Santa Fe was founded by a small group of European settlers in 1607, thirteen years before the Mayflower Pilgrims settled the Plymouth Colony, and is the oldest European community west of the Mississippi.
For the next 70 years, the Spanish soldiers and Franciscan missionaries tried to convert the 100,00 Pueblo Indians of the region. In 1680, the Pueblo Indians revolted against the 2400 Spanish colonists, killing 400 of them and driving the rest south to Mexico.
Long story short the Catholics tried to get the Indians to stop their dancing and customs. Eventually, a treaty was signed and the Catholics agreed to leave the Indians alone and let them keep their traditions.
I really liked Santa Fe. It didn't come close to beating our trip to Boston and getting to stand in Paul Revere's house, but I would definitely return. Places I don't want to go back to would be Vail and Las Vegas.
Santa Fe is rich in history and legends! Starting with the Miraculous Staircase. This church was a few feet outside our hotel we stayed at.
The centerpiece of this historic site is the spiral staircase located in the back of the chapel. Upon the completion of the chapel’s construction in 1878, it became apparent that there was no way to access the choir loft. As the story goes, several carpenters were called on to address the problem and they all had concluded that a ladder was the only option as building a staircase would interfere with the interior of the chapel. The sisters of the chapel would not accept this and made a novena (prayers for nine straight days) to St. Joseph the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the chapel and offered to take on the project. It was built and the man disappeared without any notice and without receiving any pay or thanks. The sisters launched a search to find him, but when he never turned up, it was decided that it must have been St. Joseph himself coming to the chapel’s rescue. The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. The legend suggests that only wooden pegs were used to secure the structure.
This is the outside of the church.
Outside the church stands a wooden statue of Jesus.
This was our hotel and if you look behind it you can see the church that has the miraculous stairs. Now the story of the Miraculous stairs was good, but the story teller that came and talked to us during breakfast was even better. She told us the the real reason the nuns needed to find a carpenter to build the staircase: the first one was shot, because he was having an affair with the contractor's wife.
This was the story teller that spoke to us during breakfast. She also told us how and where to shop. One thing that really spiked my interest was a local thrift shop she told us about. It sold used cowboys boots. I'm not into buying used boots, but she said even movie stars not only live here, but come to shop for boots in Santa Fe! Cool! Hmm... maybe I could get a really nice pair cheap.
The pictures I took of her doesn't do her justice. She was wearing gorgeous western silver jewelry and some white cowboy boots that I loved.
So this is how much smelly, beat up, used cowboy boots cost? I don't even know if I would pay this if Julia Roberts handed them over herself.
Oh well, this is the kids listening to the story teller.
While we were out shopping we got really thirsty. This is Lyric with watermelon juice.
Another thing the story teller/shopper told us about was buying off the Indians. Every day they line up on one side of the main square. They lay down blankets and put all their goods neatly on top. She told us you can go from $10,000 to $2,000 quickly if you know how to negotiate. I did see one silver necklace and heard the Indian say the price was $10,000 Now this necklace was so big you could wear it as armor and I would rather be dead than seen wearing it. She said if the price is under $100 she does not try and negotiate since this is how the Indians make their living.
Every day about 300 Indians line up on the square to sell their goods. They have to get a permit for the day. However, the city usually only gives out about 70 permits per day. She said the if the Indians say they are selling real silver, it will be. If the Indians get caught passing off fake silver as real, they will lose their licenses to sell at this primo spot.
Notice I am saying Indian and not native Indian. The shopper/storyteller lady told us if you call an Indian "Native" they will say, "We have been here for hundreds of years. We already know we are native." As you know, everyone has the recently-discovered Constitutional Right not to be offended. Well, not everyone. There is an exception for Christians, Jews and White Males. You can still use your formerly-unrestricted right of free speech to offend them as much as you’d like. : - )
These are all around the square.
BTW, even though Santa Fe is the capitol of New Mexico, it is not like a big city. There are lots of restaurants, shopping etc.. but no skyscrapers. Virtually all of the buildings are brown adobe. It is a very "artsy" town, and I wish I had taken pictures inside of some of the art studios. We did have dinner in one.
Santa Fe is the most dog friendly place I've ever seen. Maybe a little too friendly. Dogs were in restaurants, shops and even the hotel. The sign on this door said the dog was not aloud outside. The kids had to go in the store to pet him. The dog did like their attention once they went in.
