Southwestern Pueblo-Style Accommodations Outside Santa Fe
Two stuffed bobcats are frozen in place around the Bobcat Inn great room's crackling adobe fireplace. The cats complement the decor at the aptly named inn, where southwestern vases and pottery dot the bookshelves and mission-style furniture rests on a patterned rug. A former hacienda renovated by owners John and Amy Bobrick, the Bobcat Inn tucks into 10 forested acres in the Santa Fe foothills. Less than 8 miles outside the capital city, the bed and breakfast maintains a rural-retreat atmosphere with abundant mesa views and a calming, plant-lined koi pond.
Guest rooms continue the motif with earthy, desert tones and southwestern bric-a-brac. In the Fiesta San Miguel casita, golden walls complement the sunset-hued Saltillo floor tiles. Upon arrival, you’ll receive a vase of fresh flowers and a chocolate-and-chili-lovers' basket, stuffed with recipes for a southwestern dinner party, various chili powders and flakes, and four handcrafted chocolate-cognac truffles.
Santa Fe chef John Bobrick and former restaurateur Amy Bobrick serve a gourmet southwestern breakfast each morning in the Great Room. The breakfast menu varies, with items such as cheese enchiladas, poached eggs, salsa, fresh fruit, cereal, and low-fat vanilla yogurt alongside sumatra coffee from local roaster Ohori's.
Santa Fe, New Mexico: Old West Architecture and Fiery Southwestern Cuisine
Santa Fe's vibrant mosaic of cultural influences includes pieces of Native American, Latino, and western traditions. You can get an idea of the city's varied background by visiting Santa Fe Plaza, which has served as the city center for more than 400 years. On a walk through, you'll see old buildings made of adobe, the red brick-like material that defines much of Santa Fe's architecture. Centuries of colorful southwestern artwork are also on display in the New Mexico Museum of Art, which is located in the Plaza.
Fiery chili is the signature flavor at many restaurants in Santa Fe, which earned a place on TripAdvisor's Top 10 Food & Wine Destinations in the United States in 2011. It's worth it to sign up for a walking food tour of the area, which has sprung up with popular eateries, each offering its own spin on zesty southwestern cuisine.
For more than 300 days a year, Santa Fe soaks in sunshine. Such consistently great weather, paired with New Mexico’s varied terrain, makes the region ideal for hiking and biking. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains have peaks that stand over 13,000 feet high, and they're traced with trails that wind past picturesque meadows filled with Indian paintbrush, purple lupine, and undomesticated landscape painters. From late fall to early spring, up to 300 inches of snow falls on the slopes of the mountains, which offer miles of downhill-skiing and snowboarding trails
