This 'n That Thursdays: Abiquiu, New Mexico (Part One)

From Wikitravel

When we were in New Mexico last year, we did a quick day trip up to Abiquiu (sort of rhymes with "barbecue"), best known as the town Georgia O'Keeffe called home for the second half of her life.  The views are magnificent, and the valleys where the Rio Chama flows are quite lush.  We passed the quaint little Abiquiu Inn and decided then and there that when we returned this year we would spend a night at the inn.  We did so, and it was the highlight of our trip!

Georgia O'Keeffe had two homes in Abiquiu, one at Ghost Ranch (not open to the public, although Georgia O'Keeffe landscape tours are available) and one right in the center of the tiny town.  The latter is now owned by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, which offers tours of the house and studio.  We were lucky to get tour tickets at the last minute while we were at the museum (I strongly recommend purchasing your tickets in advance as they sell out quickly).

We made the scenic one-hour drive to Abiquiu from Santa Fe right after lunch.  When we arrived we checked in, but were a little early for the 3:00 PM check-in time and our room was not quite ready, so we headed back down the road a bit to visit the Purple Adobe Lavender Farm.

It is no secret that I adore lavender and hope to have my own little lavender patch some day.  The Purple Adobe had just replaced their old plants with new ones this year, so they were quite small, but there is a gift shop on the premises full of lavender products and the scent of this fragrant herb.  I was in heaven!  We made a few purchases and took pictures of the small garden around the shop:

Purple hollyhocks (Alcea sp.) and coneflowers
(Echinacea purpurea)

Perennial garden just outside the gift shop (notice the
lavender-colored trim paint around the window).

Lavender growing between yellow prairie coneflower
(Ratibida sp.) and purple coneflower.

More lovely lavender.

White coneflower (white variety of Echinacea purpurea)
in the foreground.

More coneflowers.

Then we headed back to the Abiquiu Inn:

Once we unpacked we spent the rest of the day exploring the inn's gift shop, enjoying the beautiful courtyard outside of our room, and feasting upon a delicious dinner at the Cafe Abiquiu, which is part of the inn.  The gift shop has a great number of books, including many about Georgia O'Keeffe.  My husband could have stayed there all day browsing through the books and been perfectly happy!  I walked around outside taking as many pictures as I could of the inn and its gardens, especially the lovely courtyard.  (We have decided that if we do ever move to New Mexico, our house must have a courtyard like the one at the Abiquiu Inn.)  Our room was in an adobe building and was done in an attractive southwestern style.  The bed was very comfortable, and there was even a small fireplace which we did not need to use, as the weather was quite warm.

My husband relaxing in the enclosed courtyard outside of our room.

Hummingbirds loved the impressive trumpet vine in the courtyard.

A colorful pot of annuals.

Yellow yarrow (Achillea millefolium) in raised beds in the courtyard.

A quiet little garden just outside the courtyard gate.

A late-blooming rose.

Newly opened morning glories.

Maroon-colored annual bachelor's buttons (Centaurea cyanus)
growing amidst sedum "Autumn Joy" just coming into bud.

Brilliant orange daylilies.

Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) was in bloom all over
Santa Fe as well as at the Abiquiu Inn.

Next week I will describe the rest of our visit to Abiquiu, including the wonderful meals we ate at the Café Abiquiu and the amazing tour of Georgia O'Keeffe's house and studio!