Never having been to Albuquerque, New Mexico, before, I've never thought of it as a vacation hot spot. (hot spot - get it?) However, after being there for a week, I'm amazed at all Albuquerque has to offer to the casual visitor, or a permanent resident.
Briefly, I'll fill you in on where we went and my thoughts about each experience:
1) The Sandia Peak Tramway:
What: The world's longest passenger tramway.
Thoughts: Beautiful, crowded, amazing, stomach churning.
Conclusion: Definitely on the recommended list, and the restaurant at the top was a special treat.
What: Covers everything from theory, tests, completion, use, consequences, history, social impact, economic impact, a children's discovery area, an artistic area, and developments.
Thoughts: Interesting, intriguing, educational, humorous, sad, shocking, concerning, amazing.
Conclusion: A must see for everyone of any age.
What: Rock carvings
Thoughts: Interesting, hot, curious, puzzling, sandy.
Conclusion: Everyone should see this - once. But, we only traveled 3/4 of the trail, and that was enough to satisfy our curiosity.
4) Old Town:
What: Shopping - pottery, jewelry, clothing, souvenirs.
Thoughts: Nice, expensive, quality, inexpensive, junk, fun.
Conclusion: Nice place to get souvenirs or unusual gifts. Don't miss the Turquoise Museum that is located nearby.
5) The Food:
The food must have it's own mention, because it was so delicious!
What: Our favorite places to eat were Sadie's (loved the salsa!), Cecilia's (get the chili relleno!), Frontier for lunch, and the Owl for their green chili cheeseburger.
Thoughts: Yum, yum, yum, and yum, love, heaven, can't get enough, tantalizing, mouth-watering, satisfying. Yes, I want to put green chilies on everything now!
Conclusion: Worth the trip just for the food! Just make sure your pants have elastic!
6) Botanical Gardens:
You didn't think I'd miss the Gardens, did you? I took lots of pictures, and was so very impressed with their botanical gardens that I'm going to highlight it in a separate post!
Albuquerque was surprising, delightful, fun, interesting, intriguing, beautiful, delicious and very enjoyable. I recommend going!
Sounds like a great trip but I sure wouldn't have gotten in that tram. :)
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Holley, I am happy for you that you had a great vacation. I go to Albuquerque on a regular base and always love and never get tired of it. I think it is a wonderful place. It is exciting for me that you will do separate post about the Albuquerque Botanical Garden, since I posted about that garden recently and I am curious to see it "through your lens" and at a different time of the year!
ReplyDeleteChristina
I'm so glad you enjoyed it here, Holley! (And I'm so impressed that you only found it too hot one day!) What a fun variety of experiences. I'm looking forward to your post on the Botanic Gardens--one of my very favorite places. Green chiles are the best! Well, except when the red ones are.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an incredible vacation. It is so fun to investigate other areas for some great shops and history. The tam makes me a little queasy to look at going along such a little cable. LOL! Glad to hear you had a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteYikes.. that tram would give me nightmares. And I used to ski...I never took the tram at the falls because it is too darn high.
ReplyDeleteCher - It really doesn't look like it, but it was standing room only inside. (50 people) That closeness bothered me more than anything!
ReplyDeleteChristina - I missed your post, but I will read it after I have published mine. I don't want to be influenced. The gardens were fabulous. It is always interesting to see something though another's eyes. How nice that you get to go to Albuquerque often. I may have to have some of their hot sauce shipped to me! :)
Stacy - I loved it, and could easily see why people choose to live there. That wasn't all we did, but I didn't want the post to get too long. It was only hot to me one day - it must have been humid that day. I took note of the plants I saw the most of so I could try to include more of them in my garden.
Lona - The tram was easier than the little swinging seat you get at a ski lift! lol Our country is amazing - so many different types of country and so many different things to experience.
GWGT - haha I did realize that my life was in the hands of those cables and the tram operators. As long as it wasn't swinging from side to side, I was fine. They were very gentle with us.
I tell you I love traveling-if only vicariously through others travels like yours. Never having been out west I enjoy hearing about it. Albuquerque looks most wonderful. That tram ride though-bit scary looking.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun trip, although the tramway looks a bit too scary for me :). I can't wait for your botanical gardens post!
ReplyDeleteI hope there's another way to get up to that restaurant! I was OK until you mentioned 50 tightly packed people in that tram. Don't know about that. And though I don't like hot stuff, it sounds like a wonderful part of the USA. Glad you enjoyed it so much.
ReplyDeleteWow it must have really been an exciting adventure. But i pass for that cable car, as i can't try the zipline either! We will be waiting for the plants next post, haha.
ReplyDeleteGreat trip highlights! I would have had second thoughts about the tram ride but I imagine the view was spectacular. Looking forward to the botanic garden photos.
ReplyDeleteTina - Isn't it wonderful to be able to see parts of the country in pictures? Through blogging, I feel I know so much of not only the US, but other parts of the world. I love it, too!
ReplyDeleteMasha - Oh, it was a great trip! I was quite impressed with Albuquerque. I would love to go again some time.
sherry - haha - I think the only other way to get up to the restaurant is biking up the mountain in summer (an impossibility for me!), except those trails were closed due to the drought and extreme fire danger. And, I think you could get to it in the winter by the ski lift. I was surprised by the number packed in to the car. I would have loved to be able to move around from window to window. The temps were in the 90's, but it felt so much cooler since it was a dry heat.
Andrea - It was quite exciting. I love seeing new things and little adventures. Although, I've never tried a zipline, either - yet!
Tufa Girl - At the top of the mountain, it really was spectacular. The tram came up one side, the ski life on the other side. You really felt like you were on top of the world. And the temperatures at the top of the mountain were about 30 degrees cooler than on the bottom!
Oh, my the tram......my husband said, "Did they ride in that?" I'm not afraid of heights (he is) but I think I would have been scared, too. Loved the trip and the reviews, and I'm glad you had a wonderful time!
ReplyDeleteKaren - It was actually quite stable. I've been on trams that were smaller, and rocked a bit, but this one was very smooth. To me, it's no worse than riding in an airplane - you have no control over either one!
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