This is the day that doesn’t involve much driving., as all activities are in the city. We started by visiting San Miguel Chapel, that was orginally constructed around 1610, and is believed to be the oldest active church in U.S. Unfortunately we were not able to go inside.
Several small blocks away is the Loretto Chapel, which is privately run with a $5 admission. This Gothic church was built for the Sisters of Loretto between 1873 and 1878. The spiral staircase is an engineering masterpiece - two full 360-degree turns built with wooden pegs.
Next is the grandest church of the own - The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assis, located in the heart of Downtown, just a block east of the plaza. Designed in French style, the cathedral was elected to Basilica status in 2005. Sena Plaza is on the north side of the Cathedral, and Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) is on the west side with painted pillars on both sides of entrance. Further west is the Santa Fe Plaza, surrounded by the Palace of the Governors, New Mexico Museum of Arts, and shops, galleries and restaurants. A few Native American performers are showing the traditional dances in the park. We visited the New Mexico History Museum at the back of the Palace of the Governs. Part of the museum is the palace, and you can enter some of the rooms with galleries on the wall telling stories of the palace and its residents in the past. We walked to the New Mexico StateCapital - the only entirely round capital building in the U.S. Inside the building there is a 500-piece art collection by New Mexico artists on permanent display. However it was a weekend so we couldn’t go inside, so not much to see except the Roundhouse and the gardens and status surrounding the Roundhouse.
Afterwards, we planned to visit Georgia O’Keeffe Museum late afternoon, but the museum reached its full capacity of that day. As an alternative, we drove about 10 minutes to the Museum of International Folk Art located southeast outskirt, and it was surprisingly interesting. Plan at least an hour here to enjoy arts from all over the world and feel connected. Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, and Santa Fe Botanic Garden are next door, in this area I think is called Museum Hill.
Then we headed to Santa Fe Railyard Arts District. Like many cities, this is a project to revive some of the old warehouse and structures by converting them into shops, bars, and entertainment venue. Our last stop of the day is the Canyon Road, which is a street featuring 100+ art galleries, studios, outdoor arts, and restaurants.
We stopped at the White Rock, which is a structure several steps away from the NM 4 that gives a good view of the White Rock Canyon. The rocks are not white by the way, not sure where does the name come from. There are several trails around in various distances, such as White Rock Canyon Rim Trail, Blue Dot Trail, Red Dot Trail, and River Trail. This must be a place not to be missed during the foliage season.
