Welcome to Albuquerque or as we like to call it the “Kirk”. This city is full of history with the Indian Cultural Center and fun attractions like the Sandia Tramway. We didn’t visit either of these attractions. As a matter of fact the more I looked back at pictures I realized this visit was about food. New Mexico is all about the chilies. I mean red and green chilies are all over the New Mexico signs, burgers, and burritos. So on a recommendation of my sweet Uncle Steve, we went to Nexus Brewery for a green chili burger.
I did get the burger with my chilies on the side. Haha, you will notice a trend with this. We also ordered the fried zucchini which was out of this world yummy. I was really hungry and ate my burger before I got a pic so just trust me that it was good. Thank you Uncle Steve!
The next day Micheal and I got out to cruise Route 66 and possibly find a market that I saw on the map. There were parts of Route 66 that were charming and other parts not so charming. Nob Hill was a section that I loved with trendy shops and small eateries. Then downtown had the historic theater that is still showing pics today. We came to almost the end of Route 66 and there was my market. I was thinking it was a flea market but when we got inside it was a grocery store.
Once inside I was amazed at all the food I had never seen before. As we entered the produce section, there they were…..green chilies!
We saw 10 lb bags of pinto beans and small bags of dried shrimp. (complete with head and eyeballs) We also saw this…
That is caramel, cherries, and homemade cream (sour cream to us southerns). I can understand buying sour cream by the pound but I have to admit confusion on why you would buy some of these things in bulk. Although this wasn’t a flea market, it was still very exciting!
Before we left on this adventure my Uncle Steve gave me a spreadsheet that he has been putting together on places to eat around the U.S. Sadly, there weren’t any for the “Kirk” so I started doing some research and found El Pinto.
This place did not disappoint! I would drive back today for the guacamole! Anyway, Mike has gotten better and he is hungry. So we order the chicken quesadilla to share for appetizer….
See the guacamole? Then for dinner we got the Green Chili Burger (mild chilies on the burger) and a Chicken burrito. Shockingly, Micheal ordered the rice. Wow! This food was delicious! I added it to the spreadsheet and then highlighted it….haha.
So I bet your wondering if we actually went to see anything and yes we did. First Micheal and I went to the aquarium and botanical gardens.
This was something Micheal was interested in so we went. I have to say we were kind of disappointed because it really was small, but we did see some marine life.
There was a whole section on the Gulf Coast which we thought was funny. We were only in the aquarium for about 20 minutes and that was looking at everything.
After the aquarium we decided to stroll through the garden. You pay for both when you buy a ticket so to Micheal’s dismay we walked through. Nothing was blooming but there was a children’s castle to walk through that was fun. First, the dragon outside…..
then as we walked thru the tunnels, we found mushrooms…….
and then the last tunnel we walked through I looked up and saw this.
I wouldn’t recommend going to either of these places but sometimes you don’t know unless you try it.
We are so close to Santa Fe that I can’t help but go. I found a route that is kind of a back road (which is my favorite) called the Turquoise Trail. It is simply lovely!
This drive takes you through some small towns, like Madrid. Madrid is very important to the movie industry. Movies have been filmed here and on the Turquoise Trail since the 1960’s.
The only movie we kind of knew was Wild Hogs. I was going to tell you about the movie but I didn’t watch all of it. Anyway there is a place called Maggie’s Diner that has been made famous from the movie.
We thought we would stop in for a quick bite to eat but we were quickly told by a sign on the door that it was not a diner. Instead it is kind of a raunchy t-shirt shop. That was a little disappointing but we did get a good cup of coffee at the Java Junction
and we saw some funny things from different artist.
Some of my favorites, if the bone is wet it is raining, if the bone is moving it is windy and if the bone is gone….run!
When we finally get to Santa Fe we found some parking behind the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. (it’s not always easy finding parking for the big truck)
The church is downtown and wow! the whole area was beautiful. All the buildings were pueblo built. I think that is how you would say it….but any how, I loved it.
After all this walking we had to eat. Well we actually have to feed Micheal or he gets cranky. So we referred to our spreadsheet and found two places in Santa Fe. One, The Shed and the other, Bobcat Bites. We walk to The Shed and it is closed. So we go to Bobcat bites, which is now called Santa Fe Bites.
I bet you can’t guess what we tried, you got it, the Green Chili Burger (chilies on the side)
It was a good thing the chilies were on the side, I can smell them through the photo they were so hot! Once again the food was yummy! Good job Uncle Steve!
On our way back to the truck we passed the Loretto Chapel. This chapel was built in 1872 for the nuns. During construction the architect suddenly died and the builders realized there was no stairway to the loft. During that period of time ladders were usually used but the nuns didn’t feel comfortable with this. So for nine days the nuns prayed that someone could help. On the tenth day a straggly stranger appeared and told them he could build a staircase but he would need total privacy to do. So for three months he locked himself into the chapel and with some primitive tools and non-native wood he built a spiral staircase. When the work was done he vanished without being payed, the nuns did not know his identity and to this day no one knows who he was. This staircase has come to be know as the miraculous staircase. I am telling you all this and we didn’t even go inside to see the staircase. I guess the pictures on the internet were sufficient for me.
That was our day in Santa Fe. It was great and I think I liked it better than the “Kirk”.
Now back in the “Kirk”,I kept reading about Old Town and you know if there is shopping involved I have to go check it out. Micheal and I loaded up and headed down Route 66.
We went over the Rio Grande…..
and realized it wasn’t so Grande. I think the Mississippi River has got our standards high! We came into Old Town and parked on the square.
There were a lot of shops with Indian stuff.
We just walked around and went into some of the shops. Like this one…
and all of a sudden I am surrounded………
now this is my kind of shopping. I did try on a couple but left with nothing. You know the camper life is supposed to be a simplified one, plus I all ready brought 15 pairs of shoes so I don’t know where I can put anymore. Here are some more pics of Old Town.
I hate to say I wasn’t impressed but this really isn’t my kind of shopping. Of course it is always fun to look.
The time has come to say goodbye to New Mexico. I really enjoyed the beauty of this land. It really did live up to my expectations and the food was yummy!
In the morning we head to…..Arizona. Yay!