An Afternoon Enchanted by Santa Fe, New Mexico: History, Chocolate, Strolling, and Beer

 

We meandered up the Turquoise Trail from Albuquerque to Santa Fe and spent a little time exploring New Mexico's capital city. The city quickly enchanted us even though we would merely spend an afternoon. Santa Fe truly is a beautiful and charming city full of history, art, flavors, and culture.

Sipping Chocolate on a Lovely Santa Fe Afternoon

Upon arriving in Santa Fe, our first mission included visiting Kakawa Chocolate House. I learned about Kakawa Chocolate House from my friend Stacey over at Love, Laughter, and Luggage and knew that we would have to visit. Kakawa entirely wowed me even though I already knew about it! Kakawa is known for their chocolate elixirs derived from traditional Pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican, Mayan, and Aztec recipes. We were immediately welcomed to sampling the elixirs of our choice. I sipped on the Mayan elixir which favored fully decadent notes with spice.

Sipping chocolate elixirs derived from traditional recipes at Kakawa Chocolate House.

Kakawa is a full chocolate house and has many more handcrafted chocolate products including their famous prickly pear truffle. Two counter display Kakawa's chocolates and baked goodies. Of course, the sweet of the warm, warm, warm fall day during our visit was ice cream for many patrons!

Strolling Through Downtown Santa Fe

"Roundhouse" aka the New Mexico State Capitol Building consists
of 4 stories and is surrounded by beautiful gardens.

After enjoying Kakawa, we visited the New Mexico State Capitol Building which is a quite intriguing round structure sometimes simply referred to as the "Roundhouse." Santa Fe is the nation's oldest capital city dating back to 1610. The "Roundhouse" was dedicated in 1966 and has four stories including a subterranean story. The Clay Buchanan Memorial Gardens features Russian olive trees, roses, and over 100 other species native to New Mexico. Additionally, the garden includes a range of beautiful and poignant public sculptures.

San Miguel Chapel is the oldest church in the USA.

Next, we popped into the nearby Visitor's Center to pick up a map. Soon, we embarked on an adventure exploring some of the historic structures in Santa Fe. Just steps away from the New Mexico State Capitol Building, we discovered the San Miguel Chapel which is the oldest church in the USA with the estimated beginning construction date of 1610. The church was most likely constructed by Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico. Construction was under the direction of the Franciscan Padres. Right across the alley from San Miguel Chapel, we also found the oldest home in the US. The square was quite peaceful. There are visitor hours when you can enter the church.

The Miraculous Staircase gracefully turns up to the choir loft of Loretto Chapel.

Walking further, we found the Loretto Chapel which is home to the "Miraculous Staircase." When the chapel was completed in 1878, there was not a way to reach the choir loft above. Carpenter after carpenter expressed that the only way to access the loft would be by a ladder. The sisters made a novena to the patron saint of carpenters, St. Joseph. On the ninth day of prayer, a carpenter appeared on a donkey. He crafted an exquisite staircase that was quite novel for the time. He disappeared after construction without even taking pay. The staircase was built without nails -- only wooden pegs -- and has two 360 degree turns without any visible sign of support. Truly a miracle!

Continuing to walk, we discovered a number of other significant sites including the Palace de Governors constructed in 1610 and the oldest public building in the US in continuous use, the The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the historic Plaza, and countless shops and eateries. The New Mexico Museum of Art, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, and so much more add to the culturally and historically rich fabric of a visit to Santa Fe. While we enjoyed our afternoon excursion, we barely scratched the surface!

Santa Fe Railyard

We continued our amble to the Railyard which is full of local artists and eateries. We also spotted the Santa Fe Depot which is the northern terminus of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter line. The original depot opened in 1880 and was rebuilt in 2008. We did watch trains come in and out while we were there. The commuter railway system services the Santa Fe and Albuquerque metro areas.

Santa Fe Depot.

Santa Fe Brewing Company

A bit of relaxation at Santa Fe Brewing.

Before leaving, we headed to Santa Fe Brewing at The Beer Hall at HQ. Santa Fe Brewing has a few different beer halls plus you can find it at many local restaurants. The Beer Hall at HQ was quite lively when we arrived and had nice outdoor biergarten area with food booth.

Since we had been outside all day, we opted to imbibe indoors. A nice little relaxation after a day of exploration. Santa Fe has much, much more to offer than we could experience in an afternoon so the city is definitely worthy of a return visit!