Wherever you go in Santa Fe, evidence of creativity abounds. Although this photo doesn't reflect my first visit to Loretto Chapel, I was mesmerized by the signature staircase from the moment I saw it. If you've never visited there, you must see this 'miraculous staircase' that provides access to the choir loft. Built in the late 1800s, it represents the work of an unnamed carpenter who supposedly arrived at the moment of need and then disappeared afterwards, with no request for payment.

Was Santa Fe where I learned to also look above me, for views of artistic work? I wouldn't be surprised. Inside one of more than 100 galleries, throughout the city's Canyon Road neighborhood, gorgeous art covered the skylight along one ceiling too. Elsewhere, handcrafted woodwork decorated a small balcony on a vintage building. ​

For a Midwestern girl, dining in The City Different provides even more artistic experiences, from pillow and rustic shutter designs, to rows of handcrafted pottery along a bar wall. 

During the fall, local chiles also create a different kind of art at the Santa Fe Farmers Market. Whether you're a green chile fan or prefer the flavor of deep red chiles, the aroma of roasting fruit complements this huge and gorgeous array of seasonal, artful edibles.

Please note: As is common in the travel industry, I may have received accommodations and other compensation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this post, the writer believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest.

​

​I took my first hot air balloon ride in Albuquerque, with Rainbow Ryders. From the moment we arrived members of our tour group were an integral part of the action. We held the pulling and straining balloon as it filled with cold air, and then stepped back as small flames pushed heat waves towards its bulging crown.

​Once aloft we crossed the Rio Grande, skirted treetops, and observed cars the size of ants. In the next hour we traveled three ground miles and up to 1,700 feet in elevation.
After we landed and the balloon was deflated and packed away, our guide read The Balloonist's Prayer aloud as we enjoyed a late-morning champagne toast: 

                              The winds have welcomed you with softness.
                              The sun has blessed you with his warm hands.
                              You have flown so high and so well that
                              God has joined us together in laughter and set us
                                     gently back into the loving arms of Mother Earth.
​

​I became hooked on the experience within minutes and attended the decades-old Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta® with my husband, several years later.
VIP credentials even allowed us to visit the launch field just after sunrise, as balloons gradually filled and rose from the ground in an ever-changing kaleidoscope of neon patchwork, patriotic, pig-shaped, and saguaro-decorated designs.

​The cobalt sky framed two more hours of magic. Balloons rose like popcorn on a stove, clustering closely and then drifting apart. Some flew low enough for passengers to converse with us, while others were only colorful blips on the horizon. Balloons finally landed again and shrank onto the grass, until the afternoon event began. After dark, lit balloons created a gorgeous, ghostly panorama.

​​A private birthday party with hot air balloons provided the impetus for the first Albuquerque Balloon Festival. Today, this city is considered ‘the ballooning capital of the world,’ drawing nearly one million people annually to Albuquerque's largest party. Balloonists harness a natural phenomenon in the Sandia Valley, known as ‘The Box’ - a cycle of wind currents that facilitates ballooning.
 
For other magnificent views of this singular, nine-day event, check out multi-story windows at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. The 52,000-square-foot structure-which resembles a hot air balloon lying on its side-depicts ballooning history while honoring early Albuquerque balloonists, Ben Abruzzo, and Maxie Anderson. 

There's no place like Albuquerque to enjoy the magic of hot air ballooning.

​​Please note: As is common in the travel industry, I may have received accommodations and other compensation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this post, the writer believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest.

Just as food reflects an area’s culture, so do passionate food artisans. It’s been a decade since I met the irrepressible Pratt Morales, at his Golden Crown Panaderia, in Albuquerque's Old Town. Rising dough, sweet cinnamon, and pungent green chiles perfumed the air inside, where the wiry Morales removed freshly baked cookies, sugar-dusted cherry empanadas, and rustic signature green chile bread.

During our early morning visit Pratt’s adult son, Christopher, shared samples of the bakery's legendary freshly baked biscochitos - New Mexico's state cookie. Please join me as I recall our visit and celebrate the founder of this now-50-year-old bakery: 

Inside an adobe building painted with bright pastel flowers and the names of baked goods such as 'empañadas' and 'pan dulce,' Pratt Morales rarely stops moving while he talks with curious customers. "We focus on nutritious, delicious, and beautiful products," he says, as he lays a cooled green chile loaf in a basket of brilliant hued chiles. Pratt says his bread is fit for a king, which is why Golden Crown became part of the bakery's name.

​Born and raised in San Antonio, baking captured Morales’ heart while he worked with the Air Force and the New Mexico Air National Guard. He then studied bread baking all over the world before opening Golden Crown Panaderia Neighborhood Bakery. Since 1972, he has inhabited a world full of rising dough, sweet cinnamon, and pungent green chiles. 

Pratt has created bread dough horse-drawn carriages, and full-sized turkeys that bear an uncanny resemblance to real birds, and his sculpted bread was featured on Food Network's Food Finds show. The bakery has also supplied local businesses with biscochitos, pastries, sculpted bread, and pizza, for decades, including the Hyatt Hotel and Albuquerque Convention Center, "A little bakery like this is an art that should be preserved and shared with future generations," Pratt says.

A single father, Pratt sometimes allowed four-year-old Christopher to sleep on massive flour sacks. By age five or six, the boy greeted customers and helped to fill cookie bags. Today, Christopher is Golden Crown's general manager and architect of the bakery's thriving Internet business, with customers from as far away as Beijing, Buenos Aires, and Moscow.  

At the bakery, daily, Pratt attributes his boundless energy to his love of sports, and passion for his work. He runs for exercise, snowshoes, paddles a kayak, rides his bicycle, and walks wherever he can. 'I believe the mind controls the body," Pratt says.  "Find your passion and you won't grow old."

​Please note: As is common in the travel industry, I may have received accommodations and other compensation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this post, the writer believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest.

There's nothing like sampling local food & drink to get a true 'taste' of a destination. Layer on the influence of cuisines that reflect multiple cultures and I'm especially excited. Such has always been the case, during my Northern New Mexico travels. 

I stumbled upon Michael’s Kitchen, Restaurant & Bakery during my first Taos visit, in 1982. At that time, the restaurant had only been open for about eight years. But it has been a ‘must-do’ for me, through many additional visits. I love the restaurant's old-school vibe, with its creaking floors and handcarved, wood sun 'mural,' almost as much as I love the Atole (blue corn)-Piñon Pancakes and drooling over their enormous bakery case.

I've always been a sucker for an authentic soda fountain too. Taos Mercantile Co.'s soda fountain was another welcome surprise when I stumbled upon it. Yum! The funny thing is I had shopped in the retail area of this business multiple times, over the years, but hadn't previously zeroed in on this classic counter.

But perhaps my favorite Taos dining spot is Orlando’s New Mexican Café. Not far from Taos Pueblo, it's a world away from the pueblo's serene vibe (the Pueblo is not currently open). The restaurant is tiny and bright on the inside, with a comfortable patio full of tables with umbrellas and a wait list. We saw a gorgeous sunset on one evening, while toasting our recent arrival over big margaritas and tasty plates.

What are your favorite dining spots in Taos? I need to update my list, for my next visit!

From her first visit to New Mexico the natural landscape, with its blend of indigenous and Hispanic cultures, captivated renowned artist, Georgia O'Keeffe. By 1929, she called northern New Mexico home, each summer. Twenty years later, upon her husband's death in New York, O'Keeffe became a permanent resident of the state.

​There is haunting natural beauty at O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch property. Sixty-five miles northwest of Santa Fe, it functioned as her summer home. Rock spires thrust into the brilliant blue sky atop massive rock walls colored with wide mineral striations. 

O'Keeffe bought this house and surrounding acreage, and then occupied the property for decades. She painted many of her landscapes at the west end of the ranch, including numerous, naturally twisted juniper trees. 

O’Keeffe’s other New Mexico property, in Abiquiú, is only 12 miles from Ghost Ranch, and more suitable for year-round occupancy. Here she looked out massive picture windows onto quiet mesas, mountain vistas, and wide fields from her simple, unadorned white bedroom, where stones and bones lined the windowsill. 

With construction of some rooms likely dating to the 1700s, the property combines indigenous and Spanish Colonial architecture influences. After a four-year renovation of the 5,000-square-foot buildings and courtyards, O’Keeffe adopted the Abiquiú property as her primary home.

​Since 1998, the artist’s O’Keeffe Home and Studio has been a designated National Historic Landmark.

​Please note: As is common in the travel industry, I may have received accommodations and other compensation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this post, the writer believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest.

Whether I have traveled through Taos, Santa Fe, or Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa, rustic wood and painted doors in this area have always captivated me. 

If you have followed this series of New Mexico-focused blog posts, you already know I have a very special affinity for Taos Pueblo (not currently open to the public, due to COVID concerns). The above photos come from several visits I had the privilege of making in the past. 

In Taos, I visited a private home, several times. A garden gate, and a carved door, welcomed guests through a tall adobe wall, which surrounded the entire property. The carved door opened onto a broad courtyard where numerous chile ristras hung.

While traveling with an artist friend, we toured The Mabel Dodge Luhan House, at the end of a quiet Taos country road. Once home to a renowned patron of the arts, it also served as a magnet for artistic luminaries that included Georgia O’Keeffe, D.H. Lawrence, Ansel Adams and Martha Graham, to name a few.

During a different visit, our press group had the pleasure of spending several nights at Taos' El Monte Sagrado, a luxury hotel that sits only blocks from the city's historic plaza-full of shops and restaurants, where individual casitas had brightly painted doors.

​Almost everywhere there's a patio, in Taos, you'll find another one-of-a-kind door, too.

For classic New Mexico and other inventive cuisine, a meal at Cafe Pasquale's is a must. Opened in 1979, the bustling restaurant, shop, and gallery offers breakfast, lunch or dinner favorites, from green chile-flecked griddled polenta to a Oaxacan tamale or Mole Enchiladas.

There's more great food inside the cozy dining room at Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi, where an unexpected dusting of snow greeted us on a chilly spring morning.

And arts lovers can indulge their passion while visiting more than 100 galleries in the Canyon Road neighborhood. Jewelry outposts and restaurants also dot this vibrant area.

There are many lodging choices at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa but a gorgeous door leads inside, no matter where you stay. And when it comes to using one of Ojo's private pools this entryway-though not a door-is especially inviting. 

Please note: As is common in the travel industry, I may have received accommodations and other compensation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this post, the writer believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest.​

​Sunlight filled the dining room at the Santa Fe School of Cooking, where tiny bouquets of red- and coral-colored chiles filled small metal buckets on each table. Chile ristras decorated kitchen doors and walls, while a broad mirror above the prep counter assured that our class of 15 travel writers and p.r. staff could clearly see meal preparations.
 
A grey stone mocajete (‘the world’s first Cuisinart’) full of ground corn meal sat beside a woven bowl brimming with tomatoes, chiles and squash, and a wooden bowl full of multi-colored dry beans. From a handmade ceramic tile San Pasqual, the patron saint of kitchens, ‘oversaw’ a bowl of blackened, roasted chiles. Our chef host shared culinary history as he assembled ingredients. 

That was more than a decade ago, and the Santa Fe School of Cooking has been going strong since 1989. Multiple chefs, with many decades of culinary experience, offer a wide range of classes. With a PhD in culinary culture, James Beard award-winning author, Lois Ellen Frank, teaches about American Indian cuisine. Fiery food fans may enjoy the Santa Fe School of Cooking’s Green Chile Workshop, while participants in the SW (Southwest) Culinary Bootcamp savor multi-day hands-on, intensive culinary training.
 
But it’s not all about New Mexico cuisine. From Middle Eastern dishes to culinary wisdom shared by a test kitchen chef, plus High-Altitude Baking, or a Farmer’s Mkt (Market) Class, there are loads of tasty choices.​

The popular cooking school also offers three distinct Fodor’s Travel Recommended Restaurant Walking Tours, with four stops, each. There’s a chef intro with food samples at the school, and then the tour begins. Varied cuisine includes regional favorites to modern classics, paired with private tastings involving restaurant chefs and owners, plus sommeliers.
 
Register for a class or a Restaurant Walking Tour, to enjoy a delicious taste of The City Different. 

​Please note: As is common in the travel industry, I may have received accommodations and other compensation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this post, the writer believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest.​

The High Road to Taos, and the town of Chimayo, burst at the seams with artistic beauty. On the trip between Santa Fe and Taos, we made our first stop at Theresa’s Art Gallery & Studio, which I had stumbled upon during my earliest visit to the area. What an unexpected treasure!
 
Theresa Montoya warmly welcomed us to her brightly lit, art-filled space (temporarily closed, as of May 2022), wearing a brilliant pink shirt and a chunky turquoise necklace. She curates and showcases exquisite work, from carvings and weaving to tin pieces and pottery. They reflect Spanish Colonial, Native American and Jewish folk art.
 
Over the years, the family’s own creativity has become well-respected and collected, with displays in numerous churches, museums, and galleries, including the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and the Los Angeles Folk Art Museum. Montoya paints with oils, while her husband, Richard, has crafted modern takes on traditional retablos (small, colorful oil paintings, often made on tin, which historically depicted saints, Jesus, or the Virgin Mary), for many years. A big Beatles fan, he has immortalized them on numerous retablos, snapped up by enthusiastic collectors.
 
Montoya knows the background of every piece she displays, such as when lines on pottery indicate the ups and downs of life. International customers are especially interested in the highly coveted polished black pieces that she carries, from Santa Clara Pueblo. Each pot is coiled and pinched by hand. It’s typically the nation’s most collectable, yet most expensive pottery. “I don’t have overhead and I'm a small businesswoman so Native Americans sell me pieces for less than half of what they sell for in Santa Fe,” says Montoya.

​I have already used the term ‘magic’ in several previous posts. But, once again, the term seems appropriate.
 
My best friend, Ellen, wasn’t feeling well as we toured northern New Mexico together. We, of course, spent time in Santa Fe and Taos. We also visited tiny Chimayo, along the ‘High Road to Taos’ when driving from Santa Fe. The town is full of amazing weaving, paintings, pottery, and jewelry, which artist Ellen appreciated despite her illness.
 
Chimayo is also the home of legendary El Santuario de Chimayo. Nestled among the Sangre de Cristo mountains, El Santuario de Chimayo has been a place of worship since the early 1800s, drawing American Indians, Hispanics, and other people of faith. Today, this ‘Lourdes of America’ attracts more than 300,000 visitors, annually.

After about an hour at El Santuario, we decided to dine at the nearby, iconic Rancho de Chimayo. It had been decades since my first visit there. After a devastating 2008 fire, the restaurant underwent a massive restoration that preserved original adobe walls, structural elements, and authentic building features. Dozens of red chile ‘ristras’ decorated the restaurant’s exterior and large old trees provided shade.​

I remember driving towards La Chiripada Winery, between Santa Fe and Taos, during my first trip to the area. I also remember carefully driving across dirt and gravel, only to find the winery wasn't open.

​Imagine my delight when I bumped into a winery tasting room, in the heart of Taos. A confirmed white wine drinker, at the time, I sampled several reds too. Much to my amazement, La Chiripada's port captivated me so thoroughly that I purchased a bottle to enjoy at home. 

Established in 1981, New Mexico's oldest winery still has a Taos tasting room, although it has long since moved from the original location. The winery's name, “La Chiripada” means, “a stroke of luck” or “a lucky fluke”.

Now a confirmed red wine lover, I always look forward to my tasting room visits, which I have enjoyed during trips with several different female friends. Rio Embudo Red was another favorite on my next visit, which occurred many years later, after our daughters became young teens. 

Often voted New Mexico's best winery, La Chiripada creates its multi-award-winning wines using regional grapes that can withstand the area's severe climate, while complimenting the state's signature cuisine. In fact, at 6,100 feet, La Chiripada remains one of the world's highest commercial grape growing entities. 

Whether you visit the winery or sample La Chirapada wines in their Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Embudo, or Pojoaque tasting room, the delicious results will speak for themselves.

​Although Ojo Caliente offers complete spa services, from massages to pedicures, it is the natural springs that draw many visitors. At 105 degrees, the arsenic pool is reputed to heal a variety of skin conditions and decrease arthritis and stomach ulcers. 
​
With a temperature of 109 degrees, the iron pool is said to benefit the blood, while the Lithia spring is considered a digestive aid and reliever of depression.
 
Bathers whispered their conversations as they enjoyed the steamy waters. A spout between two pools ran warm and soothing against my neck and we floated almost effortlessly in the soda pool.

One of many available spa treatments, preparation for the detoxifying Milagro Relaxation Wrap required a dip in a mineral pool to help raise our body temperature. In a therapy room, minimal light and soothing music greeted us as we laid quietly on massage tables, tightly wrapped us in blankets.

​My toes become immobile, and I could barely wiggle my fingers. But I drifted into meditation and felt surprised when an attendant loosened my blankets, 25 minutes later.

The ring I bought during my first visit to Santa Fe remains a fixture on my right hand, though the bird tracks have long since disappeared after decades of wear. But this isn't the only jewelry I bought from a vendor with the Native American Artisans Portal Program, at the Palace of the Governors.

During a later visit, I purchased a pair of hammered silver earrings. I happily wore them numerous times, in the next several months, until one disappeared. Another few months passed as I retraced all of my steps in search of the missing earring, with no luck.

That's when a bit of New Mexico magic kicked in again. A business card told me the name of the jewelry vendor, but provided no contact information. On a whim, I got in touch with the Portal Program office, provided the name of the vendor and sent them a photo of my remaining earring. Within a few weeks, Miriam contacted me, and sent a matching earring alongside a small bill. I was thrilled!

Open daily, most vendors sell at the portal from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Customers can purchase Native American items here, handcrafted by dozens of artisans or their family members. 

​Items for sale include pottery to textiles, and silver jewelry decorated with turquoise to coral. Prices are good and there's no tax. Portal artists must also sign every piece of work. Although many vendors now take credit cards, others still do not.

Somewhat shy, Gloria Goldtooth, of the Navajo/Diné tribe, began coming to the portal in the early 1980s. When we met, she sold at the portal once or twice a month. Selling the jewelry and beading that she and her mother made supplemented her full-time job.

"We must use natural stones – not stabilized – and no plastic beads, just glass," she said. "We have to label our work to inform people what they are buying. Most vendors talk about their artwork and say, ‘Hello. If you have questions, ask us.’ It’s interesting to meet people from all over the world. Some people buy again and you develop a friendship."

​A member of the Navajo tribe, Ronald  Toledo had learned sand painting from his parents, selling at the portal for more than 20 years and two to three days per week. Toledo often described the sand painting process to customers. 

"Each item has two to four layers of sand and all of the sand color is natural," he said. "For instance turquoise stone is ground down to make the sand. The only non-natural feature allowed is a clear acrylic spray to help maintain set of the sand. We can create 6, 8 x 8 tiles or 20-30 magnets per day."

​For anyone who wants an exquisite artistic souvenir of their Santa Fe visit, the Native American Artisans Portal Program is a must do. Just be sure to carry plenty of cash!

Please note: Photos in this story do not necessarily reflect artist profiles offered immediately before or after an image. They provide a general look at the variety of artistic expression available.

This week marks 40 years since my first visit to New Mexico (other than pass-throughs, during childhood). How do I know that? The life-changing trip took place several months after I met my now-husband. A friend and I had also planned our visit to coincide with Cinco de Mayo. It would be my first long-distance road trip in nearly a decade.

But plans changed about two weeks before departure. My friend cancelled and my then-boyfriend couldn't reschedule his life on such short notice, to go with me. I wasn't ready to drive that far by myself so I booked trips to and from the state with Amtrak, and then rented a car in Santa Fe.

For the next week, I explored the area near Santa Fe and Taos, from Bandelier National Monument (currently closed due to the Cerro Pelado fire) and El Rancho de las Golindrinas (closed, until June 2022) to Philmont Scout Ranch BSA and Santa Fe's Plaza. 

I gritted my teeth and gripped the steering wheel as snow fell during my descent from Philmont. I marveled at ancient homes built in formidable rock walls, at Bandelier. An unexpected festival and parade met me, at El Rancho de las Golindrinas. I bought a small rug from Ortega's Weaving Shop, in tiny Chimayo, before visiting the holy site of Santuario de Chimayo.

In Santa Fe, I purchased a delicate silver ring, decorated with three-pronged bird 'tracks,' from a Native American vendor at the Palace of the Governors, before visiting the remarkable 'floating' staircase inside the Loretto Chapel. And I savored New Mexico flavors in what was then the open hotel courtyard and restaurant at La Fonda on the Plaza. 

The Rio Grande rushed by, to my left, as I drove from Santa Fe to Taos, where a massive breakfast awaited, at Michael's Kitchen Restaurant and Bakery. My next stop was Taos Pueblo (closed until further notice, per COVID concerns).

Four decades ago, visiting the Pueblo was a completely different experience from my later visits. There was no ticket to buy or entry gate and no photography fee. No doors opened to individual craftspeople and their wares. And I saw no other visitors on that chilly spring weekday morning.

But as I set foot onto Taos Pueblo land for the first time, an odd thing happened. From somewhere deep inside, I had the sense that I had literally lived here, in another life. On May 5, I raised a glass to northern New Mexico in a local restaurant, declaring, "I'll be back."​ And I have - at least eight times.

Stay tuned to Visual Traveler throughout May, for more stories about this place that has thoroughly touched my heart.

​Please note: As is common in the travel industry, I may have received accommodations and other compensation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this post, the writer believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest.