Unfortunately, Black Bart and I won’t be in Fred Harvey country again until Spring (check here for appearances in Arizona in March, New Mexico in April and Texas and May). But for those of you who can, just wanted to provide some seasonal links for our favorite Harvey heritage hotels and restaurants with their holiday specials.

John Sharpe just posted his scrumptious holiday menus for The Turquoise Room at La Posada, all of which sound heavenly. For reservations at the hotel, click here.

Here’s the yummy fall/winter menu at La Plazuela at La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe. For reservations at the hotel, click here.

For the Grand Canyon Railway, this is Polar Express time, when the trains are packed with families doing the holiday trip, Harvey Style. Click here for reservations on the always-full Polar Express trains. (see below)

As for the canyon itself, I’ve never been there in winter but I hear it’s amazing–and takes you back to late 1904, when Ford Harvey was staying there in old Bright Angel waiting for El Tovar to be finished. Here’s a terrific story that the NY Times ran last year on the canyon in winter. For Grand Canyon South Rim reservations, click here. Stay at El Tovar if you can but, if it’s full, stay anywhere on the rim–or in nearby Maswick Lodge.

If you’re in Santa Fe for the holiday and hanker for more Harvey, drive or take the light rail train to Belen to visit the Belen Harvey House Museum or head in the other direction to Las Vegas, NM, to visit the shell of the Castaneda and, if you contact them in advance, you might be able to get the tour of the Montezuma. (Tours are given by the country’s newest and most enthused Fredhead, Ruaidhrí “Rory” Crofton, a teenage National Park Service Volunteer
& Montezuma Castle Tour Guide. Email him at ruaidhri97 at hotmail.com)

And, if you’re really ambitious, add the Waynoka Oklahoma Harvey House Museum to your itinerary. It’s about seven hours from Las Vegas, NM, but worth the drive (before you leave, have breakfast in Las Vegas at Charlie’s.)

Happy Harvey Holidays!

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