When you visit the Greater Phoenix Area, the Heard Museum is one of those places thatbelongs on your top ten list.
Arizona is home to 21 different Native nations, and the Heard Museum is a wonderful place to look back many hundreds of years to gain an understanding of their heritage, as well as gaining a glimpse into their cultures today through the eyes of their artists.
The museum’s signature exhibit is Home: Native People in the Southwest. This exhibit features nearly 2,000 pieces including jewelry, pottery, baskets, 500 Hopi katsina dolls, a 30-foot stunning glass and clay art fence, a full size Navajo hogan, a Hopi piki room, and a Yaquri ramada and Pueblo oven.
There are many more ongoing exhibits, but you will not want to miss Remembering our Indian School Day: The Boarding School Experience. Few people realize that American Indians were forced by the federal government to attend residential boarding schools located hundreds of miles from home. This powerful exhibit immerses visitors into the story, which draws on first-person recollections, memorabilia and the writings and art of four generations of Indian School alumni. You may need a hankie for this one.
You also will not want to miss their newest exhibit: Pop!
I could babble on for days about this place, but why not just visit their website, find what interests you, and put a day in your calendar to visit?
We recommend that you arrive at 10:00, enjoy one of their many docent lead tours, have lunch in their cafe, and then spend another 3-4 hours in a few more exhibits of your choice.
Make sure to leave time for their wonderful bookstore, and if you are a collector of art, their Berlin Gallery is the premier retail destination for contemporary American Indian art and currently represents 20 artists.
Have you ever stayed at a place that simply beckons romance?
As I contemplated how to describe the The Inn of the Five Graces, I found myself struggling with the right words.
This Conde Naste Gold List winner has a slight bohemian feel, is dripping with Middle Eastern tapestry and silk, possesses tile work that will leave your jaw ajar, and lures you to light the fireplace, grab a bottle of fine wine, and recite love sonnets while starring into your loved one’s eyes.
Seriously, these rooms will definitely bring out your inner Don Juan.
You will be standing on the coffee table (probably not recommended), arms stretched towards the sky, crooning melodic airs.
Here is a little history from their website:
“In the marvelous old city of Santa Fe, Ira and Sylvia Seret, internationally-known importers and creators of unique and exotic architectural elements, rugs and antiques, decided to take an ancient, dilapidated collection of buildings and create a hotel. The Inn of the Five Graces was originally known as Seret’s 1001 Nights. The 24-suite hotel opened in 1996, and from the beginning the Inn was a magical and fanciful retreat, furnished with near-eastern treasures and antiques that the Serets brought back from their travels. Sylvia Seret designed the fabulous mosaic tile-work for the suites’ kitchens and bathrooms.”
If you are looking for an incredibly romantic place to steal away with your lover, then Santa Fe, New Mexico’s The Inn of the Five Graces is just the perfect place.
Disclosure: this remarkable experience was provided by The Inn of the Five Graces.
“The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, opened to the public in July 1997, eleven years after the death of the artist from whom it takes its name. Welcoming more than 2,225,000 visitors from all over the world and being the most visited art museum in the state of New Mexico, it is the only museum in the world dedicated to an internationally known American woman artist.
The Museum’s collection of over 3,000 works comprises 1,149 O’Keeffe paintings, drawings, and sculptures that date from 1901 to 1984, the year failing eyesight forced O’Keeffe into retirement. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is the largest single repository of O’Keeffe’s work in the world. Throughout the year, visitors can see a changing selection of these works. In addition, the Museum presents special exhibitions that are either devoted entirely to O’Keeffe’s work or combine examples of her art with works by her American modernist contemporaries.”
We spent a couple hours in this museum, and enjoyed learning more of Georgia O’Keefe’s life and work.
During the Roaring 20s, Georgia O’Keefe married internationally known photographer and art impresario, Alfred Stieglitz. It is during this period that she created some controversy with her flower abstracts that resembled female genitalia (which she flatly denied), as well as Stieglitz’s photographic nude series with his now famous wife as the subject.
After her husband died in 1946, Georgia O’Keefe moved to New Mexico and began to paint the beautiful sandstone landscapes that surrounded her home. Here work was so prolific, and her portrayal of these lands so beautiful, that the area near Abiquiu, New Mexico is now referred to as “O’Keefe Country”.
When you find yourself in Sante Fe, New Mexico, I would highly recommend a few hours spent in the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. You will enjoy gazing at the world through her eyes and brush.
The Pink Adobe was established in 1944 by Rosalea Murphy. Known affectionately by locals as “The Pink,” the restaurant has grown into a local and national landmark since its humble beginnings serving Dobe Burgers, French onion soup, and hot apple pie. The restaurant was given its name by Rosalea because of the rose color of the historic, 300 year-old house that is home to the Pink.
Rosalea has now since passed, but today the Pink’s management team honors her legacy by carefully striving to honor their surroundings, and serve up some of the finest dining in all of Santa Fe.
Another great advantage to us is that The Pink Adobe was simply across the courtyard from The Inn of the Five Graces where we were staying.
Our waitress Allison made us comfortable, brought us a beautiful bottle of Pinot Noir, and we settled in to explore the menu.
First off, we shared a bowl of The Pink Adobe’s classic French Onion Soup. They have been serving this soup since 1944. It was delicious, hot, and perfectly gooey with melted Gruyere cheese.
For our main course, Carol went for the Tenderloin of Angus Beef with wilted greens, smoked bacon, fingerling potatoes, and shiitake jus. I, on the other hand, requested Pan Roasted Halibut with wilted greens and glazed root vegetable with warm Meyer lemon vinaigrette.
Both were excellent, but we both gave bigger thumbs up to the Halibut. The sauce was exquisite.
We were both completely unable to handle desert, so we opted for coffee and Bailey’s across the courtyard in the Dragon Room Bar.
Evidently, the Dragon Room Bar has been called one of the top 19 bars in the world. When we walked in the door, there was a local three piece band playing music that I would have expected from a local New Mexican hangout.
The place was very lively, seating was extremely limited, but we, and everyone else in the joint were having a great time. I don’t know this for sure, but it felt as though the place was full of locals rather than what might be considered a “touristy” type bar.
After enjoying our coffee drinks, and roughly an hour of wonderful music, we headed back to our abode for a good nights sleep.
The Pink Adobe and Dragon Room Bar make a wonderful place to spend an evening. The great food, combined with the excellent nightlife, made for an outstanding evening.
A great way to spend our last night in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The Roaming Boomers
When you visit the Greater Phoenix Area, the Heard Museum is one of those places that belongs on your top ten list.
There are many more ongoing exhibits, but you will not want to miss Remembering our Indian School Day: The Boarding School Experience. Few people realize that American Indians were forced by the federal government to attend residential boarding schools located hundreds of miles from home. This powerful exhibit immerses visitors into the story, which draws on first-person recollections, memorabilia and the writings and art of four generations of Indian School alumni. You may need a hankie for this one.
