greenchili https://48houradventures.com/tag/greenchili/ Weekend getaways and bucket-list road trips with Bryan & Shauna Wed, 02 Sep 2020 16:03:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 178144920 Santa Fe, NM ~ The Turquoise Trail https://48houradventures.com/2019/03/new-mexico/santa-fe-nm-the-turquoise-trail/ https://48houradventures.com/2019/03/new-mexico/santa-fe-nm-the-turquoise-trail/#respond Mon, 04 Mar 2019 07:00:00 +0000 https://48houradventures.com/?p=451 Santa Fe is one of my top 5 favorite cities in the world. We flew into Albuquerque and took the Turquoise Trail road to Santa Fe. If you want the fast road just head straight up the I 25N and it will take you right into Santa Fe. If you want to do some exploring on the way, take the I 40E to Hwy 14N. This is the Turquoise trail and will take you to the backside of the Sandia mountains. The hippie town of Madrid, NM Once you turn on Hwy 14N, it’s abut 35 minutes ’til you arrive in the town of Madrid. Madrid was once a coal mining town turned ghost town turned hippie art town. It was featured in the movie Wild Hogs and still retains some of the sites from the movie set. There are lots of souvenir shops, art galleries and a few restaurants. Our favorite is the Mine Shaft Tavern. The food is fantastic and the people watching is world-class. They also have a beer garden and live music on the weekends. Santa Fe Plaza The drive from Madrid to Santa Fe is about 40 minutes and takes you past some beautiful farms, the State penitentiary and several look out spots. Once you arrive in Santa Fe, there is so much to see and do. There are hundreds of art galleries, magnificent churches and amazing food. Our Favorite restaurant and our first stop is The Shed for some green chili. The Shed has been in operation since 1953 and at it’s current location since 1960. The food is authentic New Mexican food and the margaritas are amazing. No trip to Santa Fe is complete without a Frito Pie. Featured on the Food Network as “one of the best things I ever ate.” You have to visit the five & dime on the Plaza. Head to the food counter in the back and get yourself one, grab a bench in the Plaza and enjoy. We spent hours strolling around historic Santa Fe Plaza. Here you can browse shops and art galleries and learn about New Mexico’s history and the Native American Southwest. Be sure to visit the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi and the Loretto Chapel. If time allows, a trip to Georgia O’Keefe’s Ghost Ranch is a must. It’s about an hour drive from Santa Fe. This is where she lived and the subject of many of her paintings. You can make this a day trip or stay the night or a week! A world-class Japanese Spa By this time, we were ready for a massage and so we called ahead and booked a couples massage at Ten Thousand Waves. It’s about a 15 minute drive from Santa Fe and is a world-class Japanese spa. It has beautiful outdoor hot tubs, a cold plunge and some of the most serene massage rooms you will ever experience. Hands down, the hottest ticket in Santa Fe is Meow Wolf. This interactive art experience has become a national phenomenon. Be sure to book tickets in advance. For breakfast, we have two favorite spots. The French Pastry Shop and Creperie that has amazing pastries and crepes and the Burrito Company if you’re in the mood for more traditional NM food. We always stay at The Inn & Spa at Loretto. The pueblo style hotel has rooms with balconies, shopping and a world class spa. Santa Fe is an epic jump off spot for several day trips. Click here for the best 5 day trips. Check out our other blogs for exploring Northern New Mexico!

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]]> https://48houradventures.com/2019/03/new-mexico/santa-fe-nm-the-turquoise-trail/feed/ 0 451 Albuquerque, NM ~ The Turquoise Trail https://48houradventures.com/2019/03/new-mexico/albuquerque-the-turquoise-trail/ https://48houradventures.com/2019/03/new-mexico/albuquerque-the-turquoise-trail/#comments Sun, 03 Mar 2019 07:00:50 +0000 https://48houradventures.com/?p=413 Along the Turquoise Trail is where I grew up. It is in the mountains between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Every trip back to this area feels like going home. The beauty of the terrain in this state is spectacular and there is an abundance of sites to see and land to explore. More importantly and, let me tell you, the food in this state is some of the best in the Country. It is particularly unique to this area and is my comfort food in its purest sense. Our first stop out of the airport in Albuquerque is always Los Cuates Restaurant. It’s been there for over 40 years and the food is mouth-watering authentic New Mexican cuisine. The Turquoise Trail Fueled up and ready to explore, we head to the Sandia Mountains. The Sandia’s are part of the Rocky Mountains and they line the east side of the city. We headed out the I 40E to Hwy 14N towards Cedar Crest thru the Tijeras Canyon Pass and onto The Turquoise Trail. This canyon separates the Sandia Mountains to the North from the Manzano mountains to the south. Once you turn on the North 14, you”ll travel about 6 miles to Sandia Peak road. A left turn there and as you head up the mountain, you are entering the Cibola National Forest. This is one of our favorite forests to explore, because it’s where I grew up and holds a huge part of my heart. There are hundreds of mies of hiking trails in the Cibola. One of the really fun and easy hikes is the Sandia Cave hike. The views from here are breathtaking and it’s a fun cave hike. The road to the parking is rough but most cars can get up albeit slowly. The hike is just over two miles round trip but take your time and enjoy the views. After hiking we continued up the Sandia Crest Byway towards the peak. This is the highest byway in the Southwest and reaches the peak at 10,378 ft. At the top is the Sandia Peak Ski area and the Sandia Peak Tramway. The Tram was built in the 1960’s and tis the worlds second largest. It travels up and down the east side of the Sandia’s for 2.7 miles to the peak. The views are stunning and you get a 11,000 square-mile panoramic view of the Rio Grande Valley and this part of the Land of Enchantment. Historic Old Town Plaza We made our way back to the city early in the evening and headed to the Historic Old Town Plaza. We ate at another of our favorite restaurants here and the oldest restaurant in Albuquerque, La Placeita. It’s an old hacienda style restaurant with a giant oak tree growing thru the middle of it. The plaza in Old town Albuquerque is about 10 blocks of adobe buildings with retail shops, restaurants, art galleries and museums and some beautiful Navajo artifacts and jewelry. In fact, you could spend a whole day here enjoying the Plaza. In the winter and around the holidays you can take a carriage ride around the town in horse drawn buggies. Next up, we are taking the back road to Santa Fe for more exploring along The Turquoise Trail and then to Taos and Shiprock.

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