From the Bayou to the Mountains

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Passing through the coastal landscapes of Alabama and Mississippi, we arrived to New Orleans on a rainy afternoon after spending one night in a beautiful national park in western Florida where we found stark white beaches made of pure quartz that squeaked under our feet… apparently because of how fine ground the sand is.



This was a first visit for both of us, and the most immediate thing we noticed was how much New Orleans looks and feels like a European city. Understandably so – first founded by the French in the early 18^th century, New Orleans has kept its French flavor through the architecture and design of downtown, and among its many homes just outside the city. Brilliant. If you want the feel of European flare without actually traveling to Europe, visit New Orleans!



It was a quick 3 days for us (we could have easily enjoyed a full week), soaking in every bit we could:

It’s incredible selection of food – Creole and spicy Cajun seafood, Vietnamese soups and sandwiches, famous French beignets and café au lait, and incredible charcuterie boards.

It’s diverse wildlife – crazy wetlands of marsh, swamp and bayou that covered massive areas (miles and miles of shoreline) and were a natural habit for alligators, rabbits, snakes, different lizards and birds, crawfish, and demon crickets… all of which we saw! I have never seen wetlands so covered by growth that you can’t see any water, and it literally feels as though you are staring at a grassy land until you see an alligator, and know it’s submerged. Crazy.

It’s variety of music – we saw a brass band, hot jazz, Manouche jazz (a style of guitar made famous by Django Reinhardt, a French gypsy), and old time swing.

Needless to say, you can find plenty to entertain yourself.



Luckily we had the added bonus of our own personal tour guide, Eric (an old friend of Matt’s who now spends a good part of his year enjoying New Orleans after having traveled the world) who helped us make the most of our 3 days. We left with a great appreciation for the city.



Leaving the gulf and heading north, we experienced a long two days of driving up through Louisiana and across Texas (no biggie) and eventually landed in Santa Fe - an unanticipated stop in our travels. We were to originally hit up Hueco Tanks State Park in El Paso, TX. for some bouldering, but in Georgia Matt came in contact with either some kind of poison or an insect that didn’t like the smell of his feet, because he had to nurse some major blood blisters on his toes that weren’t ready for climbing shoes-or any shoes for that matter. (I’ll spare you from any pictures). But we became more than happy with our change in route.



Driving across flat open plains for days in temperatures already too hot for northeastern folk, the beauty and crisp air of Santa Fe’s mountains was more than appreciated. It’s located at 7,199 feet above sea level, making it the highest state capital in the United States.



Downtown Santa Fe is unique and quite picturesque, and boasts being the oldest capital city in the modern US. Surrounded by mountains, the city stems from a central plaza that is surrounded by buildings built in the earth-toned Spanish pueblo Adobe style. Interestingly enough, in 1912 this Adobe style became Santa Fe’s ‘official style of architecture’, in order to encourage tourism because of its economic decline due to the railway moving west in the late 19^th century. It worked, and because of its unique beauty, the city eventually attracted an art community, which still flourishes today.



We camped in the Santa Fe National Forest, a 15 minute drive east into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that increase in elevation enough to drop the temp 15-20 degrees from downtown. Covered in budding aspens, the mountainside had a pinkish grey glow all the way to its peak. This breathtaking windy drive keeps your ears popping and ends at a small ski-way.



We ended up spending 3 days at a beautiful campsite along a stream, playing guitar, making good food, enjoying small hikes in the national park to rocky waterfalls, and visiting town to tour local art, crafts, and music.



We loved Santa Fe so much that we chose to indulge ourselves on the last evening. Beginning with dinner at ‘The Pink Adobe’, we enjoyed the Steak Dunigan- a dish appropriately advertised on the Food Network on the show ‘The Best Thing I Ever Ate’. Check it out: http://www.thepinkadobe.com/press.php

If you aren’t considering visiting Santa Fe by the end of this video just for this steak, you must be a vegetarian.

Combined with some fresh margaritas, it set the mood to then visit ‘Ten Thousand Waves’- a luxurious Japanese Spa where for 23 dollars you are handed a kimono and slippers to take full use of their teak outdoor hot tubs, cold plunge and sauna, all surrounded by Junipers, Japanese maples, Koi ponds and waterfalls. If that got too much, you could visit the ‘relaxation room’ where cushions and headphones (seeping out sounds of the rainforest) put you right into a tensionless coma. The perfect treatment to rejuvenate ourselves before crossing into the rocky mountains to discover the deep canyons of the west.

-Liz



(to see all the pictures we uploaded make sure scroll all the way to the bottom)

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Photos

New Orleans
French style architecture

In the Bayou
All the green you see...all marsh land! An alligator about 4 feet long was near by.

New Orleans
"Spotted Cat" live music

New Orleans
Biggest 'Live Oak' in the city. The heavy branches reached down to the ground. If you look closely you can see a tree climber in the limbs. ;)

The Crazies
After jumping up and over a moving train (very slow moving train). We were so very impressed with ourselves.

Santa Fe Mountains
From inside the national park, looking west and south towards the town of Santa Fe.

'Steak Dunigan' Reaction!
At the Pink Adobe restaurant

Santa Fe
Camp fire and guitar at our sweet camping spot in the mountains.