A treaure of Albuquerque which few locals fully appreciate, Old Town is home to quaint restaurants, first class art galleries (including R.C. Gorman), and several museums. For the adventurous, check out the Rattlesnake Museum (yes they are alive!). For a history of our…Read More

A treaure of Albuquerque which few locals fully appreciate, Old Town is home to quaint restaurants, first class art galleries (including R.C. Gorman), and several museums. For the adventurous, check out the Rattlesnake Museum (yes they are alive!). For a history of our area, visit the Albuquerque Museum which offers art, traveling exhibits and a permenant exhibit on the history of Albuquerque - for free admission (it's priceless as they say!). This is the place to shop for local crafts and American Indian made jewelry.   Close

It’s simple, really. The city was named for the Don Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva Enrique, Duke of Alburquerque (Alburquerque (spelled with an extra “r”) is a small town in the Badajoz region of Spain, and in 1706, the year the New Mexican town…Read More

It’s simple, really. The city was named for the Don Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva Enrique, Duke of Alburquerque (Alburquerque (spelled with an extra “r”) is a small town in the Badajoz region of Spain, and in 1706, the year the New Mexican town was founded (a mere century after neighboring Santa Fe), the 10th Duke was also the Viceroy of New Spain. I suspect there was some political currying of favor involved when founding father and governor of New Mexico, Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdes, named the new Villa after the Duke, but then, the governor was not shy either, since he also requested a donation of “bells, ornaments, chalices, missals, images and jewels” for the new church (though whether the Duke complied with the request, I don’t know). The duke’s descendants still make periodic visits to this city on the Rio Grande.   Close

The volcanos stand like beacons on the mesa west of Albuquerque. There are five, more or less lined up north to south and worn with millennia of weather and wind. They look less like volcanoes up close, and more like piles of sharp…Read More

The volcanos stand like beacons on the mesa west of Albuquerque. There are five, more or less lined up north to south and worn with millennia of weather and wind. They look less like volcanoes up close, and more like piles of sharp lava rock tossed and scattered over a fairly large area. If you like climbing around rocks and poking into shallow caves, it’s an interesting place to visit. I brought my nephew here several years ago and he had a ball crawling around the rocks. You are far enough away from town that this is one of those rare places where you can actually hear silence and the view of the Sandias is spectacular.

Since this is really “off the beaten track” there is not much around here other than miles and miles of miles and miles. Unless you are planning on going back into town, your choices of places to eat are limited to a small café at West Mesa Aviation at the Double Eagle Airport, a few miles north. You can get sandwiches and such at the café and watch the private planes buzz around the field.

The Volcanos are located west of town and to get there, take I-40 west to Paseo del Volcan and turn right. There is a small gate a mile or so down the road, and a sign directing you to the area.    Close

The Bosque has a whole different feel to it. Bosque, which means forest in Spanish, is a crowd of stately cottonwoods and bushy chamisa hugging the edges of the Rio Grande. Again, the narrow strip of Open Space, this time on both sides…Read More

The Bosque has a whole different feel to it. Bosque, which means forest in Spanish, is a crowd of stately cottonwoods and bushy chamisa hugging the edges of the Rio Grande. Again, the narrow strip of Open Space, this time on both sides of the river, stretches nearly the entire length of the city from north to south. It’s a much more enclosed feeling down here, and in summer mosquitoes and flies, which are rare elsewhere in the city, can be annoying. In the fall, the whole river’s edge turns to gold. My favorite views of the river, invariably from a busy highway bridge where I can’t stop to take pictures, are of the golden-edged river in autumn.

In years past when the Rio was allowed to flood every spring, the cottonwoods, which are truly magnificent trees, especially the ancient ones, would reseed themselves. Unfortunately, now with all the irrigation ditches draining the water from the main watercourse, the salt cedar and Russian olive have encroached on the bosque. Every spring, the Open Space volunteers participate in “pole planting” – planting young shoots of cottonwood in the hopes of bringing the bosque back to its original state.

You can follow several walking and biking trails all along the meandering course of the river. In between you will find some spectacular views of the river. More or less in the center of the River’s course through Albuquerque, is the Rio Grande Nature Center. Though not part of the Open Space, this glassed-in museum cum wildlife blind offers spectacular views of the marshy ponds behind the building. From here there are several paths you can follow through the area, and hook up to one of the paved bike paths that goes along one of the irrigation ditches.

From late fall to early spring the Nature Center is a stopping off point for migrating birds and is a wonderful place to sit and watch nature from the comfort of a warm room and comfortable chair.    Close

I’m sitting on a pile of boulders 1000 feet above the city as I write this. Looking west, I can see perhaps 70 miles, not quite the Arizona border, but close. Below, the city sprawl is sliced in two by the green (or…Read More

I’m sitting on a pile of boulders 1000 feet above the city as I write this. Looking west, I can see perhaps 70 miles, not quite the Arizona border, but close. Below, the city sprawl is sliced in two by the green (or gold, depending on the season) swath of the Rio Grande Bosque. Along the West Mesa, a sinuous escarpment of black basalt is covered with thousands petroglyphs. Above the escarpment, five bumps on the landscape are all that’s left of a string of volcanoes that once covered the mesa with lava.

These areas are all part of the designated Open Space Albuquerque has set aside for recreation and education (there are lots of guided tours, especially for school children), as well as habitat for wild creatures that range from coyotes to migrating birds. It’s also a great place to get away from it all.

Albuquerque’s Wild Open Spaces are divided, roughly, into three areas:

1) East of Town are the Foothills of the Sandias. Depending on the season, you can see acres of wildflowers, soft grasses, succulents and various native creatures. Here, you can walk your dog or hike as far into the backcountry as your feet will take you.

2) Right smack in the center of town is the Bosque (not to be confused with the famous Bosque del Apache about two hours south of here) a riparian area of cottonwoods and chamisa bordering both banks of the Rio Grande, making for great strolls and birdwatching.

3) West of town are the Volcanoes, vestiges of the violent geologic past along the edges of the Rio Grande rift. Below them, the basalt escarpment covered with thousands of petroglyphs.    Close

This is the best wings place I have ever been to. It beats the chains hands down, with 28-30 flavors from mild to the knock your socks off X-rated and XXX. I also LOVE the curry wings. Others are good too. And the wings are…Read More

This is the best wings place I have ever been to. It beats the chains hands down, with 28-30 flavors from mild to the knock your socks off X-rated and XXX. I also LOVE the curry wings. Others are good too. And the wings are big and meaty, not those little hummingbird wings some places serve. Huge sides!!! Try the Old Bay fries. Salads as big as your head. Sandwiches and wraps too! On a scale of 1 - 10, I give this a 12.    Close

We had a couple of hours before we needed to dress for dinner at the Corn Maiden restaurant, so we decided to take a nice walk on the walking trail. As we went out the door of the resort, the wind was really blowing.…Read More

We had a couple of hours before we needed to dress for dinner at the Corn Maiden restaurant, so we decided to take a nice walk on the walking trail. As we went out the door of the resort, the wind was really blowing. By the time we got out into the open area, it was blowing sand and dirt...and tumbleweeds! (see photos) Have you ever noticed that when you're on vacation, it doesn't matter what the weather is...you'll just keep going? Well, we did just that. Wind like I've never been out in, sand blowing so hard that it stung our faces, legs, and arms. Trees blowing nearly doubled over. The Rio Grande water even muddier looking that usual. A fun adventure for sure! We made it safely back to our room, cleaned up for dinner, and had an extremely enjoyable quiet (and dust free) romantic dinner following. We enjoy experiencing different kinds of weather when we travel. This certainly provided a new experience for us!    Close

New Mexico is a fun place to be in, in contrary to the popular belief of it being an US Defense State. Yes, it has a few Research labs, and the Wen Ho Lee famous Los Alamos (home to the Manhattan project of the 1940s).Actually,…Read More

New Mexico is a fun place to be in, in contrary to the popular belief of it being an US Defense State. Yes, it has a few Research labs, and the Wen Ho Lee famous Los Alamos (home to the Manhattan project of the 1940s).Actually, this results in the fact that the state has more PhDs than any other state in the nation. Although, you can pass up Albuquerque in less than 20 minutes if you are on the freeway, it is still the largest town in the state. Albuquerque & Santa Fe constitute about 60% of the population of the state !. A nice mix of Anglo, Hispanic and Native American Culture give the state a unique blend. Taos and Sandia Offer some world class ski facilities, the food is fantastic. Santa Fe and Taos have some good art communities. Overall, its a fun place to be in.   Close

Our trip aboard the Grand Luxe (formerly American Orient Express) was a very big and expensive disappointment. Our trip cost over $12,000 and, in my opinion, was nothing like it was described on their website. Our trip was not luxurious in any way and really…Read More

Our trip aboard the Grand Luxe (formerly American Orient Express) was a very big and expensive disappointment. Our trip cost over $12,000 and, in my opinion, was nothing like it was described on their website. Our trip was not luxurious in any way and really was not much of a train ride since the train traveled mostly at night.

Our Classic Presidential Suite was dirty, my husbands bed smelled like vomit and our linens were not changed all week. The air conditioning was not working most of the trip and it was very hot and stuffy. We were given bottles of warm water in our suite every day, but forget about a cold soda.

The dinners on board the train were very good, but breakfasts and meals off the train were local cheap diner fare. All of the side trips, some of which cost extra, were rushed and seemed to be unorganized.

They decided to film us during the trip (without telling us until after we checked in) so, to avoid the camera, we spent most of the time on the train in our tiny, hot, smelly suite staring out the window of our parked train.

We tried to contact the company following the trip concerning our complaints, but they did not give us the courtesy of a reply.

I would never recommend this trip to anyone.   Close

I love the India Palace. A buffet, yes, but much more (menu ordering as well), and not a cheap buffet kind of place. Excellent selections so the Indian food novice can try several things. Many vegetarian selections for those folks. Great quality. Clean, friendly!…Read More

I love the India Palace. A buffet, yes, but much more (menu ordering as well), and not a cheap buffet kind of place. Excellent selections so the Indian food novice can try several things. Many vegetarian selections for those folks. Great quality. Clean, friendly! Two thumbs up!!!   Close