March in New Mexico

Old Nov 29th, 2016, 09:16 AM
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March in New Mexico

My husband and I will be visiting New Mexico for the first time in March, from the 12-22nd and staying just outside of Las Cruces and will have a rental car.

We like outdoors, stargazing, shopping, restaurants and hiking and current thoughts are White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell for fun and even some southern parts of Arizona that we didn't make it to a couple of years ago.

As I start planning, I'm looking for some ideas or things that we might need to book now before it's too late, as well as some good, local restaurant recommendations.

Any help as I start planning is greatly appreciated!
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Old Dec 7th, 2016, 10:02 AM
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Are you going to Santa Fe, Taos and/or Albuquerque? I can't imagine coming to New Mexico for the first time and not seeing this area. We have everything you just mentioned - world-class restaurants in Santa Fe, lots of outdoor activities (Outside magazine located their headquarters here), lots of hiking nearby including Bandalier National Monument with puebloan structures dating from 1150-1600AD, Taos Pueblo which is the oldest continuously inhabited community in the US, and dark skies for stargazing.
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Old Dec 7th, 2016, 11:32 AM
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Are you planning to day trip to those areas? Carlsbad Caverns and AZ are 3 hours from Las Cruces.
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Old Dec 9th, 2016, 10:59 AM
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We are flying in and out of Albuquerque and want to do some sightseeing there but wanted to stay in the south.

Day trips was what we were thinking of. If need be, we'd stay over one night, especially I guess for Carlsbad Caverns since it seems that many of the tours are earlier in the morning.
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Old Dec 9th, 2016, 11:18 AM
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It will probably be warmer in the south, but I would still want a couple of days to check out the sites BeachGirl247 mentioned.

I would do a couple of days in the Las Cruses area and then visit Carlsbad and head north, but this is your vacation and what makes me happy might not be your cup of tea.
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Old Dec 9th, 2016, 06:28 PM
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Check out Ruidosa and Lincoln, home of the infamous Lincoln County Wars of the Billy the Kid era.
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Old Dec 9th, 2016, 06:34 PM
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Ruidoso is the correct spelling.
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 06:32 AM
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My daughter lives in Las Cruces. I go there pretty often. It is a beautiful city, but there's not much to see as far as interesting places go, except for Mesilla. I bought a nice leather belt there, in the store that was once a place where they kept Billy the Kid prisoner for a while. The square in the center of the town is a nice place, but that"s about it. However, my son in law took me to Lincoln. That's a great place. They keep the town as close as they can to how it looked when Billy the Kid was running wild. There's even the bullet hole in the staircase that was supposedly made when Billy staged his escape from captivity. They have a frame around it and keep it well preserved. as I recall, one of the things that struck me was the letters exchanged between Billy and the governor of the territory. The governor, the guy that wrote Ben Hur, Lew Wallace, promised Billy a pardon if he gave himself up. The son of a gun then renaged on the promise, and Billy was taken in. The story of why Billy was such a bad dude is detailed in some of the exhibits there. The whole area is really interesting, including the army fort nearby. I would certainly recommend a visit there if you're in the area.
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 11:16 AM
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Carlsbad Caverns is worth seeing; it is really quite special. It will be COLD inside, so be prepared.

Roswell is gimmicky and not worth the time. White Sands is ok, but again, not much after you slide down the sand. It's better in summer when its really hot out and the "sand" is so cool.

As a resident, I agree with Sheila [also a resident] that there's much more up this way. Driving up from Las Cruces, stop in Bosque del Apache and stay overnight to see the thousands and thousands of sand hill cranes come in to spend the night and then take off in the morning, absolutely amazing and worth braving the cold and dark to see them.

Also, stop at the VLA - Very Large Array. Also a pretty unique site.

And one more must do/see is Acoma Pueblo. You have to go with a tour guide so be sure to get there during tour hours. Late morning to early afternoon is best.
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