The day started before the sunrise, my mom and I double-checked that all of the bags were packed and loaded ourselves into her car. The day almost entirely consisted of travel, first from Seattle to Texas and then from Texas to Santa Fe all via American Airlines. If you ever plan a trip like this remember that most airlines including American and United don’t provide food on flights shorter than three hours so you need to bring snacks (preferably ones that don’t smell strongly of anything like nuts or chips.) On our flight from Texas to Santa Fe, we were on a smaller plane and ran into some rougher-than-normal weather which caused a great deal of turbulence. We touched down only a few minutes later than expected but for the fifteen extra minutes that we spent in the air everyone, including myself, was just praying not to vomit.
We grabbed our bags and rental car and drove the short fifteen minutes to downtown Santa Fe where our lovely bed and breakfast was situated. We stayed at Las Palomas which consists of about a dozen small adobe houses renovated into hotel rooms which include a full bath with bathtub, a kitchenette that includes a refrigerator and microwave, and a moderately comfortable bed. Personally, I sleep on a memory foam mattress at home so a hotel bed can never compare to the comfort I have in my own bed. The one at las Palomas was on the harder side but still gave enough that it didn’t feel like sleeping on a rock. We also had a private patio and courtyard.
We then proceeded to dinner at a tapas bar called El Meson, there was a wide variety of choices and there’s different entertainment every night. Tuesdays are tango dancing. We tried the setas a la Parilla which is oyster mushrooms marinated in garlic and parsley infused olive oil. It was an extremely flavorful dish and the charring from the grill made the mushrooms taste very much like meat. We also tried the calamares dos salsas which were just the Spanish way of saying calamari which is fried squid. It was bland and not worth the purchase when there were so many other promising options. I don’t recommend it. Lastly, we tried jamón Iberico, which is a cured mountain ham aged over two years. While the ham was bursting with flavor, toned down slightly by the melon that it came with, it was also extremely salty. I don’t recommend getting this unless you’re splitting it among a large group of people because while it is delicious, after a few pieces it becomes overwhelming. We proceeded back to the room and went promptly to sleep.
A side note for anyone considering visiting Santa Fe, I recommend booking your trip through the Albuquerque airport which is about two hours away. We were told that this airport has significantly more flights per day and that the road from Albuquerque to Santa Fe can be quite scenic. While I can’t speak on either of these things personally, when I return to Santa Fe someday I plan to take this advice myself.