Canyon Road: Museum and Fitness Center

It's getting to be cold outside. It's dark before we get home from work. The desire to leave the warm confines of our home wanes. I mean, Santa Fe is all about drinking margaritas on patios and apres ski in cozy sweaters. But what is there to do during the in-between seasons? Kev and I have stumbled upon our new favorite thing- chillin' on Canyon Road at night.



Canyon Road is lined with galleries and, at night, the art-filled windows light the way.

Allegedly, Santa Fe has the second largest art market in the United States, right behind New York City. There are all sorts of galleries: western art, traditional arts from different countries, modern art, print and sculptural arts. Going for a nighttime stroll is like a brightly lit hors d'oeuvres of arty delights.

But Canyon Road is not only gawking at studios and galleries. No siree. After a few blocks of strolling in the chilly night air, we pop our heads into one of Canyon Road's restaurants for a glass of wine.



The Compound is a Santa Fe legend. It's *extremely expensive* but delicious. And single glass of wine is an affordable indulgence. Another option is Geronimo, which is perhaps ever so slightly less expensive than The Compound but still very, very good (and expensive. Did I mention expensive?) Also- I saw Val Kilmer at Geronimo one time. He's, uh, kind of, um, no longer Batman-sized. Another good place for a drink is El Farol, which is by far the most affordable of the three. El Farol is a busy and loud tapas bar that usually has live music. I am kind of on an El Farol boycott, though. It's a long and uninteresting story but, suffice to say, I prefer other places.

So, yeah. That's what K and I do when we sitting at home and addled by inertia. It's simple but remarkably fun.

Also, along these same lines, Canyon Road is a good place to go running at night. I find treadmill running incredibly boring but it's usually dark by the time I get home from work. The solution is Canyon Road. There is very little traffic at night and the street is lit up by all of the galleries.


Yes, I know I am a big ham. But at least I'm a big glowing ham in running tights. That's gotta be worth something, right?

Edited to add:
I forgot to post this photo I took. It's a shop window on Canyon Road full of neat old things.