The Neighborhood
The environs are decidedly rural with many options for long walks and bike rides. The nearby Preserve offers hiking trails from flat to steep. There are some shops and restaurants within a ten-minute walk, including a post office, bank, excellent grocery store (where any and all alcohol can also be obtained), pet supply store, hardware store, galleries, and a venue to purchase recreational marijuana. Restaurants range from sit-down to take-out. (See current list of shops and restaurants.) There is also a free shuttle to downtown Santa Fe. That said, having a car is probably ideal as there is no other public transportation, ride-share is unreliable, and the New Mexico distances are vast.
Many writers live in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque areas, providing potential for meet-ups. In addition, several local indie bookstores – including George RR Martin’s Beastly Books in Santa Fe – are often happy to arrange events.
Area attractions are plentiful. From natural hot springs to cliff dwellings you can climb into and petroglyphs you can touch to art galleries, museums, and five-star restaurants, there are many rewarding delights.
Getting Here
Flying:
Santa Fe has a smallish airport 30 minutes away serviced by United and American Airlines. Flights are less plentiful, but generally competitively priced. Most will require connections through Denver, Dallas, or Phoenix.
Albuquerque Sunport offers more flights and airlines (Advanced Air, Alaska, American, Delta, Jet Blue, Southwest, Sun Country, and United) and is pretty much a one-hour drive, doorstep to doorstep.
For both airports, while there are commercial shuttles, most only go to downtown Santa Fe, and ride-share is both unreliable to obtain and potentially expensive. As mentioned above, renting a car is ideal for those planning to fly.
Driving:
Interstate 25 goes through Santa Fe and is five minutes away. In addition, I-40 is about 30 minutes away down scenic 285. Driving through New Mexico is always a pleasure with dry roads more often than not. Drive time from Denver is typically about six hours, heavily dependent on Denver traffic and where in the city you’re starting from.
The Train!
Serendipitously enough, there is an Amtrak train station at Lamy, about a 10 minute drive away with daily service. It’s close enough that Jeffe could be persuaded to come pick you up.
Weather
Santa Fe is in northern New Mexico, a high-altitude desert at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. (Yes, there is a downhill ski area!) Hummingbird House is at about 7,000 feet above sea level. So, sea-level people, be prepared to adjust. Weather is spectacular with summer temperatures rarely reaching above the mid-nineties. Desert nights cool down – typically into the fifties in the summer – and the thin air and dark skies give spectacular opportunities to see the Milky Way in all its colorful glory. We do get winter, with occasional deep snowfalls, though snow and ice rarely persist on the ground. Warm sunshine is plentiful year-around. Hummingbirds are plentiful in the summertime. Coyotes, bobcats, deer, lizards, butterflies, hummingbird moths, and birds of all varieties are frequent visitors.
Hummingbird House, Santa Fe 