One Year Anniversary/Birthday Trip: New Mexico

[After my birthday dinner at Cafe Pasqual's in Santa Fe (loved it here)--we were both very tired but full and happy!]

I had a lot of confused looks from people preceding the trip: "New Mexico? How random." And even on the trip, people kept asking why we chose New Mexico. But I'm so glad we went. It was a beautiful, more affordable (compared to Hawaii) getaway destination that allowed us some time to reconnect. 

Here's a breakdown of our 3 nights in the Southwest.

What We Did: 

+ We floated down the Rio Grande Gorge in a hot air balloon ride in Taos, a town about an hour and a half north of Santa Fe. The ride was gorgeous, and most definitely the highlight of our entire trip. I'm not sure either one of us has woken up so early (3:45 AM!) but we did. And we loved it. We took the tour through Pueblo Balloon Company. They drove us to the site, let us watch our balloon be blown up, and then took us down the gorge. To top it off, we had a champagne brunch at the end of the flight.

+ In Santa Fe, we wandered around The Plaza and checked out some local art, including these incredible wooden flowers from The Rainbow Man.

 

+ In Albuquerque, we took the Sandia Tramway and caught this amazing sight of a rainbow in the clouds. 

Where We Stayed: 

In Santa Fe, we stayed two nights at Terrain Santa Fe, a boutique bed and breakfast about 20 minutes outside The Plaza. It was one of the nicest places we have ever stayed in, and definitely the quietest! Not only were there ample spots outside to lounge/relax/meditate, but inside we had our own jacuzzi tub, plus a hot tub outside that we could soak in under a bed of stars. Looking to book your honeymoon/second honeymoon/'get away from it all' couples trip? This place fits the bill. We stayed in the Shoji Suite and had everything we could ever want at our fingertips.

 [The outside patio, which looks out onto a beautiful landscape and is surrounded by wind chimes and fountains.]

[The amazing bath tub! The room also had all of these candles which made the whole place magical.]

On our last night, we stayed at the Chocolate Turtle Bed and Breakfast in Corrales, a village outside of Albuquerque. The Chocolate Turtle was lovely, with beautiful views and cute bunnies, road runners, and quails scurrying around the yard. It was very different from Terrain in that it had more of a family-oriented/homey feel to it rather than a chic/urban oasis vibe. It was quite comforting to stay there--we ended up playing cards on the porch with another couple and then watched a movie with snacks and popcorn. Man we sound old.

 [The view from the backyard at the Chocolate Turtle--you can see the Sandia Mountains in the distance.]

[We stayed in the very colorful Road Runner Room.]

What We Ate:

 I saved the best for last! Since we stayed at b&bs, we ate a lot of our meals at the inns. No complaints here, all the food was delicious. Behold, the breakfast we were served at Terrain Santa Fe:

[Stacked New Mexico blue corn enchiladas, sunnyside egg, ginger granola parfait with mixed berries, strawberry lemonade, scones, raspberry streusel--are you full yet?]

I also had my first fritatta at the Chocolate Turtle, which was SO GOOD. It had feta, parmesan cheese, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes. Mmmm...

And because I can't leave any post about food without mentioning sweets, we visited two chocolate shops part of "The Santa Fe Chocolate Trail": Kakawa Chocolate House (really, really cute space--I bought some peanut butter bites here for my niece) and C.G. Higgins (super nice owner who helped us picked out gifts and gave us free chocolate-covered strawberries,) which we had a Groupon for and bought lots of yummy treats like chile caramel corn and raspberry chocolate fudge. 

[Truffles from C.G. Higgins]

Hope you've enjoyed my New Mexico recap!

We're already brainstorming our next getaway.

How about you, what's your favorite destination to reconnect and unwind?