If New Mexico has not been on your list of places to go, it is time to add it. It bills itself as the Land of Enchantment and that is not simply wishful thinking. There is so much to see, that you can’t even hope to cram it all in to one week. However, here is the route we took for a week-long road trip that included aliens, art, nature, and so much good food!
Day 1: Arrive in Albuquerque
We took an early flight so we could get to Albuquerque still with some time to explore a little. After picking up the rental car and dropping off our things at the hotel, we saw our very first road runner in the parking lot. (They’re much smaller than the cartoons lead me to believe!) Then we headed to the Old Town. We wandered the streets, browsed the many shops, and enjoyed the afternoon New Mexico sun. And unexpectedly hit the motherlode of Ghana movie posters.
For the uninitiated, movies in Ghana were traditionally advertised by “posters” painted on flour sacks. The resulting art offers a strange (to say the least) interpretation of the movie in question, usually featuring much more blood and violence than the original ever dreamed of. Think Purple Rain with machine guns or ET with Alien-style face huggers. I often think anyone watching the films must be incredibly disappointed but the posters are something to be seen. And see them we did – in Albuquerque of all places! If you are interested, stop by Back Alley Brujas; the store owner has a connection with one of the artists in Ghana and you can browse, reminisce about movies that weren’t quite the way they’re depicted, and buy lots of other cool stuff. But enough about Ghana.
Back to New Mexico. And food.
New Mexican food is absolutely wonderful. We stopped for dinner at the Church Street Cafe, having heard rave reviews. It did not disappoint. It is located in one of the oldest buildings in the Old Town, and the menu offers a perfect introduction to the state’s cuisine, with perfect posole, tamales, sopapillas, and more. Enjoy a cocktail while you’re there, as well.
Day 2: Ghost Towns, Game Shows, and the Great Beyond
After a night’s rest, we were eager to get on the road to explore more of New Mexico. We had a room booked in Truth or Consequences for the evening and the whole day to get there. We figured we’d started driving and see what caught our eye.
We set off and soon started seeing signs for various missions and historical sites, but as we turned off the main highway and prepared to go one way, a sign intrigued us enough to go the other. I shouldn’t have been surprised; after all, I am the person who landed in Vegas for the first time and headed to the National Atomic Testing Museum. So why not a giant telescope this time? (I’m the most non-science science person you could ever meet.)
The Very Large Array is part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory but you are more likely to recognize it from the big screen, most notably the 1997 Jodie Foster movie Contact. Twenty-eight enormous radio telescopes stretch into the distance, each one on railroad tracks allowing for it to be moved as needed. Together, they scan into the depths of outer space. Start in the Visitor Center where a large exhibition explains the work of the VLA, complete with a documentary narrated by Jodie Foster. Then head outside to browse the radio sundial, the whisper dishes, and more. Don’t ask me to explain how any of it works, but I can tell you that standing there beneath a giant antenna in the middle of the New Mexico desert, I felt a part of something absolutely huge in the universe in a way that I never have anywhere else. It will truly give you a sense of scale and magnitude.
Following a late lunch in Socorro, we continued on to our next stop, which involved a lengthy and curvy drive through the hills (Fair warning: if you get motion sick, open the window and be prepared for several stops!) I’ve written about Chloride in more detail here but, suffice to say, it’s well worth a visit and the locals have done an incredible job preserving this small corner of New Mexico’s history.
Finally, it was on to our night’s destination. Truth or Consequences was originally known as Hot Springs but famously changed its name in 1950 after the popular radio show. Its once titular hot springs are still a tourist attraction, although we sadly did not have time to visit them. We did stay at the delightfully retro Rocket Inn, which felt like a step back in time. We also highly recommend grabbing a bite to eat from Outer Edge Pizza and chatting with the locals at the Truth or Consequences Brewing Company, where we were welcomed like old friends. Like so many places we visited on our trip, it’s a funky, friendly town that I wish we could have spent more time in.
Day 3: Desert? Beach? White Sands
Up and onward through southern New Mexico, we made our way to White Sands National Park, stopping on the way for a few historical markers. The Jornada del Muerto (Dead Man’s Trail) was a 90 mile stretch through the El Camino Desert with nowhere to access any water. The name was given by the Spanish conquistadors as they attempted to cross this barren stretch of land. Luckily, we were not walking (and gratefully so) and we were soon on our way again, passing through Radium Springs and Las Cruces to White Sands. I’ve written about the spot in more detail here so go over and read to plan your trip. If you are ever in the area, this is truly not to be missed, but don’t forget sun protection and water!
Time to hit the road again, and we were heading north. After miles and miles of sparse desert landscape, we hit some forest which was a welcome change of scenery. Stopping off at one of the farm shops and loading up with plums and saffron, we continued our journey, leaving the forest for more desert and arriving in Roswell just in time for dinner.
Day 4: Close Encounters
Roswell is a fun, quirky little farming town in the middle of the New Mexican desert that has truly leaned into its UFO-encounter past in the best way. As such, it’s somewhere you have to visit while you’re in the area. Although in our case, it was the starting point for planning our road trip. I’ve written about the history and attractions of Roswell here, but bottom line: it’s all about the aliens. And no matter what you believe, it’s worth a visit. There’s the International UFO Museum, the Roswell UFO Spacewalk, and Bricktown Alien Attack, no to mention a great visitor’s center and all the UFO related merchandise you could ever want in every shop you visit.
Depending on the time of year you visit, you may even get to go to one of the town’s festivals, where the streets are filled with little green men and invaders from another planet.
If you get burned out on aliens, drive out to the Bottomless Lakes State Park where there is a small beach. Not a UFO in sight.
Day 5: Art and Culture in Santa Fe
I feel it only fair to point out that there is one apparently ubiquitous feature on New Mexican highways and we need to address it. No, we did not obey the billboards and visit PistachioLand in Alamagordo. It did not fit into our itinerary, but that does means we missed an opportunity to see the world’s largest pistachio, which feels like we failed Roadtrip 101: visit all quirky giant offerings!
Anyway, back in the head and north to Santa Fe. Or, as the GPS put it, keep going on this very straight road for several hours and then turn left.
After being in the desert flats for a few days, the air is noticeably different in Santa Fe. It’s a little thinner so do be warned that anyone with breathing issues might need to adjust. That’s not all that different. Santa Fe has a distinct vibe to it – arts and money. Downtown is filled with art galleries and boutiques. There seemed to be a standard uniform of designed jeans, cowboy boots (but not the dusty worn ones seen elsewhere), and lots of big turquoise jewelry. The restaurants are all booked days in advance, meaning we skipped our originally intended dinner plans and headed out to the Santa Fe Brewing Company for a much more laidback beer and quesadilla. And you cannot miss the ice cream at Kakawa – so good we went back for more the next day!
I do wish we had more time to explore Santa Fe, although I know realize that I wish we had more time to explore EVERYWHERE in New Mexico. It requires multiple road trips at the very least. All the same, our time was limited and so we wanted to make the most of it. That meant our first stop (other than downtown for a food truck burrito) was the Museum of International Folk Art. This incredible place was started in 1953 when Chicago art collector Florence Dibell Bartlett donated her extensive collection to open a museum. Since then, the museum has grown and now includes folk art pieces from around the world plus visiting exhibitions. In addition to stunning regional pieces, we saw were displays of Japanese folk horror and Inuit parkas.
Back in downtown Santa Fe, not-to-be-missed spots include:
- San Miguel Chapel, built in 1610 and rebuilt twice since then.
- De Vargas Street House (aka the Oldest House), believed to date back to the early Spanish colonial period and with some indications that people were on this site back in 1200.
- Loretto Chapel with its Miraculous Staircase that was built by a mysterious carpenter and which still puzzles building experts today.
Day 6: Two Very Different National Sites
Do you ever have that one destination that is high on your list but when you get there, something feels off? This is the day that happened to me, but let me not get ahead of myself.
We had an early star so that we could make it to Bandelier National Monument before they closed it to cars. Once the parking lot is full, a shuttle from nearby is available. The site is the ancestral home of at least 23 tribal nations with a series of pueblo structures dating back to between 1150 and 1600, although indigenous peoples made their homes here for probably about 10,000 years. There are a number of cliffside dwellings to visit, so be prepared to climb a number of ladders up a somewhat precipitous cliff face. We followed the main loop trail to take in as many of the cliff sites as possible, but there are also a number of backcountry trails to explore if time permits. It’s a beautifully peaceful area, something of a contrast to what awaits further down the road.
Our first clue that we were nearing Los Alamos was a military road check, requesting our IDs. We were then told to continue driving into town, being sure that we did not stop on the roadside anywhere and under no circumstances should we stop and take any photos!
In 1943, the remote community of logging cabins and a boy’s outdoor skills school was commandeered by the US government as the home of the Manhattan Project. Later, the Atomic Energy Commission continued its work at the research facilities built there, now the Los Alamos National Laboratory. As a worksite for so many researchers, the town has a population of over 13,000. I had been keen to visit because years ago I had worked on a number of book projects about the Manhattan Project, but a few hours in the town left me with a set of very complicated feelings. It is a very nice shiny town, the sort where you imagine very little crime or homelessness is allowed, where children walk the streets from school, and where everyone’s work is somehow related to the lab. And it all felt a little too much like The Truman Show: a little too perfect with something lurking beneath. For instance, we stopped at the city park with its beautiful lake, only to see dozens of dead fish floating atop the water.
The museums tell the story of the building of the atomic bomb, and again this felt a little too celebratory while ignoring the absolute devastation they caused. Weaponry was presented as the only means to peace. I quickly disliked it. Apologies to anyone who lives there and loves it. But it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
And so, after lunch, we decided to move on to the Santuario de Chimayo, which I discovered was a popular pilgrimage site known for the healing powers of its earth. We browsed, and bought several pounds of Chimayo chili powder before driving back to Santa Fe through villages that were a stark contrast to the rich neighboring town of Los Alamos. This was definitely a day of contrasts, one that finished with a nighttime drive to view the stars over Santa Fe at the Cross of Martyrs.
Day 7: Back to Albuquerque
Our original plan for our final day in Albuquerque before we flew back home had been to visit the city’s National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. However, still feeling a little uncomfortable from the previous day, we decided instead that we wanted to enjoy some more of New Mexico’s natural beauty before we left. So we paid a visit to the ABQ BioPark Botanic Gardens where we spent several hours wandering through peaceful gardens and learning about local flora. Then it was back to the Old Town to visit a few pottery galleries and so some shopping, followed by a farewell dinner at a local winery.
All in all, I loved New Mexico. There is so much to explore and I love the feeling of open space. One week, or even two, is definitely nowhere near enough to do this magnificent state justice. We didn’t even get to include Carlsbad Caverns on our trip, or Taos, or some of the indigenous lands in the north.
So, now we need to plan another trip to New Mexico. Until next time!
Start planning your trip to the Land of Enchantment at New Mexico True.
