A revitalized Santa Fe Railyard offers studios, galleries, museums, new retail and restaurant spaces, as well as live-in artist studios.
Santa Fe's Plaza has been the vibrant heart of the city for almost four centuries and now hosts the large farmers market.
A step up from taco food trucks, this Southwest plate is considered neuvo (new) cuisine.
Imagine breakup and the feeling you usually have about escaping it to somewhere the sun shines and its warmth actually touches your body.
Consider a trip to Sata Fe, New Mexico with Road Scholar.
The best part of Road Scholar aside from its all-inclusive scheduling with meals and accommodations, is the price - seven days for $2,749. Flights are not included.
The seven day, six-night trip includes 13 meals, six expert-led lectures plus a group leader, 11 expert-led field trips, six nights of accommodations, taxes and gratuities. It also covers the Road Scholar Assurance Plan that provides 24-hour assistance in the event of an emergency during your program and insurance for emergency medical evacuation, but it does not provide cancellation, interruption or travel delay insurance benefits.
Different way of seeing the world
This program is part of Road Scholar's "Our Changing Planet" series, exploring the solutions to the challenges of global climate change in communities around the United States. (Learn more at http://www.roadscholar.org/planet.)
The leader will talk about the unique history and cuisine of New Mexico, from its earliest Ancestral Puebloan inhabitants to the European settlers who followed, as well as the history of agriculture in the region.
Curated visits to locations include deep dives into the region's cultural heritage and history.
Note that the talks will take place in the private meeting room at the hotel.
For almost four centuries, Santa Fe's Plaza district has been the vibrant heart of the city. The group will also visit the imposing Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the Palace of the Governors, Sena Plaza, and other sites.
An extra treat is dining at local restaurants to taste the local food, which has undergone some transformation in the 21st Century to a Neuvo (new) Santa Fe cuisine.
A new approach
Explore Reunity Farm, founded in 2011 as Reunity Resources as a small biodiesel program where it upcycled used cooking oil to be used for fuel or other products. It expanded in 2014 to add the Commercial Food Waste Collection program to collect food scraps from local restaurants.
A year later, it leased a non-arable acre of land from the Santa Fe Community Farm, using an aerated static pile system to compost in what became their Soil Yard. Reunity Farm used the regenerative farming method (see the movie "Kiss the Ground"). The food is made available to those in need through donations with partner organizations, farm-to-family meal donations and a 24/7 access Community Fridge.
This segment might bring home to Alaska some innovative ideas.
A 75-mile motorcoach ride takes you north to the village of Don Fernando de Taos to visit the Huerta Sol Feliz Farm.
Huerta Sol Feliz is "a manifestation of agricultural reconnection and home-scale sustainable living," said its host, Miguel Santistevan, who spent most of his summers and holidays on this land, where his grandparents lived. He will introduce you to local permaculture techniques, sustainable agriculture, how to nurture biological diversity, and the history of the Acequia Sur del Rio Don Fernando de Taos which has been in existence since the 1700s.
The bus will ride on to Taos Pueblo. (But note this is subject to change as the Pueblo sometimes closes with little to no advance notice for private events.)
The picturesque Pueblo at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America. The multiple-story adobe dwellings reflect an ancient culture; approximately 100 Pueblo residents still live much as their ancestors did 1,000 years ago, without electricity or running water.
Taos Pueblo is the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. While there, you'll enjoy an expert-led walk through the community.
Then back on the motorcoach to a local winery for a wine tasting and learn about the some of the oldest grape production in North America, with vines brought into the area by Spanish monks in 1540.
That's it for this day, but what a day.
Other days' events include some free time, and a short ride to the end of Upper Canyon Road for a hike around the upper part of Santa Fe Watershed, which covers over 285 square miles and contains the main course of the Santa Fe River. This river has been Santa Fe's original water supply for thousands of years.
The importance of water in the desert Southwest will be explained by a local expert during a hike around the reservoirs that store and supply the water.
Afterward, there's time to explore Museum Hill for a self-directed field trip to the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and the Museum of International Folk Art.
There's more adventures on this trip, go to https://www.roadscholar.org.
