The east coast does have a lot of history. Daughter lived there for awhile and took in a lot of it. Was very interesting and we saw lots when we visited. The west is too young to have that kind of history but...it DOES have history and good history at that. Glad you were able to trace your ancestors. That's really nice.
I love Santa Fe because it is full of history as well. Taos is nice and QUIET which I like. Love Arizona but it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO busy and so much traffic anymore. Lived there for a few years too. Love going back east cause it is going home for us but...love the west.
I once had a co-worker from Philadephia take a vacation through the western U.S. and come back and tell me the West had no culture. I replied that it did, but it was a western culture and not the eastern culture he was predisposed to try and find.
I too love the West but miss the late evenings when I could drive for hours in southeastern NM and never see another automobile. I used to tell my PG County co-workers I knew of places in NM that were virtually unknown to the public and whose beauty rivaled any of the National Parks in the East. Those beautiful places have now been discovered.
Muleteam1