Day-7 Albuquerque & Santa Fe .. balloons and (3) museums !

Whoa!  My FULL day in Northern New Mexico and I get to see .. BALLOON FIESTA  -and-
SANTA FE !!!   Wow - it must've been my brilliant planning ?  .... not.
It was Kathy and Jeff's ideas.   Jeff recommended a viewing area, on the east side of I-25, in the
foothills, as we drove north to Santa Fe.    Here are a few pictures.   Doggone it, the sun was not
quite on them as we were driving ...

We had stopped on the side of the road a couple of times.    Sorry we didn't stay longer!

Headed up to Santa Fe, knowing that most tourists would be busy at the launch site.    Sure enough,
when arriving in this VERY OLD state capital, it looked like a ghost town.    Most areas do when Joe
gets off to his early starts.  LOVE the pueblo architecture!   Here's a few pic's on the way to the 1st
museum.

Started at .. New Mexico HISTORY Museum.   Walked along with a group and tour guide to
catch the highlights from an expert.     Learned about the native Indian inhabitants and their
history of moving from the higher elevations to the valley floor,  the Spanish exploration and
subsequent establishment of a settlement at the Santa Fe location.    We moved through many
periods of Santa Fe area history.   Lots of neat artifacts, clothing, weapons, pioneer life, etc.
Kathy and I toured a couple of sections on our own, including the atomic era history that started
at Los Alamos, south of Albuquerque.    We then went to a section on  ...  Fred Harvey.
The early trains didn't have any food or lodging when they stopped and paused and allowed the
passengers to get out and have a meal of what they carried along.    Mr. Harvey struck up a deal
with the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe railroad to set up restaurants and hotels along the routes.

He then established the .. Harvey Girls !

You know me ... I like some of the more eclectic stuff in museums.    I had not heard of this.

Unfortunately the Palace of the Governors was not open, it was being restored.
It served as the seat of government for New Mexico for centuries !    It is the oldest continuously
occupied public building in the United States! 

Next stop :   New Mexico Museum of Art.      Larry .. I'm all about the ART !!
Neat, neat paintings ... Kym mentioned Georgia O'Keefe .. she has her own museum, but there
are only so many buildings that want to see Joe! 

                                        Here's Kathy studying the description.

The courtyard outside again showed off this pueblo architecture.

                               There were frescos surrounding this courtyard.

Then ... an amazing 100-year-old auditorium that the community has used all these years!!
It's part of the art museum!    HUGE wooden beams!

These two stops took .. 4-hours !  YIKES !  2 o'clock .. I'm hungry.  Santa Fe is your food destination!
Many, many courtyards and cute restaurants!!    We ate at .. La Casa Sena.    Here's what I ate :

Santa Fe Chimayo Red Chile Bowl : pinto beans, shredded pork, cheddar cheese.     yummmy!

Then off to museum hill. Several very interesting ones. We chose: Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
We couldn't take pictures.    Another 2-hours of very interesting .. bowls, bowls, bowls, bowls, and
some neat clothing, 1700-year-old sandals, moccasins, and .. bowls, bowls, bowls, ..
Just kidding.    Very interesting.

Long day of sensory overload ..  starting with hundreds of balloons and ending with 100's of bowls.
So much history in Santa Fe.    So much art in Santa Fe.     You'll love it!

The BIG Texas drive and round-up of history lessons  .. is tomorrow.     Stay-tuned !