Two Casitas Vacation Rentals – Our Santa Fe Blog

Artist or art collector?  Whichever you claim to be, Santa Fe is the place to spend a weekend, or if you’re lucky, a lifetime, making art.  Or collecting it.  Santa Fe, despite its small population (68,000) is the fourth largest art market in the United States behind New York, L.A. and San Francisco. If you’re an artist, whether accomplished or aspiring, you’ll be drawn to the amazingly blue and seemingly endless sky as well as the austerely stunning landscape of both desert and mountains.  You’ll want to attend one of the dozens of workshops held at Santa Fe Creative Tourism,  [ Read More ]

Ski Santa Fe! Those three words conjure up visions of fresh powder and green chile cheeseburgers for lunch at Totemoff’s , the restaurant halfway up the slopes.  With an average of 225 inches of snowfall per year, 660 acres and 77 trails, Ski Santa Fe has runs for every level skier.  At an elevation of 12,075 and 1,725 vertical feet of skiing, the longest run clocks in at just three miles. And it’s convenient.  Only 16 miles from downtown Santa Fe, it’s the perfect place to spend the day, and if you’re traveling with non-skiers, you can leave them shopping on  [ Read More ]

Every month in the calendar is a good month to visit Santa Fe, but September is one of the best.  There’s the slightest fall chill in the air every morning (in fact, I can feel that crispness right now), the heat of summer is starting to fade, you can catch the scent of green chile roasting on every corner, and Santa Fe puts on her fanciest clothes and steps out to celebrate Fiesta.  If you read our last post, you know that Fiesta de Santa Fe is a 300 year-old celebration honoring La Conquistadora for helping Don Diego de Vargas  [ Read More ]

Every year Santa Fe throws a huge party in September.  They elect royalty and celebrate masses and say novenas.  Processions of old Spanish families in period dress wind through the streets of downtown. There are arts and crafts booths on the Santa Fe Plaza.  There’s dancing in the street.  There’s a pet parade and a Hysterical Historical Parade parodying New Mexico’s colorful past.  And there’s the burning of a giant marionette effigy named Zozobra (aka “Old Man Gloom”) in Ft. Marcy Park, just for the fun of it.  Folks, THIS is a party. And it all started as a way  [ Read More ]

Wendy put us up in the two bedroom De la Luz recently and I brought along my pals Sabrina and Bruce Colson.  They were selling Pick Up Sticks jewelry at the Girls, Inc. show on the plaza and we wanted, as always, a place that was an easy walk to their booth.  With an address at 624 Paseo de la Cuma, De la Luz is just a short drive off Old Taos Highway, and an easy walk to downtown Santa Fe. De la Luz was a great place to stay.  If you’re looking for comfort and luxury, if you like a  [ Read More ]

We had cousin weekend not long ago in Santa Fe.  My birthday was a great excuse for nine of us to get together, stay in one of Wendy’s gorgeous Two Casitas homes, eat at Tomasita’s, drink margaritas at Del Charro, shop Sanbusco Center, and do what I do every time I’m in Santa Fe – reverently walk through the St. Francis Cathedral. The Cathedral consistently remains my favorite place to visit in Santa Fe. Its beauty is breathtaking and the quiet in the sanctuary gives me an excuse to sit down and marvel at the history surrounding me. The Catholics showed  [ Read More ]

We are definitely dog lovers at Two Casitas.  Wendy will be picking up her new Goldendoodle pup in just a few weeks (we were devestated when she lost her absolute best friend in the universe, her 12 year-old Chihuahua, last week). At my house, there’s a Pug named Luci who is the Master of the Universe and a Scotty/Schnauzer mix named Holly GoLightly – they’re pretty sure they’re actually the owners of the house and only allow me to stay as long as I behave. We understand wanting to travel with your pet.  That’s why so many Two Casitas properties are  [ Read More ]

If your perception of New Mexico is that of the Southwestern desert, a la the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, with yuccas, sagebrush and cactus being the central theme, think again.  New Mexico is home to fabulous river terrain, and right now is the perfect time to get yourself on a raft or kayak and experience one of the finest adventures we have to offer here. If you’re staying in Santa Fe sometime soon, plan to spend at least a half day on either the Rio Grande or the Rio Chama.  May and June are prime months for a whitewater  [ Read More ]

I wrote this after the first of three nights in Wendy Kapp’s Two Casitas Pinion, which is located at 609B Pinion Drive in Santa Fe.  I already want to go back!  Here’s the post: The coffee is brewing, the sun is shining through the windows off the patio, and I’m just waking up from my first night at the Two Casitas Pinion.  I’m pretty much in heaven.  I’ve now stayed at seven or eight of Wendy Kapp’s Two Casitas properties, and every time I try a new place, I’m full of superlatives.  This time is no exception. The Pinion is  [ Read More ]

When you think of the Civil War, you probably think of Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Atlanta. . .Southern locales where the fighting was heavy and rivalries between neighbors and families were heated and angry.  People don’t usually think of New Mexico as being associated with the Civil War. But we had battles here, two of them fought in 1862 near Santa Fe at Glorietta and in Apache Canyon.  This year marks the 150th anniversary of New Mexico’s Civil War battles, and this weekend you can get a glimpse of what those battles were like at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas,  [ Read More ]