Fajitas – A Zia Diner Customer Favorite

The Zia Diner offers fajitas on its menu. Like most Northern New Mexico restaurants serving local favorites like enchiladas, burritos and green chile hamburgers the famous and delicious fajita dish is a staple on the company’s menu. The fajita is dish originating it is said from Texas with a Tex-Mex influence during the late 1960’s. Cattle ranches and cattle drives going back several decades served skirt steak taken from the cattle used to feed the ranch hands / cowboys hired on to do the work there. The term “fajita” came from the skirt steak used to feed all the cattle workers back then. Since then the types of meats used in fajitas has expanded to different cuts of beef, shrimp, pork and chicken. In restaurants, like the Zia Diner, fajitas are prepared on the grill with onions and bell peppers. Most restaurants serving fajitas offer complimentary ingredients like tomato and lettuce garnish, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, cheese and pico de gallo.

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Event Calendar Santa Fe – 2013 Santa Fe Bandstand

The Santa Fe Bandstand is local event put on by the City of Santa Fe each summer on the historic and famous downtown Plaza in Santa Fe. Since the early 80’s, and more recently since the 1990’s, the City of Santa Fe has organized a free nightly music concert on the Plaza running from 6 to 9 p.m. or so Monday through Thursday from July 5^th to around the middle of August. For 2013 the City of Santa Fe has expanded the Santa Fe Bandstand to 89 evenings from Friday June 28 to August 23^rd, adding and extra two weeks of music for the enjoyment of locals and visitors alike.

The types of music people can hear at the Santa Fe Bandstand vary widely. There will be groups playing during the 2013 season from around the country playing bluegrass, rock, reggae, jazz and many other types as well. There will also be bands and performers coming to play during the 2013 season from around the world, making it a truly international experience and not just a fun thing to in Santa Fe.

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Albuquerque and Santa Fe Music Venues

In Albuquerque and Santa Fe there are several places to go listen to music and entertainer performances such as music acts and plays.

Albuquerque, for instance, offers multiple venues with large seating capacity. There are three Indian Casinos in the Albuquerque Metro area, each which has a music performance venue. Sandia Casino has an outdoor amphitheatre. Santa Ana Star Casino has an indoor venue, as does Isleta Casino, located just a few minutes south of Albuquerque. Albuquerque is home to the University of New Mexico, which is a Division I school with a football stadium and UNM’s famous basketball arena called The Pit. Both sports venues serve as places for music acts to perform. Albuquerque is home to Popejoy Hall, a longtime community facility that serves a venue for music acts, Broadway plays and community events. On the south end of Albuquerque there is the Journal Pavilion, an outdoor music venue that has been bringing in acts since the 1990’s. There are dozens of local bars and restaurants in the City of Albuquerque that have stages they bring musical acts in for the enjoyment of patrons.

Santa Fe has several venues for music and plays. The most famous and longest term venue for music and performances in Santa Fe is the Lensic, Santa Fe’s Performing Arts Center. Other music venues include the St Francis Auditorium, the Scottish Rite Temple, and the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Like Albuquerque, several of the local bars and restaurants serve up music weekly such as the Cowgirl, the Zia Diner, El Farol, El Meson and Vanessie Santa Fe.

Both cities are places that major music acts come to perform. The best bet find out what bands or plays are hitting the stage is to go to Ticket Master on-line to check or to go on-line to each of the venue’s websites to see what is on the upcoming music calendar.

Santa Fe Museums – It’s a Museum Mecca

 Santa Fe is home to a large group of museums, some of them housed in historical buildings that were once government buildings for the government of Spain going back to the 1600’s. Other museum buildings in Santa Fe are not as old, but certainly very majestic and beautiful in their own right. Below is information about some of the museums with a link to its website.

The top museum in New Mexico is the Museum of New Mexico. It manages 4 Santa Fe museums as well as 5 State of New Mexico historic monuments situated throughout the state. The Museum of Fine Arts is located in downtown Santa Fe. It opened way back in 1909 with a goal of preserving and marketing Southwest art and the artists in the area.  Just 5 years older than the State of New Mexico, which achieved statehood in 1914, the Museum of New Mexico has some of America’s finest art and historical pieces of cultural works.

 The Museum of New Mexico oversees four museums in Santa Fe and five historic monuments located around the state. Just off the Plaza in Santa Fe, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) opened its doors in 1917 in order to preserve and promote the art and artists of the Southwest. Older than New Mexico itself, the Museum of New Mexico’s facilities house some of the country’s most remarkable art and historic and cultural works.

 On the outskirts of Santa Fe there is a living museum called El Rancho de Las Golondrinas. It is museum that showcases the Spanish Colonial and Territorial way of life 400 years ago. The 200 acre ranch is about 8 miles south of Santa Fe on I-25. It opened in 1972. There are several original  colonial buildings that date back to the early part of the 18^th century. The museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday from June to September.  

Here is a list of several more museums with website link built into the name of museum.

• Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
• Santa Fe Children’s Museum
• Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
• Museum of International Folk Art
• SITE Santa Fe
• Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
• Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
• Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
• Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
• The Awakening Museum

 Santa Fe is a museum Mecca. The historical artifacts and information featured in several of the museums dates back to 1500’s. Visitors to Santa Fe that enjoy history and museums are in for a treat when the visit this magical city.

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Event Calendar Santa Fe – Zia Diner Music and Weekend Brunch March- April 2013

Music is becoming part of the fabric here at the Zia Diner along with our famous comfort food menu. During April 2013 we are bringing in more music than ever with entertainment available to choose from several nights a week. Additionally we have added a weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. that features a special menu.  Below are the dates and times for music at the Zia Diner during April 2013

• 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 21, 2013 Free Range Ramblers
• 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Mar. 26, 2013 Zia Diner Bluegrass Jam
• 6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 27, 2013 Eryn Bent – Indie Folk Music Singer-Songwriter
• 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 28, 2013 Swing Soleil – Gypsy Jazz
• 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, 2013 – Zia Diner Blue Grass Jam
• 6-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, 2013 Terry Diers – Singer-Songwriter
• 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 09, 2013 Zia Diner Bluegrass Jam
• 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, April  11, 2013 Swing Soleil – Gypsy Jazz
• 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, 2013 Zia Diner Bluegrass Jam
• 6-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, 2013 Terry Diers – Singer-Songwriter
• 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, 2013 Zia Diner Bluegrass Jam
• 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25, 2013 Swing Soleil – Gypsy Jazz

Starting March 2013 the Zia Diner is now offering weekend brunch.  The hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.. The brunch features a special menu. Please click here to go see what’s on our new weekend brunch menu.

Golf in Northern New Mexico

People who are golfers have a cool place to visit in Northern New Mexico.  Besides famous Santa Fe, NM, and its restaurants like the Zia Diner, its many museums in the downtown area and on museum hill, and all the great shops, there are several golf courses to choose from in the area making northern New Mexico a mini golf Shangri-La.

First stop to consider playing golf is the City of Santa Fe’s municipal golf course Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe. The course features an 18-hole regulation golf course with more than 7,200 yards from the back tees. There are 4 par fives, 4 par threes and 10 par fours on the course. The longest hole is a par that plays more than 600 yards from the back gold tees.  The course also has a 9-hole course called the Great 28 with 8 par threes and 1 par four hole. There is an outdoor patio, an excellent pro-shop and a café with small bar offering beer and wine only.

The second stop to look at is Towa in Pojoaque, NM just 15 miles north of Santa Fe, NM on NM Hwy 285. It is part of the Buffalo Thunder Hilton Hotel and Casino resort.  The course features a pro-shop, very nice dining facility and 3 9-hole courses. Players can normally choose which set of nines they want to play, making this a fun course to play.  The course has matured over the last 2 years and is now in excellent playing shape.

The third stop in northern New Mexico for golf is the popular course in Espanola, NM, Black Mesa. This course is well respected and very popular, ranking among the best golf courses in Golf Magazine and Golf Digest year after year. It features 18 holes with panoramic views, blind tee shots, and rolling greens.

The fourth stop in northern New Mexico for gold is the Los Alamos Muncipal Golf Course located right in the center of Los Alamos, NM. The course has 18 holes with 9 holes on one side of Diamond Dr. and 9 holes on the west side of Diamond Dr.  Built in 1947 the Los Alamos Golf Course is the 2^nd oldest golf course in the State of New Mexico.

The fifth stop in northern New Mexico for golf is the Angel Fire Resort Golf Course.  The golf course is truly magnificent featuring rolling hills, elevated tee shots and grass so green and lush in the summer time that it looks almost like carpet. The course is located 90 miles east of Taos, NM, on Miller Lane in Angel Fire, NM.

The sixth golf stop to consider in northern New Mexico is the Taos Country Club, located at the south end of Taos, NM. It features 18 amazing holes of golf with 7,302 yards from the back tees and amazing views of the Taos mountain’s at the north end of town.

All in all there are plenty of places to choose from to play golf in northern New Mexico. Enjoy.

PDF -  Event Calendar Santa Fe – Zia Diner Music and Weekend Brunch March- April 2013

Zia Diner – Comfort Food Menu Plus Plenty More

Everyone knows that comfort food is food eaten that gives the eater an old-time feeling that makes them feel happy and cozy, as in comfortable. And in itself comfort food is quite often easy to eat, easy on the stomach and loaded with plenty of nutrition and good food content. For people comfort food that brings back the good old day is quite often connected to food specific for an individual’s family or for food specific to a particular area or ethnic culture.  People from New Mexico for example yearn for food that is comfort food to them such as green chile, home-made tortillas and red chile as well.  For people from other areas food that is comfort food is undoubtedly completely different.

At the Zia Diner there’s lots of “comfort food” on the menu like the Zia’s Famous Meatloaf, Green or Red Chile Breakfast Burritos, the Southern Fried Chicken Plate, Shepherd’s Pie and Eggplant and Zucchini Parmesan. For others of course in other places “comfort food” to them is totally different quite often. The key to comfort food is that it needs to give people that down-home cozy feeling, memories of home-cooking and thoughts and feelings of feeling good and comfortable just because of the food that’s on the plate in front of them.

 

Event Calendar Santa Fe February 2013 – Zia Diner Has it Going On This Month

To say there’s a lot happening a the Zia Diner is being kind. During 2012 Zia Diner brought in Swing Soleil, the Zia Diner Bluegrass Jam and singer-songwriter Eryn Bent to entertain customers. For 2012 it’s more of the same except that there will be more acts and the acts are scheduled to play more often.

For 2013 patrons will get to enjoy several acts from 2012 and some new ones for 2013. Eryn Bent, a singer-songwriter with 40 plus songs out is set to play several dates during 2013 including once in January, twice in February and once during March. Visitors can check out Eryn Bent’s scheduled performances here. The Free Range Rambles are set to come play on Feb. 7, 2013. Jono Manson is going to play at the Zia Diner Feb. 6, 2013 and Feb. 20, 2013.  From 6 – 8 p.m. every Tuesday for the foreseeable future the Zia Diner Bluegrass Jam is on tap until further notice.

When it comes to entertainment in 2013 the Zia Diner has it going on. Customer just need to check the event calendar on www.ziadiner.com, www.santafeorg.com and www.santafe.com to find when and who’s playing each week.   Zia Diner is located at 326 S. Guadalupe St. Santa Fe, NM and the telephone number is 505-988-7008.

Carrot Cake – It’s a Classic Dessert That’s Been Around Since the Middle Ages

Carrot Cake – It’s for dessert, parties, and weddings and for just about any event. It is a cake that logically has carrots in it. The beauty about carrot cake is that the carrots, which are naturally hard vegetables, become soft when cooking in the cake batter, they add amazing sweet flavor, solid consistency and they help the appearance of the cake.

Carrot cake is prepared by mixing eggs, sugar, flour, nutmeg, allspice and carrots. When carrot cake is finished baking its final density is a bit more than regular cake and it crumbles easier.  Carrot cake includes other ingredients quite often like coconut, pineapple, raisin and nuts. It is frosted normally with cream cheese frosting.

Cosmopolitan – A Beverage with Vodka, Triple Sec, Cranberry Juice and Lime Juice – Cheers!

The ever popular drink the cosmopolitan, otherwise known as a cosmo, is an alcoholic drink made with some type of vodka, triple sec (quite often the brand Cointreau), cranberry juice and sweetened lime juice or fresh squeezed lime juice.  Since the mid 1980’s, on through the 1990’s and even now, the Cosmo has been a popular drink at bars, nightclubs and restaurants.  Theories abound, like the popular Margarita, about whom or how the Cosmo cocktail was invented and when it actually became popular. Some write it happened in Florida when some say fictitious bartender named Cheryl Cook invented the drink. Others have said that it became popular at fern bars in San Francisco, CA, during the 80’s or 90’s when bar goers got tired of drinking martinis so they switched to the Cosmo because it tasted good, it’s classy and it looks exotic.   In the end no one will ever know for sure how it became cool to drink a Cosmo and or who invented the cocktail, but it’s still around and still popular to this day.

Golf Santa Fe – Great Golf is just a Short Drive Away from the Center of Santa Fe, NM

Santa Fe is known for its restaurants, museums, historic Spanish Settlers 400 plus years ago and galleries just to name a few. Along with all the charm of the town for golfing enthusiasts golf courses can be found nearby and some really great ones are just a couple of hours drive away.

In Santa Fe, NM, there are three golf courses. Two are private golf courses and one is a public golf course. Quail Run Golf Course is strictly private and closed to the public. The Santa Fe Country Club is for both members and the public. Tee times are available there and weather permitting it is open every day of the week except for Monday. It offers 18 holes of golf, a practice putting green, a driving range and a practice sand trap area. There is a bar where beverages like beer can be purchased, but the restaurant is strictly for members. Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe is a public golf course that offers a 18 hole regulation golf course and a nine hole par 3 golf course, The Great 28, that includes 1 par four hole, which is number 9.

North of Santa Fe, NM, there are several golf course 1 to 2 hours away. Just 20 minutes north of Santa Fe is Towa golf course, located at the Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino. Towa features a driving range, a club house, a pro shop and 3 regulation 9 hole golf courses for 27 holes of challenging golf. Black Mesa Golf Course is 30 minutes from Santa Fe. It offers 18 holes of regulation golf with a driving range, a pro shop and a small café that offers golfers’ menu items like burgers, hot dogs and frito pies. Angel Fire, which is 2 ½ hours from Santa Fe, offers an 18 hole regulation golf course with a full complement of amenities including a restaurant, pro shop and driving range. The Taos Country Club is located on the south end of town of Taos, just 90 minutes from Santa Fe. It offers an 18 hole regulation golf course, a pro shop, a driving range, and it is open to the public.

All in all there is plenty of golf to be played quite near Santa Fe, literally only 10 to 90 minutes from the center of town. Golf is also available in Albuquerque, NM, but for easy access for visitors coming to Santa Fe to enjoy all it has to offer the nearby courses make getting in some golf and taking in Santa Fe the most sense.

Skiing Santa Fe – 8 Ski Areas 2 ½ hours from Santa Fe, 1 30 minutes from the Center of Town

Skiing near Santa Fe is possible virtually every year just so long as it snows. When a drought is on some areas have super dry conditions making it impossible to open the entire ski area. But, most years New Mexico has enough moisture and snow storms hitting from mid November to early April to create a nice ski base (packed snow depth to ski on) that lasts all winter through early spring.  On big years Ski Santa Fe and the Taos Ski Valley will accumulate a ski base of upwards of 120 inches, making skiing at those areas more than ideal. Many areas now have snow making equipment installed on many of their ski runs giving the area the ultimate power of creating a base prior to any big snow storms.

Ski areas in New Mexico offer a wide variety of terrain for all skill levels. The Taos Ski Valley ski runs include plenty of beginner and intermediate slopes, but it also has a large selection of black diamond runs for experts that will challenge even the most expert skier. Ski Santa Fe is more of an intermediate and beginner area with a handful of expert runs. It also offers easy access because it is only 30 minutes from Santa Fe making it ideal for a day of golf and skiing when the weather warms up in the spring. Ski Apache in Ruidoso, NM, is located in the southern end of the Rocky Mountains.  Like Ski Santa Fe the area caters more towards intermediate and beginner skiers, much of which travel to the area from nearby states Texas and Oklahoma.  Sandia Peak is located 30 minutes from Albuquerque, NM. The area struggles with snow each year more than most NM ski areas because of the warmer climate there and due to the fact fewer snow storms hit the area during the winter. The Pajarito Ski area located in the town of Los Alamos, NM, the home of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, easy a very nice area that is small, that caters to the local community, but offers skiing to everyone. Angel Fire Resort is located in Angel Fire, NM. It is northeast of Santa Fe approximately 2 ½ hours away. It is a very progressive area with modern lifts and plenty of runs to chose from, most of which are intermediate with a few expert runs available for the better skier. Sipapu is 45 minutes from Santa Fe. It is a very small ski area that focuses on the beginner skier with a handful of intermediate ski runs available. Red River Ski Area is 2 ½ hours from Santa Fe. The area is situated on a small mountain with a wide selection of beginner, intermediate and expert runs. The area caters to beginning and intermediate recreational skiers. The town is very charming with a rustic appeal that gives visitors a bit of that old west flavor with all the modern amenities skiers and travelers expect these days.

 

Santa Fe, New Mexico – The Small City with the Line-Up of a Big City Event Calendar

Santa Fe, New Mexico is a small city by almost anyone’s standards. As of the last U.S. Census Santa Fe has a population of 67,000 plus or minus residents. Across the United States there are literally hundreds of subdivisions around big cities that have more population than Santa Fe. But, as they say, appearances can be deceiving.  Santa Fe is home to over 600 non-profit organizations including big ones like the United Way and small two person non-profit limited liability companies.  For a small city Santa Fe packs a wallop when it comes to events, including fundraisers for schools, dance institutes, the opera, the local farmers market and great organizations like the Habitat for Humanity.

From the middle of spring each year all the way through mid fall there is normally one if not several events being held in Santa Fe. The most famous events are the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Traditional Spanish Market, which are held two weeks apart during the month of August. Literally
the entire town of Santa Fe fills up with an estimated count of 40,000 more people added to the town’s population of 67,000 on both of those weekends.  There are music events like the annual Santa
Fe Opera from July through August, concerts at the Santa Fe Sol Stage and Grill on the south end of town, bands playing at local bars and restaurants and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, just to name a few. For a resource to find out what’s going on in Santa Fe the best place to visit online is the SantaFe.com event calendar.

Santa Fe, New Mexico — A Walking History Lesson Going Back 400 years

Santa Fe as a settlement, town and now a city has a history that goes back almost as far as the eye can see. Well, not really, but as a  walking tour will show there are placards, buildings, streets, and historical accounts all over the town that tell the story of what’s happened in the town going back to the late 1500’s. On the streets of Santa Fe famous people have eaten there, partied there, certainly fought there and of course died there as well.

On Water Street there’s a placard on one of buildings there that states that it was a jail (now it is a combination bookstore/coffee shop) that  once held Billy the Kid. While Billy was ensconced there he implored the then governor of New Mexico to come visit him in jail to discuss all the facts he knew about the Lincoln County wars that were raging at the time in southeast New Mexico.  The poor kid never did get his audience with the Governor. The rest, as they say, is history. The Kid was released but soon thereafter met his demise at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garrett.

Along San Francisco Street is famous Burro Alley, which is easy to spot because a steel burro is set in place at the entrance of the street today.  This street was the primary trading place in Santa Fe going way back and at one time was famous for the La Don Tules gambling business.

The Historic Santa Fe Plaza was the end of the Santa Fe Trail. If one travels two hours north on Interstate-25 and exit to Fort Union, which is now a historical attraction, visitors can see the remnants of the fort buildings, read accounts of what life was like back the 1860’s the fort and actually see the original Santa Fe Trail wagon ruts from days gone by.  The Santa Fe Trail was the travel route for commerce and travelers during the 19^th century that traversed the middle/central USA and tied Santa Fe, NM, to the great state of Missouri.

Also found on the plaza is the Palace of the Governors, a public building that has been occupied since the 1600’s, first by the Spanish settlers and now by tourists and Pueblo Indians that sell their art each day under the portal at the front of the building.

Stemming from the Historic Santa Fe Plaza are several streets that lead to very old churches including the Loretto Chapel, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis de Assisi and the St Miguel Mission, that according to records dating way back is the oldest church in the country darting back to 1610.

Santa Fe is now well known for its art galleries, culture, restaurants, but it’s real riches lie in the walls, buildings, monuments and churches throughout the city.

Restaurants Santa Fe – Santa Fe Things to Do and Know About the City by the Zia Diner —Tourism Destination – Santa Fe, New Mexico

The capital of New Mexico is the city of Santa Fe.  As of the 2010 U.S. Census the population of Santa Fe was 67,947. Santa Fe is the seat of Santa Fe County and it is the city with the 4^th largest population in the State of New Mexico. Santa Fe is the primary city of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area which is made up of the entire surface area of Santa Fe County and the city is also a component of the bigger Santa Fe- Espanola Combined Statistical Are. When the city of Santa Fe was originally founded the city’s complete name was La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de Franciso de Asis. In English the name of the city from back then translates to The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi.See Wikipedia, Santa Fe, http://en.wikipedia/wiki/Santa Fe (describing history of Santa Fe) (as of June 6, 2012 14:18 p.m. MST).

Santa Fe was at one time considered for a critical economic stop by the railroad company, the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, during the time the first railroad was being built.  However as the tracks for the company was being built in New Mexico the company decided to go through Lamy, New Mexico, which is south of Santa Fe, instead. A branch line was added from Lamy to Santa Fe in 1880 and another one was extended from Espanola to Santa Fe in 1886. But in the end the economics of not being part of the primary railroad artery in the country caused Santa Fe’s economy to suffer.

To combat the economic downturn Santa Fe’s city leaders started focusing on tourism as a way to bring money into the local economy.  Their actions to build tourism included focusing on the pueblo look and feel architecturally, starting up the original Santa Fe Fiesta’s back in the 1920’s and concentrating on the arts and archeology through starting up the Santa Fe Indian Market (formerly known as the Southwest Indian Fair in the 1920’s) and building the Museum of New Mexico early on as well.  The rest as they say is history because Santa Fe is now by many considered one of the top ten tourist destinations in the world. Those Santa Fe city leaders back at the turn of the century and ever since then as well have focused on the “Santa Fe Style”, bringing more museums into town and making sure the town’s pueblo style of building code has stayed intact all these years later.

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Restaurants Santa Fe – Delicious New Mexican Food Plus Tons More

Santa Fe is one of the most eclectic amazing places to visit in the United States. Visitors go from stylish galleries; to 400 year old buildings that were once occupied by the pueblos Indians during the 1600’s during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 to amazing places to eat that will dazzle some of the most discerning taste buds. Santa Fe’s most recent Census in 2010 showed the town only has 67,000 residents. It doesn’t have (normally) a sports team, but recently it landed a lower tier professional baseball team call the ‘Santa Fe Fuegos’.

The town of Santa Fe get’s it reputation as being one of the best places to visit on the planet due to the large selection of art galleries, amazing dining and wide number of stores to shop for clothing, furniture, rugs and curios. Santa Fe is more than most things famous for its long standing pueblo style architecture. Residential homes and commercial buildings are designed to look a lot like the Native American pueblos in the State of New Mexico. Many homes are made using adobe bricks. Adobe bricks are made from dirt, water and sand combined with straw poured into forms which is then set to dry in the sun. Once the mixture is dry in the form it turns into an adobe brick. The bricks are stacked on top of each other by a brick mason to form walls for homes or other structures. Other homes are made using frame construction using 2 X 6 boards. The walls are then insulated then covered with sheathing, wired on the exterior side of the wall and then covered with plaster. The homes look just like a home built with adobe bricks except the walls are made with wood boards instead.

People often think of Santa Fe as being in the middle of the desert. It is in the desert, but also it is a high elevation mountain town located at the lower end of the Rock Mountains that start in Canada. The city was first occupied 100’s of years ago by Native Americans, but 400 years ago both Spain and Mexico claimed it as their own.

The city’s main town square, known around the world as the Santa Fe Plaza, has been used as such since the early 1700’s. Back then Spanish troops built homes and military barracks around the Plaza. The historic Palace of the Governors that is on the northeast side of the plaza is on record as the oldest constantly in use structure in the U.S. . The Plaza has been the stage for markets, public rallies, parties and celebrations of all kinds.

Visitors are encouraged to check out the Plaza then begin a tour of the city from there branching out to all the shops, restaurants and museums that there are in the area. Just off of the Plaza visitors can find the newly opened New Mexico History Museum. It offers 90,000 plus square feet of exhibits, images and displays all about New Mexico. It is really a ‘you shouldn’t miss it’ type of tourism highlight in Santa Fe. Santa Fe also offers the fairly new Railyard District, the Santa Fe Farmers Market and the Santa Fe Bandstand that starts on July 5 and runs until the middle of August with live music each evening from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday right on the Historic Santa Fe Plaza.

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Santa Fe Restaurants With Free Wi-Fi – It Can be a Difference Maker on Whether Diners Decide to Dine or not Dine at a Restaurant

These days Diners, Cafes and Restaurants offer free wi-fi to entice potential patrons to come to their establishment instead of another one. Including wi-fi as an amenity can fill a restaurant during slow times because wireless users see it has an opportunity to get on the web when it’s quite where they can eat and to their business or surfing without lots of noise and plenty of seats. Additionally restaurateur’s also how important it is to build their business through social media, email marketing and mobile applications.

Each approach, wi-fi, email marketing, social media and mobile apps, involves harnessing the internet to grow business. It is the business that takes the steady, little by little approach, that will benefit the most from the modern technology of the internet.

To make the most of each component a restaurant is offering the key is to display what the company is offering on the company’s website, dining tables and signage in the establishment. However trying to do too much and not marketing what you are offering well means most likely what is being done will be done ineffectively or not work at all. But, with that in mind making it simple to do things like use the company’s free wi-fi, become a Facebook Fan and/or sign up for customer loyalty program can make a big difference when it comes to getting repeat business that the company will benefit from on an on-going basis.

At the Zia Diner the company offers free wi-fi, a Facebook Fan page and the Zia e-newsletter. Each marketing channel is readily visible on the company’s website and customers do enjoy the benefit of each one, particularly the Zia Diner’s free wi-fi signal.

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Santa Fe, New Mexico — A Great Place to Move to and Live

Santa Fe is a very beautiful city located in the northern 1/3^rd of the State of New Mexico. It is home to well over 150 galleries, dozens of restaurants, multiple museums and the historic Palace of the Governors located on the north side of the town square (known as the Santa Fe Plaza), which was built by Spaniards in the early 1700’s. There are literally 100’s of events in this tiny little town of 67,000 plus residents each year, so really a visitor coming to Santa Fe never has an excuse for a dull day.  Below are a few reasons why everyone should come visit Santa Fe:

The Weather – Santa Fe definitely has all four seasons of weather and for the most part (an occasional super cold snap has happened as in 10 below zero Fahrenheit in January 2011) it’s normally very mild. Rain and snow happen every year with monsoons hitting in late July through early September, then snow during November through March usually. There is about 24 inches of snow and 13 inches of rain during most years and there is a ski area called Ski Santa Fe just 15 miles from the center of town. After winter it’s nice mild weather all the way through from March to early October most years.

The Transportation Scene – Santa Fe is easy to navigate to by car or bus, and it also has a small airport and centralized train system with a rail line from Belen, New Mexico all the way to Santa Fe, with stops in between, called the New Mexico Rail Runner. The train schedule is consistently on time and it has free wi-fi for internet users with built in wireless devices. Santa Fe also has in-city bus service that covers the entire town. Train fare is low so it makes it easy for people to make their way to Santa Fe without having to gas up their car when traveling from Belen, Albuquerque or Bernalillo, which are all south of the city.

The Housing Market – Santa Fe home prices are lower that they’ve been since the early 2000’s so it has really never been more attractive to own a home here. The weather is seasonally warm so it makes it nice for the AARP crowd to move here and enjoy it year round because other than the occasional cold spell its normally nice weather in Santa Fe.  Santa Fe is beautiful, with mountain ranges just east of town, Albuquerque just 50 minutes south and fishing within an hour of most any home in the city. Prices on homes are looking like they’ll stay low for years to come so now is not a good time to come to Santa Fe later on in a year or two will most likely be a good time to buy as well.

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The San Miguel Mission in Santa Fe, New Mexico – The Oldest Church in the USA

Claims that the San Miguel Mission in Santa Fe, NM, is the oldest church in the USA are hard to dispute because for one, the church was built during Spanish colonization of New Mexico in the early 1600’s and two, there is really no way for anyone to disprove the claim is untrue. The Spanish were in the area going back to the late 1500’s, so the claim the church, also known as the San Miguel Chapel, makes logistical and historical logical sense.

The church has been repaired, remodeled, and added onto over the years, but the walls from when the building was first built are still standing even though they are covered by subsequent additions. The wooden retablos at the back of the altar of the church showcases  a wooden statue of St. Michael from 1709.

The building was designated a National Historical Landmark on November 24, 1968. Building is built out of adobe bricks with buttress style reinforcements along the exterior walls. The church is a Spanish colonial church. Mass is still held at the church each Sunday. It is located in the center of town at 401 Old Santa Fe Trail, just a 5 minute walk for the historic Santa Fe Plaza and Palace of the Governors, which is also a very old structure built by the Spanish colonials.

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Saint Francis Cathedral – A Basilica in Santa Fe, New Mexico

 

The Saint Francis Cathedral was built in 1869 under orders fromSanta Fe’s first Bishop, Father John Baptiste Lamy of France. Arriving in Santa Fe in 1850, Father Lamy saw the old church, located where the Saint Francis Cathedral is located now, and decided it was not sufficient for the seat of the Santa Fe Archdiocese. 19 some years later the construction of the church began, not to be finished until 8 years later in 1887.

Interesting facts about the church include the following: There is a statue in small chapel on the church property brought from Spain in 1625 which is the oldest representation of the Virgin Mary in the United States; Stained glass windows in the lower bay of the church are from France. They are a depiction of the twelve apostles; Seven archbishops are buried in the sanctuary of the church including Archbishop Lamy; The church was dedicated in 1887, but the spires of the church were not finished because monies to complete the project had run out. Several times over the years since then it has been
suggested that the spires construction should be completed, but each time the idea has not come to fruition; In 2005 Pope Benedict XVI raised the cathedral to a Basilica. Basilica means a church of importance both in Rome and around the world.

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One of the best and most historical places to visit in Santa Fe is El Rancho de las Golondrinas. Translated it means the Ranch of Swallows. El Rancho de las Golondrinas is a very historical part of Santa Fe. The ranch was founded in 1710 by Miguel Vega y Coco. It was the last camp ground on the Camino Real where travelers would stop before they made their way to Santa Fe. Today it is now known as “living museum”. El Rancho de las Golondrinas displays what life might have been like when living in the 1700 as a Spanish Colonial.
Many of the building in El Rancho de las Golondrinas were restored, recreated, or were moved from other locations near around New Mexico. Some of the buildings that were restored were an “18th century placita house complete with defensive tower, a 19th century home and all of its outbuildings, a molasses mill, a threshing ground, several primitive water mills, a blacksmith shop, a wheelwright shop, a winery and vineyard depict many of the essential elements of early New Mexico”. Through these building and recreations the ranch believes this is what life could have been like back then.
sources

http://golondrinas.org/Museum_Info/History/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Rancho_de_las_Golondrinas

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Museum Hill is one of the most artistic places to visit in Santa Fe. The property in which is called Museum Hill contains four museums. These museums are Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, The Museum of International Folk Art, and last but not least is the Wheelright Museum of the American Indian. Each museum displays some incredible mastery pieces of artwork and has a real emphasis on diversity through history and artwork.

The most unique museum out of the four is the Museum of International Folk Art. The collection of artwork that is displayed at the museum is from all around world. Places such as Africa, Asia, The Middle East, Europe, and North and South America. All of the artwork is incredible and has a real sense of diversity and talents from all around the work. The museum also has new exhibits all the time. The Wheelright Museum of the American Indian and also the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture are great for learning experiences. They both really focus on Native American history, artwork, and their culture. Native American have a rich history and has been a huge part of the history of Santa Fe. These museums display many forms of Native American artwork and contain very important facts and findings in their cultures. The learning experience from both of these museums and display of talent are magnificent. The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art was built in 1925 to preserve all the different forms of art from the Spanish colonialists that settled in New Mexico and Southern Colorado in the 1500s. It displays historic art as well as artwork from the Annual Spanish Market that happens in Santa Fe every year.