Santa Fe

We like city tours.  They typically last 1-1.5 hours, are narrated by folks who have a good knowledge of history and local sights, and are reasonably priced.  Today's SF tour was no exception.  SF claims to be the 2nd oldest city in the country (St Augustine, FL is oldest and some sources say Jamestown, VA is 2nd oldest) so plenty of history here.  SF also lays claim to being the highest capital city at 7000'.  Finally, SF has an astounding amount and variety of art in all forms.  Our narrator today said that, measured in total $ of art sold, SF is 3rd in the nation, behind New York and LA - amazing for a city of 70,000 population.

Our little tour bus with a full load of 20.

That person in the rear looks familiar, am sure I've seen her somewhere before.

There are 300+ art galleries here, with 100+ galleries on one street: Canyon Road.  Riding slowly down this street in our little, open-sided bus just plain blew my mind.  At the beginning I was snapping pictures right and left but after awhile I set the camera aside and just enjoyed the display.  Here's a small sample, not great quality since the bus was moving.  You'll see more art pix with better quality and more detail in future posts.

This huge sculpture on Museum Hill memorializes the Santa Fe trail, a heavily used freight route in the 1800s.

The freight wagons quickly became history when the A, T & SF railroad was completed.