Neal surprised me Friday by telling me that we were going to take a trip to Santa Fe, NM the next morning. He had bought us tickets to take a food tour in downtown Santa Fe. It was an awesome experience! Santa Fe is about an hour north of ABQ so we left pretty early (for me anyway) to get there about 10:30. We met our group at the square - the heart of historic Santa Fe. The beautiful park was surrounded by historic buildings filled with shops and restaurants. One of the buildings was the Governer's Palace. It is the oldest building in the country, since 1610. We started our tour around the square and tried several dishes that were all so delicious! They included a chicken salad, Posole (a New Mexican classic soup made with hominy), a fried green chile, pizza, an olive oil tasting (i did not enjoy this part, i didn't like the idea of drinking oil - but the rest of the group loved it!), and we ended at a candy shop. The tour ended in the early afternoon, so we continued to explore by ourselves. We did some sightseeing, visited some shops, and tried an Avocado Margarita - which is surprisingly pretty good!
The Palace of the Governer's - The oldest building in the US.
The Square...
Enjoying my birthday surprise at the Japanese restaurant!
The oldest church in the US...
Apparently this alleyway contained an atomic bomb under it at one time... or so they say....
And some shopping...
One of my favorite things we saw all day was the Loretto Chapel. This church is not in operation anymore but is significant because of it's "Miraculous Staircase". The story goes that when the church was built in 1878 there was not put in place a way to access the choir loft, overlooking the chapel, other than a ladder. This was not suitable for nuns to use. Carpenters were brought in to fix the problem but there just was not enough room to build stairs. The sisters prayed a novena to St. Joseph to help with the problem and on the 9th day, a man appeared at the church, saying he could help. Months later, he finished this spiral staircase and then vanished. No one saw him again. Some believed it was St. Joseph himself. The other miracle was that, to this day, it is unexplained how this staircase is standing. There are no screws, bolts, nails, etc. - only wooden pegs. The wood used is completely foreign to the area and it is unknown how it could have been used here, at that time. It also makes two complete 360 degree turns with no supports. Other than that..it is absolutely beautiful!
There was a tree outside of the church that people had started hanging rosaries on. It is said to have healing powers. We bought a light blue one in the gift shop and hung it on a branch. The tree was covered and was beautiful!
That night, after returning home from our trip to Santa Fe, we wanted to continue the celebration of my turning 24 (I can't believe it myself). So, we went to the casino! Right outside of ABQ, on the West side of town, is a huge casino/hotel - Route 66 Casino. We had a blast! I even won $30!
The next morning, my actual birthday (and Easter!), I was woken up by Neal delivering a single plastic egg to me. Inside was a clue. I was going on an Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt! What better way to wake up on an Easter Birthday!
Bailey even got in on the action! (He was the best clue - The clue was to "Call the beast...." and I yelled "Bailey!" right away. I had no idea he would run in to the room with an egg on his back!)
And then I got my REAL present! REAL cowgirl boots! (I may have already knew I was getting these!)
And then I found the treasure! While I was sleeping, Neal snuck out and got me doughnuts (my favorite!) and pink tulips! He's the best! They were hidden in the oven...
Afterwards, we went to church, and then had brunch at our favorite little wine bar! It was super good! We finished off the day by being lazy and watching movies at home! Perfect end to a perfect weekend!
So, thank you everyone in my life for making it the best 24 years I could ever ask for! Thank you to my wonderful parents for having me and raising me to be the woman I am today! Thank you to my friends for all the good times! And thank you to my wonderful husband for being my everything now and in the future. Oh yeah, and for an amazing birthday! I love you forever!
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