The drive from Mills Canyon the Santa Fe was scenic. We rolled past Philmont, the Boyscout camp, climbed to almost 9,000 feet and then dropped into the alpine town of Eagle’s Nest. Turning back south, we arrived at our hotel, La Fonda, in downtown Santa Fe. We picked this hotel on the way because it was downtown and the Marriott offerings were quite a bit higher in total cost. La Fonda simply means “The Inn,” and it was literally on the downtown plaza. Fortunately, it had it’s own parking garage which made everything quite convenient.
The Inn was amazing! It had loads of character and was perfectly appointed. Nothing out of place, unique furnishing, and very well-maintained. It was like a cozy museum. All the halls were adorned with original art and shop selections. What a pleasant place to stay. I was excited about the roof-top hot tub, but COVID had shut that down along with the heated pool.
We spent two nights there and spent the days exploring downtown Santa Fe. Lots of nice shops and restaurants.
New Mexico has really tried to clamp down on the spread of COVID, you could tell the shops were struggling. We were in one art shop with some high dollar items at half price. Another shop had a couple asking lots of questions about some expensive pieces. The assistant ask me to please cover my nose but she didn’t ask the guy to cover his. Hum… Face masks are mandatory, even outside, with a $100 fine. If you dine-in at a restaurant, you have to provide “contact tracing” information. Some restaurants said the law meant BOTH phone number AND email, some said either. Some wanted the information up front, some after you ate. When we pushed back on providing both phone and email, one restaurant said it was required and wouldn’t serve us without it. The manager then told us we could put in false information if we wanted too! Difficult time for these folks.
While we were there to catch up with communication and blogging we also washed the Mill’s Canyon mud off the new Ranger, found a laundry mat and shopped for supplies. Then we were ready to journey on to our next destination.
Next, a swing past “DZ”…
