four hours northwest of Albuquerque. We honeymooned in Durango and also went back for our first anniversary. Both times, we stayed at a bed and breakfast outside of town called Blue Lake Ranch, which we thoroughly enjoyed and recommend to anyone! However, with our work schedules, it was going to be a bit tough getting up there early enough on a Friday to enjoy a full two evenings out of town, so we decided to keep it a bit closer to home. We also knew that the owners of Blue Lake Ranch own a bed and breakfast in Santa Fe, so we decided to try it out. We stayed two blocks from the New Mexico state capitol building at the Don Gaspar Inn.
During our visit to Santa Fe, we patronized the luxurious mountain resort spa Ten Thousand Waves. We were quite impressed with the place. It is modeled after Japanese spa houses, and the design was truly impressive. The grounds were very pleasant.
During our time there (four hours in all), we enjoyed an hour-long soak in a private outdoor soak tub (just us and the mountain butterflies). Clothing was optional (and we enjoyed the opt-out, if you know what we mean). We also enjoyed an hour-long massage, which was great. The remainder of the time, we walked around in our kimonos, viewed the koi pond, soaked our feet in a hot foot bath, and spent an hour in the spa's relaxation room where we sat against the wall on floor chairs and listened through headsets to soothing music and almost fell asleep (several times). We did not take pictures, so alas, you are stuck with pics of the beautiful paths leading to the main facility.
Our first night there, we found an excellent little Italian food place called Pranzo Italian Grill in the district near the railyard. The food was excellent. The entertainment for the evening was a pianist named David Geist who had played something like 600 shows on Broadway -- he was excellent. For dessert, we shared tiramisu -- it was excellent.
Me looking very boy-like and happy. Because I was.
Beautiful Stephany, putting the lovely tiramisu to shame.
We also spent some time walking around the square. The big Spanish Market was going on, and all kinds of artisans were out with their crafts -- some cool, some cheesy -- all Southwestern. It was pretty fun.
Here we were at the Santa Fe Convention Center. These were some cool light fixtures beneath an outdoor walkway.
Stephany near the Convention Center's courtyard.
This was a truly bizarre public art piece near the Convention Center. We could not figure out why there would be huge fish coming out of the ground in such a desert-like place. Go fish.
So we decided to play with them.
And here we are during breakfast at Don Gaspar Inn. The food, as anticipated, based upon our experience at Blue Lake Ranch, was fantastic: yogurt, granola, breads, fresh fruit, green chile stew, stuffed french toast, fresh orange juice, and good coffee.
And this was outside of our room, which was accessed by entering a wooden gate through a courtyard/private garden.
We stayed in the "Territorial Suite." And we enjoyed it.
Me enjoying my morning coffee, reflecting upon the simplicities and complexities of life.
Stephany laughing at me. Okay, not really. She's just a super-happy and very pleasant person 101% of the time.
Us sharing a camera moment on our front-porch-for-the-weekend.
One of my personal favorites. You wouldn't even believe all the silly pictures we take of ourselves and each other when given the opportunity. I'm just slipping one of many in here, because of the sheer awesomeness of this one.
And finally, some pics of our room. It was really nice. And really Southwestern. But, honestly, with a name like "the Territorial Suite," we were prepared.
The bathroom was very cool. We decided that if we ever own our own sink, we want to own one like this.
We enjoyed Santa Fe. We had taken lots of day trips there before, but it was nice getting a better feel for the city and what it has to offer. Since we were there on a weekend, we did not get to visit the state capitol or the state supreme court building, which we hope to do another time.
All in all, it was a great vacation, and we really enjoyed spending some good time together doing some fun things.
Nathan
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