How many times have I been to Santa Fe? 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019 in both summer and winter, and 2023, and now 2025. All but the first three visits were with Wendy, with her affection for it a key factor.
The main attractions for us are the climate, the food, and the art. Santa Fe sits in a pocket of humid continental mild summer climate surrounded by cold semi-arid regions. Its 7,000 foot altitude provides a welcome summertime escape from Bartlesville’s humid subtropical weather at 700 feet of elevation.
Santa Fe is a ten-hour drive from Bartlesville, while our other summer refuge of Pagosa Springs, in a subarctic region of southwest Colorado, is a twelve-hour drive from home and offers great hiking but far fewer culinary and artistic attractions.
My favorite summer vacation destination is the Pacific Northwest, which I visited five times from 1998 to 2009 and was where Wendy and I spent our honeymoon in 2016, returning to the region in 2024 to see the Redwoods. Most of that region has the warm-summer Mediterranean climate that prevails along most of the western seaboard of the USA, and its high latitude offers a welcome respite from the heat of an Oklahoma summer. However, we would have to fly to get there for a summer vacation, which wasn’t in the cards for this year.
So after one-night stays in OKC and Amarillo, we headed on west along Interstate 40 toward Santa Fe. We made our usual pit stops in Tucumcari and Santa Rosa, and I planned to take our last break at Clines Corners, which has sat at the US 285 turnoff to Santa Fe since 1934.
For years, Clines Corners did the same ludicrous-number-of-highway-billboards gimmick that was long used for Meramac Caverns in Missouri and is used by the Cherokee Trading Post near El Reno, Oklahoma and the Flying C Ranch along the interstate between Santa Rosa and Clines Corners.
However, this year after we passed the Flying C I noticed how many of the former Clines Corners billboards were available for rent, with no takers. I didn’t see a single Clines Corners billboard for miles and began to worry that it had closed. If so, we would be in for an endurance test as there is virtually nothing from there for 40 miles along US 285.
Thankfully, it was still operating and provided us with restrooms and the opportunity to purchase some t-shirts. Roy “Pop” Clines originally had a service station a few miles south, but shifted up the road in 1937 and a political fight in Santa Fe resulted in Route 66 being realigned through his acreage. He served up 15-cent bowls of chile, filled gas tanks, and fixed flats, but sold out at the end of that decade, and ownership of the facility has changed five times since then.
Refreshed by the stop at Clines Corners, we angled up to Santa Fe, where I had arranged for upgraded accommodations.
We have stayed at the Luxx boutique hotel near the Santa Fe plaza and tried the Hotel Santa Fe Hacienda & Spa, but our favorite place to stay in the capital of New Mexico is the Santa Fe Motel & Inn. We used to rent a Patio Room, and that was where I proposed marriage to Wendy in 2015. However, after the motel bought and refurbished a couple of old houses across the street, we began renting the little Casita Bonita, which is basically a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen.
This time, I wanted to try their best accommodation, the two-bedroom two-bath Casita Fina that includes a dining room and kitchen. Since I didn’t begin the booking process until April, I had to hunt around the calendar to find a four-day window to book it. I finally secured it, and we particularly enjoyed our stay in Santa Fe this year because of the comforts of the Casita Fina.
Once we arrived, I promptly ordered via Doordash the Monday and Wednesday specials from Tomasita’s. Wendy opted for the Christmas version of the Monday Tamale Blue Plate, with red chile on the pork tamale and green Hatch chile on the blue corn cheese enchilada to go with the taco, Spanish rice, refried beans, and sopapilla.
My Wednesday Special Blue plate had a chicken enchilada, Spanish rice, refried beans, and sopapilla, but I am a bland rebel and order mine with no chiles. It was, of course, delicious, and I’m known for filching some of Wendy’s side items.
We slept well and rose the next morning for our walk to go shopping at the historic plaza and enjoy some lunch. It’s a 15-minute walk from the Casita to The Plaza, where we shopped for t-shirts and the like at Yippee Ti Yo, the Santa Fe Five & Dime, and the Santa Fe Arcade.
At the Arcade, Wendy bought some Minnetonka moccasins and enjoyed an iced coffee from 35° North. Lunch was, as usual, at The Burrito Company.
Then we hit Tees & Skis next door, and walked toward the Cathedral. We encountered Woody Galloway, and Wendy loved a print of his photograph of Cerro Pedernal which he took from Taos.
Wendy and I have happy memories of hiking all of the trails at Ghost Ranch with Cerro Pedernal on the horizon, so the print was an anniversary gift which currently adorns our dining room at home.
We hit De Colores on our way back to the hotel, where Wendy finally found a properly fitting t-shirt. Then it was time for a siesta, as the temperature was approaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit, although the low humidity made it feel like the mid-80s. That was unusually warm for Santa Fe, but while the actual temperature was just a few degrees higher back in Bartlesville, there it felt like the upper 90s thanks to the humidity.
The next day was thankfully back to normal weather-wise. We ordered breakfast from The Pantry on Cerrillos Road, which would sustain us through two mornings, and we walked back to the Plaza to visit the art museums. I took my usual photograph of the lovely courtyard at the New Mexico Museum of Art, although I did not find the current exhibits appealing.
We then ventured over to Cathedral Park to wait until the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts opened. Happily, a young lady was getting her picture made in her elaborate dress for her Quinceañera. While we waited, the bells rang out loud and long for Sunday mass.
The IAIA Museum had some old exhibits, but also some works by Douglas Miles, who is White Mountain Apache, San Carolos Apache, and Akimel O’odham and the founder of Apache Skateboards.
There was also a display of suitcases called Entering San Carlos Apache Reservation.
We again enjoyed lunch at The Burrito Company. As usual, I admired the forms and massing of La Fonda and other structures. When designing his addition to the historic hotel, John Gaw Meem recessed the upper floors and punctuated the elevations with balconies and towers as part of the Pueblo Revival style.
We made our usual late afternoon walk to the roses at Railyard Park, although most were way out of season.
The only miss we had, restaurant-wise, was Restoration Pizza at the Railyard. Their air conditioning wasn’t working, and they needed to prop more doors open. Later Wendy did enjoy the New York style pizza we usually get at Pizza Centro at the Santa Fe Design Center, which was a short walk from our Casita.
We both enjoyed our vacation, and all too soon it was time to head back into the heat and humidity of summer in Oklahoma. We look forward to returning to the Casita Fina in the years to come.
Meador Manor 