Museums, Art & History

[Adrian W]

Santa Fe Museums & Art:

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum opened to the public in July 1997, eleven years after the death of the artist. O'Keeffe

The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. Wheel Wright

New Mexico Museum of Art. NMMoA
What's There. Collections

Museum of New Mexico: Four Museums in Santa Fe, the List. Museum/NM
Museum of NM

Visual art and galleries: There are many Galleries around town, especially the Plaza area. The town and the surrounding areas have a high concentration of artists. They have come over the decades to capture on canvas and in other media the natural beauty of the landscape, the flora and the fauna. Canyon Road/ETC

Handmade Indian art at the Portal of the Governor’s Palace. NativeAmerican

New Mexico State Capitol Building can be toured, kind of neat. Nick Named the "Round House". The Capitol is located at the corner of Old Santa Fe Trail and Paseo de Peralta. There is Art Lurking in it as well. Tour

Bandelier National Monument would be a nice place to visit near Los Alamos and not far from Santa Fe. It was a pleasent campground when we stayed there as well.
Monument

The New Mexico Rail Runner Express, train service to Downtown Albuquerque and other communities. One could also go see the sights there via RailRunner .

[John Hussey]

You forgot the Loretto Chapel winding staircase:

http://www.lorettochapel.com/staircase.html

An amazing feat!

[Mary F]

A nice place to spend a little money (or maybe a lot) is 10,000 Waves, a hot tub place (spa) on the road that goes up to the Santa Fe Ski area (it's also near Hyde Park).

http://www.tenthousandwaves.com/ We especially like it when there's snow on the ground!


And for some shopping (Mexican and other imports, plus local glass, etc.) don't forget Jackalope, on Cerrillos Rd.

http://www.jackalope.com/location_santafe.html (I see there's also one in LA. Who knew?)

[james kent]

Our little trailer stops for Museums.
We have found that it is a great way to learn about local history and customs. We will often sidetrack to visit a local attraction. As for the shopping; there's not a lot of extra room for the big stuff and small souvenirs or pictures have to suffice. Actually a lot of pictures to take home.

[ronsmith100]

Adrain I like the museum in your backyard the best.

[Adrian W]

Adrain I like the museum in your backyard the best.

The museum which is really in my backyard is the NM Farm & Ranch. It is about a mile from our house in fact. http://www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org/

About 2 miles from my backyard is the Zuhl Museum. Part art gallery, part natural history museum, the Zuhl collection at New Mexico State University showcases thousands of beautiful specimens of petrified wood, fossils and minerals. The Zuhl Museum is housed at the NMSU Alumni and Visitors Center, 775 College Drive, near the northwest campus entrance. Look for a large group of windmills, they are behind the building. There is a Zuhl Library with other specimens as well on campus.
http://www.nmsu.edu/zuhl/
http://alum.nmsu.edu/s/422/images/editor_d...hl_brochure.pdf

We used to live about 2 miles from the Fort Selden State Monument which is near Radium Springs, NM. I-25 Exit 19, 13 miles north of Las Cruces, NM. Adjacent Leasburg Dam State Park which has nice camp sites, some by the Rio Grande, some on a mesa overlooking the Rio Grande.
http://www.nmmonuments.org/inst.php?inst=10
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/leasburg.htm

The NM Space Museum in Alamo, about 70 miles away, is really neat and we do consider it in our backyard as well. It is very impressive; the building, the exhibits & New Mexico's only IMAX theater - will take you out of this world with a wraparound screen and surround sound. The Clyde W. Tombaugh IMAX Dome Theater also features a planetarium with a Spitz 512 star projector. Very cooool.

Alamo also has a neat but small zoo (which is very rare in New Mexico) & the oldest zoo in the southwest United States. http://ci.alamogordo.nm.us/coa/commu...rvices/zoo.htm

We enjoyed taking our kids to them in Alamo when they were little. As well as the ones in Santa Fe (except O'Keeffe which is too new - but have gone twice to it).

[ronsmith100]

Not hijacking the thread but some people may think Adrian's use of the name "Alamo" might refer to someplace in Texas. Alamo is in this case short for "Alamogordo, New Mexico".. the home of the White Sands Test Facility where the Trinity site is... the first Atom bomb.

Including one photograph that has been well received for its abstractness and shows a rare occurrence: white sands after a heavy rain

Now back to the Hawk

[Adrian W]

Alamo is Alamogordo
T or C is Truth or Consequences
Cruces is Las Cruces
Silver is Silver City

Can't think of any others at the moment. Except San'tone = San Antonio (But that's Texican - I'm a Native Texan - don't throw anything ).

I haven't heard San Antonio, NM called anything for short. It was the birth place of Conrad Hilton. Today, it is more famous for the Owl Bar and Grill. The green chile cheeseburger is what has put this out-of-the-way watering hole on the good eats map. However, I have not had one, but have heard many Las Crucians say they can not pass without one. Especially, teachers.
http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/3612/owl-bar
http://www.hiltonfoundation.org/main.asp?id=51
http://infohost.nmt.edu/~shipman/food/owl.html

By the way, San Antonio is much closer to the Trinity Site than Alamogordo. http://www.atomictourist.com/trinity.htm
http://www.randomuseless.info/vacati...os/photos.html

San Antonio is close to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Situated just off Interstate 25 midway between Albuquerque and Las Cruces, Socorro is the nearest town to the refuge. To reach the refuge from Socorro, drive eight miles south on I-25 to exit 139, continue east one-fourth mile on US 380 to the flashing signal at San Antonio, turn right onto Old Highway 1, continue south nine miles to the Visitor Center. From Las Cruces, drive north on I-25 to exit 124 (San Maracial), then north on Old Highway 1 to the Visitor Center.
http://www.fws.gov/Refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=22520
http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/


Also in Alamo, aka Alamogordo, THE TOY TRAIN DEPOT, New Mexico's first railroad museum, open year round and the home of AMERICA'S PARK RIDE TRAIN MUSEUM. I have not taken time to see the exhibit, other than the ride which is outdoors.
http://toytraindepot.homestead.com/

Ron, for adding to it. You did say, "Now back to the Hawk."
It got me thinking.

[Paul Bostick]

If you like hiking and beautiful geology try Tent Rock Monument. 40 miles SW of Sante Fe.

http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreatio...tent_rocks.html

[Ken C]

can people go out to the White Sands Test Facility where the Trinity site. That is a pretty place according to that photo? Can folks walk around those dunes?

[ronsmith100]

can people go out to the White Sands Test Facility where the Trinity site. That is a pretty place according to that photo? Can folks walk around those dunes?

There is a "White Sands National Monument" here.
Beautiful place... check the photos on the web site.
The trinity site is not there.. it is on the White Sands Missile Range adjacent. You have to sign up well in advance to get to see Trinity.

[Adrian W]

can people go out to the White Sands Test Facility where the Trinity site. That is a pretty place according to that photo? Can folks walk around those dunes?

Two different places, the White Sands Missile Range & White Sands Nat'l Monument. The White Sands Missile Range is mostly not covered with the White Sand. The Trinity Site is opened twice a year, one does not have to sign up to go see it at those times (at least we did not have to when we went). We used the Stallion Gate Entrance - Exit I-25 on mile marker 139 (San Antonio, N.M.) and head 12 miles east or exit Highway 54 onto Highway 380 and head west 53 miles of Carrizozo, N.M. Turn on the Stallion Gate entrance and head south five miles of Highway 380.The gate is opened from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Visitors are allowed to enter and exit unescorted anytime during these special days. Trinity Site is clearly marked below U.S. Highway 380 on the State of New Mexico highway map.
http://www.wsmr.army.mil/wsmr.asp?pg=y&page=577

http://www.amwest-travel.com/awt_trinity.html

http://www.wsmr.army.mil/wsmr.asp?pg=y&page=576

http://www.examiner.com/x-1972-Albuquerque...ril-and-October

http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=4314

White Sands Nat'l Monument
http://www.nps.gov/whsa/

White Sands Missile Range (WSMR)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_Missile_Range

Lake Lucero - source of the white sand is on WSMR.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/whsa/Lucero.htm

The Trinity Site is a long way from the Monument, on the west side of the mountain range, the other side of the range, much closer to San Antonio & Socorro, NM. Closer to Valley of Fires BLM Area than the Monument. Socorro, New Mexico - 1.24 km & Alamogordo, New Mexico - 4.35 km & Carrizozo Malpais - 0.42 km Valley of Fires is in this area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trinity_fallout.png

http://explorer.altopix.com/wiki/0q8lys/1/...Site.htm?order=