New Mexico State Capitol Building

For the first time in all of our Capitol visits we did the tour, which was awesome. We learned so much, some things we already knew, like the the Zia sun symbol, and the meanings of the four lines and four sets of arms representing the four seasons of the year, the four times a day, the four directions, the four stages of life. The story behind the two eagles on the state seal was quite interesting. The bigger eagle is the United States, watching over the smaller eagle eating a snake. The Spanish settlers in the area had a vision that the sign telling them where to settle would be an eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake, so they looked and continued to move and explore and migrate, until at last, In the current New Mexico, they saw exactly that. The United States is watching over the smaller New Mexico, as they decided to join the union and become a state.

The Capitol building is not in the shape of a traditional dome building, but rather it too is the shape of the Zia sun. They have incredible art throughout the building, with very interesting stories behind each one. One buffalo sculpture was completely made out of materials from a land fill, to remind New Mexican residence to be more mindful of their environment and protect it.

. We also learned the story of the celebration at the end of August where they burn the Zozobra, which I hope to post more about at a later date because it is fascinating.

The also show case a large selection of children’s art work as well.

We found Tillamook Indian tribe on the monument dedicated to all the Native American tribes in the US.

We tried prickly pear flavored candy which the kids LOVED! It tasted like strawberry lemon aide.

Near the Capitol in Santa Fe, there is a very old adobe house that is believed to have been built in 1646, and be the oldest house in the US.

It is across the road from the oldest church.

We thought of Alex Zukowski as we saw a modern mystery in the Angel Staircase. They have been unable to determine where the wood came from, and what kind of wood it is, and they do not know who made it. It is quite old, and quite amazing, and even though it has never been actively maintained or restored, it looks brand new.