Entrance to the Hotel St. Francis in Santa Fe, where the ASA/RMD conference is held.
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View of Perdenal from Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico
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WELCOME TO SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, THE SITE OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE ASA/RMD! In this section of the website, we have included information and tips on how to make the most of your stay in this fascinating and historic city. Santa Fe offers some of the best shopping and dining experiences to be found anywhere, particularly for native artwork (including turquoise and pottery) and for southwestern fare. This city ranks third in the country (after only New York and L.A.) for its art scene and is home to many world-class galleries. Santa Fe also hosts a renowned opera, a chamber music festival, and Shakespeare in the Park, during the summer months.
On this page, we will include some suggestions about what to do and see in Santa Fe and some restaurant reviews. But to get you started, here is a helpful link designed by the Santa Fe chamber of commerce:
Online Guide to Santa Fe. Below are sections to help a visitor explore the city by narrowing down what his or her preferences might be: there are sections on EATING, SHOPPING, and LOCAL SECRETS. We have included ideas for what to do both with and without a car. All these suggestions have been compiled by past participants in the ASA/RMD conference and, as such, are not paid endorsements, but, rather, tried-and-true favorites.
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St. Francis Cathedral, Santa Fe
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Native American Sidewalk Vendors, Inn of the Governors
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LOCAL SECRETS OF SANTA FE
Go see the miraculous staircase of Loretto at the Loretto Chapel, built by a strange journeyman carpenter, who kept his identity secret. Don't miss the intricate 14 Stages of the Cross carvings on the walls.
Pause in front of the main doorway of the Cathedral to see the tetragrammatron (the sign of Yahweh) carved there as a "thank-you" to the Jewish community of Santa Fe, which donated money towards the completion of the building.
Walk through the lobby of the adobe La Posada Resort (at the corner of Palace Avenue and Paseo de Peralta) to the bar and grill at the back, which is located in an old Victorian house that has been completely encased by the 20th-century adobe structure. The original Victorian doorway with its marble steps, period fireplaces, central staircase, floors, and banister are intact. This was the house of Abraham Staab, one of the 19th-century Jewish financiers of the Cathedral. A mizzuzeh marks the former front door.
It is possible to dine under the stars in earshot of the Cathedral bells. Just request a patio table at La Casa Sena, and you can eat to the sound of the hourly tolling. Better yet (if you prefer a less crowded atmosphere)--arrive around four o'clock and have a glass of wine and a bowl of gazpacho. No stars, but then you get to save dinner for a more intimate experience.
If you have access to a car, take the so-called "high road" out of Santa Fe to the north and travel to Chimayo, to see the shrine and mission church. The carvings in the sanctuary are beautiful and old, and the side chapel houses the miraculous dirt of Chimayo--an earthen pit, purported to be a miracle cure for disease and disability. After rubbing some of the dirt on your pants or between your hands, walk out past the thousands of offerings--including crutches--left as testament to the healing powers found here.
If you drive north as far as Taos, don't forget to stop on the way into town at Rancho de Taos to see the famous adobe church immortalized by Georgia O'Keefe. Across the dirt lane from the church is the gift store and office--and the so-called miraculous picture of Christ. For a small fee, you are escorted into a small auditorium with a red velvet curtain. On the makeshift stage is an oil painting that, when the lights are dimmed, reveals an image of Christ "hidden" behind the paint. No one has yet been able to explain the strange phenomenom.
North of Taos, drive up into the hills and visit the site of D.H. Lawrence's grave. His ashes were mixed into concrete by his wife, Frances, and built into a memorial outside his residence.
Head west/northwest out of Santa Fe about an hour to the town of Abiquiu, home of famed artist Georgia O'Keefe. Stop at the Abiquiu Inn for a tour of her winter house/studio there, or keep driving past the town about 20 minutes to Ghost Ranch, where she kept a summer home. Although O'Keefe's desert home is now a private area, you are free to wander around Ghost Ranch and view Pedernal and the other desert rock formations that were the basis of so much of her art. Back in Santa Fe, you can visit some of that art (it rotates every few months) at the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, 217 Johnson Street.
For the best guacamole in Santa Fe, head to the Hotel La Fonda. The restaurant in the center of the lobby, in the glass atrium, serves guacamole-to-die-for, prepared and served table-side in giant wooden bowls. You get to choose which condiments to include from a large assortment. If you like it spicy, for instance, you can load up on the onions and peppers!
La Fonda also has nightly dancing (until 11:00 PM) at their lobby bar (made of copper) and lounge. Wear cowboy boots and bring your two-step.
Don't miss taking a close peek at the monument in the center of the plaza, which commemorates a slaughter of white settlers by Indians. What's interesting is the missing word "SAVAGE," chisled out of the marble in a later attempt to mask the politically-incorrect term. To complete the history lesson, take a walk (about six or so blocks) down to the Capitol building on Paseo de Peralta where more recent artists have constructed a "sister" monument, resembling the one in the plaza but bearing ONLY the word "SAVAGE" on its face.
On the sidewalks outside the Fine Arts Museum (107 West Palace Avenue) is Santa Fe's answer to Hollywood's Chinese Theatre: dozens of tiles, inscribed with the names of famous artists and literati. Comb the names to see if you agree with their selections.
Up on Canyon Road, turn right on Camino Monte Sol, proceed two blocks, and visit the historic adobe residence at number 439 of writer Mary Austin (author of the southwestern classic, "The Land of Little Rain"), which is now a gallery called Chiaroscuro. Don't miss the odd fetish Austin had embedded in the adobe wall facing the street.
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SANTA FE SHOPPING GUIDE
Inn of the Governors Sidewalk Vendors (far side of the Plaza):
If you have only one shopping experience in Santa Fe, this should be it. By law, only Native American artists and craftsmen can sell their work along this walk, on blankets spread under the eaves. There is a lottery to determine who among them has a place that day. Shoppers stroll along, eyeing the jewelry (and some pots and arrows and other handicrafts). Prices for authentic Indian jewelry tend to be cheaper here than in the stores surrounding the plaza (and so one shouldn't try to dicker them down!).
Doodlets (120 Don Gaspar):
A favorite shop for all things quirky, funky, unique. Don't miss the inflatable-plastic mounted moose head; the pink-velvet madonna statue; the Frida Kahlo bamboo curtains; large angel wings cut from corrugated tin; Sigmund Freud as barbie-doll; or the impressive collection of Mexican folk art shrines, fashioned from soda cans and bottle tops, hung all over the walls.
Jackalopes (south on Cerrillos Road):
Warehouse complex for inexpensive Asian and Mexican furniture and ceramic garden pots. Strings of funky Christmas lights; strange doodads; candlesticks, rugs, bags, etc. THE place to pick up your bleached cow skull.
CANYON ROAD:
Pachamama (223 Canyon Road--on right side just after turn onto Canyon Road)
Go here for milagros. They also carry retablos, ex-votos, shrines, altars, and all sorts of devotional folk art accessories. Say hello to "Spud," the resident dog.
Ernesto Mayans Gallery
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DINING IN SANTA FE
Below are some suggestions about where to eat in Santa Fe and surrounding areas. The restaurants are divided into categories, Casual, Nice, and Upscale. Prices follow accordingly. One note on attire: as this is a western town, jeans are always acceptable, even at the more upscale establishments (although I wouldn't go to Fuego's in shorts).
(THIS SECTION IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION. CHECK BACK FOR DETAILED DIRECTIONS AND REVIEWS OF THESE RESTAURANTS.)
CASUAL DINING ($)
Atomic Grill
Blue Corn Cafe
Maria's
Guadalupe Cafe
Coyote Cafe Rooftop Terrace
NICE DINING ($$-$$$)
Pasqual's
Paul's
La Casa Sena
La Fonda's atrium
Rancho de Chimayo
UPSCALE DINING ($$$$)
Fuego
Coyote Cafe
Geronimo
Santacafe
Anasazi Room
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