Tap Into a Spirit of Adventure at Bishop’s Lodge, Auberge Collection, Your Basecamp in Santa Fe

There’s just something about Santa Fe. She’s got *it.*

For the second year in a row, Travel + Leisure named Santa Fe its top city in the United States in its World’s Best Awards 2026. Game recognize game, and the soulful spirit of Santa Fe draws Texans, year after year, with its Southwestern siren song. Anywhere you go in Santa Fe during the summer, you’ll be surrounded by fellow Dallasites and Houstonians. What can I say? The crisp air during sunrise and sunset beckons us.

After one visit, you’ll think to yourself, “Maybe I need a turquoise squash blossom necklace?” That’s how you know that Santa Fe seeped in.

My Basecamp in Santa Fe

For my recent visit to “The City Different,” I stayed at Bishop’s Lodge, Auberge Collection. (I suppose I’m having an Auberge Girl Summer since I also traveled to Chileno Bay Resort & Residences, Auberge Collection in late June for a restorative few days of sunshine in Cabo.) A luxury mountain resort that borders 1.7 million acres of national forest, Bishop’s Lodge delivers everything you’d hope for in a luxurious Southwestern sanctuary. When a cowboy in Wranglers and a pearl snap plaid shirt delivered my room service breakfast tacos in a braided basket, I knew I made the right choice.

The rooms capture the essence of New Mexico, with Navajo-inspired textiles and a traditional kiva fireplace that lights with the flip of a switch. On my first morning, I was checking emails in bed when I saw two mule deer walk by, stopping to peer in my windows. It was the perfect reminder to unplug, so I shut my laptop and “touched grass” — taking my morning caffeine from one of the wooden rocking chairs on the private front porch.

During my visit, I saw many families with young children and lots of empty nesters with dogs. Bishop’s Lodge welcomes everyone, but it was apparently a very popular weekend for Corgis, including one I met at dinner named Margaret Thatcher. Speaking of dinner, SkyFire is divine!

The resort’s signature restaurant, SkyFire, as its name suggests, draws inspiration from the transformative element of fire. Whether in a handcrafted Mezcal cocktail at The Bar or in the scent of the piñon wood logs burning in the main dining room, fire informs the multi-sensory experience. A wood-fired grill takes center stage for the meal, so I ordered a striploin. You simply cannot skip starting with the hatch chile and cheese fry bread, though, with smoked black garlic aioli and herbs for dipping.

Bishop’s Lodge also has a peaceful pool that’s a perfect respite from the sun during high afternoon. I couldn’t resist ordering shrimp tempura tacos and a margarita from The Prickly Pear, the resort’s poolside dining venue.

A Spirit of Adventure

At Bishop’s Lodge, Basecamp functions as the resort’s central hub for planning personalized itineraries brimming with a spirit of adventure. Basecamp unleashes the wild spirit of the Southwest for guests, whether they want to embark on a full day of fly fishing or hike to a vista with a panoramic view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I started one morning with a visit to Bishop Lodge’s historic stables before heading out on a trail ride with Pepe, a charming horse that was decidedly *not* a morning person. (“He needs his morning cup of coffee before he really gets going,” my guide said.) I could relate! The sun dappled the rugged path, and the morning quiet provided a coveted sense of calm, far removed from the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan life.

On my next visit, I want to commit to a full day of fly fishing through Bishop’s Lodge’s on-property outpost with Land of Enchantment Fly Fishing. See, a spirit of adventure was unlocked!

Inside Georgia O’Keeffe’s Home and Studio

Visiting the places that famous artists (and their devoted patrons) called home never ceases to delight and inspire me. Most recently, I visited Peggy Guggenheim’s sprawling palazzo in Venice, where, at long last, I viewed her Alexander Calder-designed “Silver Bed Head” headboard up close. My bon vivant queen!

On this return visit to New Mexico, I felt adamant about carving out enough time to visit Georgia O’Keeffe’s home and studio in Abiquiú. Since Abiquiú is less than an hour drive from Santa Fe, how could I not? O’Keeffe (and her beloved pairs of Chow Chows) lived and worked in the Spanish Colonial adobe compound for 35 years, from 1949 until 1984. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum offers tours of the home and studio, which it preserved exactly as O’Keeffe used it. I’ve never been so happy to see an absence of acrylic boxes and descriptive placards. Note that it can be challenging to secure a ticket to one of the tours, which are limited to eight guests at a time. So, I recommend purchasing your ticket well in advance if this pilgrimage calls to you, as well.

A minimalist, O’Keeffe hated clutter, but appreciated beautiful objects. Her home showcases iconic midcentury furniture designs, but O’Keeffe wasn’t showboating. She simply supported her friends! Large windows define the space, flooding the adobe with natural light and sublime views of the landscape that served as the artist’s muse. See the cookbooks on her shelf, the spices in her pantry, and the practical, hard-working wardrobe staples in her closet. The experience felt less like a museum and more like a portal into the private world of New Mexico’s most cherished artist. What a gift to take in the very views that inspired her work.

The Land of Enchantment

A perfect nickname for Santa Fe, “The Land of Enchantment” keeps calling me back, and there are a few places I will revisit each time. Thankfully, Bishop’s Lodge offers a complimentary shuttle (a black house SUV) to take guests into the Santa Fe Plaza. Here are a few of my favorite spots:

• Shiprock — The most aesthetically pleasing store in all of Santa Fe, Shiprock is a gallery on the historic Plaza that masterfully showcases the rich artistry of the Navajo and other Native American tribes of the Southwest. The unparalleled curation includes historic and contemporary Navajo rugs and blankets, Native American jewelry, Pueblo pottery, sculpture, basketry, folk art, and fine art by leading Native American artists. (Take a photo in the rug room!)
• Santa Fe Vintage — I’ve written about Santa Fe Vintage before, so I’ll keep it brief, but it remains one of my favorite vintage stores in the county. Located 20 minutes from the Plaza, Santa Fe Vintage offers a brilliant collection of Americana clothing, art, and objects collected during the last 30 years.
• Sazon — I ate at Sazon, one of the most celebrated restaurants in Santa Fe, for the first time on this trip, and I’ll definitely return. Chef Fernando Olea, who is from Mexico City, won Best Chef of the Southwest in the 2022 James Beard Awards for his unique ability to contemporize traditional Mexican dishes. The most revelatory bite I had? Sopa de Amor, Chef Olea’s signature soup that consists of cream of poblano with crab meat, amaretto mousse, and dusting of chocolate and cinnamon. I don’t know how or why it works, but it DOES.
• Every restaurant in Santa Fe, even the “fancy” ones, is casual by Dallas and Houston standards. I mean this in a very complimentary way; it’s refreshing! Escondido is a newer restaurant that I tried and loved. Chef Fernando Ruiz is a three-time Food Network Champion; he won Guy’s Grocery Games, Chopped, and most recently, “beat the nearly unstoppable Bobby Flay!” The dish that beat Bobby Flay? Chile En Nogada — a roasted poblano pepper stuffed with ground pork, ground veal, golden raisins, pepitas, piñon, walnut cream sauce, queso fresco, and pomegranate seeds. Of course I ordered it!

Enchanted is right.