S is for Santa Fe

All I need's a few more dollars
And I'm outta here to stay
Dreams come true
Yes, they do
In Santa Fe

"Santa Fe" from Newsies,
lyrics by Jack Feldman

There are so many choices for Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday this week. S has a lot of possibilities. I thought of Santa Barbara, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Sonoma, and Silverton, but finally chose Santa Fe where "dreams come true, yes, they do." The photos below were all taken during visits in the 1990s. I really like New Mexico's capital. On my first visit in Santa Fe, there was some sort of fiesta in the city center with music and dance.

So beautiful, proud and talented!

The little girls were adorable.

One of the most famous hotels in Santa Fe -- the Inn and Spa at Loretto.

The Canyon Road is Santa Fe's art district with dozens of wonderful galleries. It's a pleasure to stroll up and down the road to see sculptures and other art objects. Don't hesitate to enter the galleries, too. You will find amazing artwork there. Below you see a statue outside the Frank Howell Gallery in Washington Avenue.

The statue in front of the New Mexico State Capitol.

On a walk in Santa Fe's city center, I saw this statue of a sleeping bear.

The Loretto Chapel.

The spiral staircase inside the chapel which is considered to be an exceptional work of carpentry. In fact, there'a a bit of mystery surrounding its construction. From Wikipedia:

"The architect died suddenly and it was only after much of the chapel was constructed that the builders realized it was lacking any type of stairway to the choir loft. Due to the chapel's small size, a standard staircase would have been too large. Historians have also noted that earlier churches of the period had ladders rather than stairs to the choir loft, but the Sisters obviously did not feel comfortable with that prospect because of the long habits that they wore. The reputed story continues as follows. Needing a way to get up to the choir loft the nuns prayed for St. Joseph's intercession for nine straight days. On the day after their novena ended a shabby looking stranger appeared at their door. He told the nuns he would build them a staircase but that he needed total privacy and locked himself in the chapel for three months. He used a small number of primitive tools including a square, a saw and some warm water and constructed a spiral staircase entirely of non-native wood. The identity of the carpenter is not known for as soon as the staircase was finally finished he was gone. Many witnesses, upon seeing the staircase, feel it was a miraculous occurrence. The resulting staircase is an impressive work of carpentry. It ascends twenty feet, making two complete revolutions up to the choir loft without the use of nails or apparent center support. It has been surmised that the central spiral of the staircase is narrow enough to serve as a central beam. Nonetheless there was no attachment unto any wall or pole in the original stairway, although in 1887 -- 10 years after it was built -- a railing was added and the outer spiral was fastened to an adjacent pillar. Instead of metal nails, the staircase was constructed using dowels or wooden pegs. The wood for the staircase cannot be found anywhere in the region. The stairs had 33 steps, the age of Jesus when he died."

In Santa Fe, you find the most interesting stores. Some of them are even interesting from the outside. The Golden Eye is a good example.

I want to end this post with the lyrics of the song "Santa Fe" by the Bellamy Brothers:

Her turquoise lips kiss me like a lover.
Her silver eyes see right through my veins.
Her Indian heart asks when I'll return to her.
Her Spanish soul begs me to remain.
And no one that I've ever known can move me like she does.
No, it's not a woman that I love.

Santa Fe Santa Fe
I have been here in your arms and now I want to stay.
Santa Fe Santa Fe
I won't sleep 'till I'm back in Santa Fe.

Her sunrise could bring light into a blind man.
Her sunset could put tears there in his eyes.
Her colors are laying there in brush strokes.
Underneath those peote skies.

The lay of the land stirs all of my emotions.
She heals me with a laid back energy.
She holds onto my broken lifeless spirit.
And molds me just like pottery.
And nowhere that I've ever been can make me feel this way.
That's why I'm going there to stay.

Santa Fe Santa Fe
I have been there in your arms, now I want to stay.
Santa Fe Santa Fe
I won't sleep 'till I'm back Santa Fe.
Santa Fe
No, I won't sleep 'till I'm back in Santa Fe.