Eco-Friendly Road Trip: Tucson, Arizona and Santa Fe, New Mexico

We just arrived home from our road trip to Tucson, Arizona and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Whew! That was a long drive, but worth missing the cold and rainy weather here in Colorado. We were met by fantastic weather, beautiful scenery and fabulous food in both Tucson and Santa Fe. It was relaxing to have a few days away with my boys. Here is the breakdown of our long weekend trip.

Day 1

We woke up in our casita (that I rented via Airbnb) and enjoyed the peace and quiet on our patio while we sipped our coffee, watched the birds play in the bird bath, lizards crawling on the trees and our dogs playing in the yard.

Then we ventured out to spend the day in Tucson. We visited the Historic Sam Hughes area, large downtown, did a little shopping on 4th Street and enjoyed a fantastic late lunch at Maynard’s Market and Kitchen. Maynard’s Market and Kitchen is in Historic Downtown Tucson. Maynard’s Market stocks locally sourced products and the kitchen side boosts home style meals with a emphasis on seasonal foods. Think – your favorite classic recipes, with a sophisticated, haute twist. I enjoyed the Cheese Tartine, a grilled Jarlsberg peasant bread served open faced with marinated red onion, fresh tomatoes and watercress. Really? Does it get better than that?

+ Maynard’s Market and Kitchen
400 N. Toole, Tucson, AZ
520.545.0577
www.maynardsmarket.com

Day 2

We spent the day checking out the local scenery and immediately fell in love with the Saguaro Cacti. I have spent most of my life living in lush green areas, so I was unprepared for the landscape of the desert. I found the mountains and valleys full of those anthropomorphic cacti, The Saguaro, fascinating. They are very prolific across the Sonora desert and they looked as if an alien species had taken up residence there. We enjoyed driving in Saguaro National Park and seeing the mountain side covered in these large alien like plants. We couldn’t help but giggle.

Later that evening we had dinner at Cafe Poca Casa, it is Mexican food restaurant with a twist. It’s bold, imaginative and when served, looked more like artwork than food. We ordered the plato Poca Cosa, which is a trio of dishes chosen by the chef. The menu is written on a portable chalkboard that the server presents to your table with the menu changing daily, you never know what you are going to get. My favorite dish was the chicken with a dark mole sauce, it was the perfect mix of chocolaty sweet and spicy. Fantastic, right?

+ Cafe Poca Cosa
110 East Pennington Street, Santa Fe, NM
520.622.6400
www.cafepocacosa.com

Day 3

We enjoyed our third day in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We spent our time strolling the plaza, looking at the fantastic turquoise jewelry, snapping pictures of the lovely stores, galleries, restaurants, boutiques and churches.

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Cafe Pasquale, a tiny restaurant that seats only fifty people at a time. The restaurant is fun, brightly colored and festive. The food was fabulous and they only offer high quality organic and naturally raised beef, pork, eggs, dairy, produce, sugars, flours, maple syrup, flavorings and spices. My favorite was dessert – it was Eben’s turn to choose dessert and he chose the Strawberry Shortcake, which was hands down the best that I have ever tasted. Think – organic cornmeal shortcake stacked high with fresh ripe organic berries and homemade cream. Yum. Yum.

+ Cafe Pasqual’s
121 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM
505.983.9340
www.pasquals.com

All in all, it was a lovely way to escape for the weekend with my family. Want to see more pictures of our trip? Click here to see pictures through the eyes of a nine year old, all our pictures were taken by Eben on this trip.

How was your weekend? Did you eat any fabulous foods? Go somewhere new?