joy2mom

Unfortunately I only have 24 hours before I leave, but I was looking for any suggestions in New Mexico. I will be there for a week -- expect to fly into Albuquerque. Want to spend a day or two there - a couple in Santa Fe, and then where? Any can't miss places anyone would suggest from hotels to food to outdoor hiking, birding, etc would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. p.s. Heard Bisbee is great, is it worth the trip? Any particular pueblo (besides Taos - one of the group has been there)?

beach_dweller

Santa Fe
Taos (the enchanted circle drive is great)
Bandalier National Monument
Acoma

easytraveler

Do you enjoy driving?

I do and love to explore new areas.

If that's what you'd like to do, I'd suggest heading south on I-25 then cut over to Ruidos and Cloudcroft, then spend some time at White Sands. Spend the night in Las Cruces.

Next day, You have a choice of going either east to Carlsbad Caverns or west to Silver City and the Gila Forest.

A lot of desert driving, so be sure your car is in god shape and that you have plenty of waer in your car.

Beautiful country out there. Love the sunsets! Enjoy!

easytraveler

Sorry for the typos: That's Ruidoso, care in "good" shape, and "water".

eveningcrane

Hi

Birding - the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is in San Antonio NM (exit 139 on I-25, a little over hour south of ABQ). In winter it is a great place to see snow geese and sandhill cranes but it is a great birding habitat year round. The following is a link to the friends page enumerating the nesting birds (with hints where to look for them)

http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/Se...ngNesting.html

In San Antonio itself are two restaurants noted for their green chile cheeseburgers - The Owl and the Buckhorn. The Owl Bar and Grill served many of the scientists who were working on the Manhattan Project and some of them stayed there.. The Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was detonated, is about an hour away (closed to the public except for two days a year)

http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archi...ity/index.html

The Owl has the history but I prefer the Buckhorn's burgers (larger, moister) but both are good. The little gas station in town has wonderful fudge and good ice cream cones.

Pueblos:

The Acoma Sky Pueblo is a little over an hour west of ABQ. I really recommend visiting this pueblo. It sits atop a butte, with amazing views.

http://sccc.acomaskycity.org/

The San Ildefonso Pueblo is just a little north west of Santa Fe. It is a smaller pueblo, but nice to walk around. Perhaps the most famous of the Indian potters, Maria Poveka Martinez came from this pueblo, which is noted for it's matte and polished black on black pottery (shopping opportunities are available at the pueblo).

http://www.eightnorthern.org/index.c...so_pueblo.html

and of course the Taos Pueblo.

Eating:

Santa Fe

- The Shed is a great atmospheric place for new mexican cuisine

http://www.sfshed.com/home.html

- Cafe Pasqual's - I really like their food

http://www.pasquals.com/

-Bobcat Bites - for green chile cheese burgers - the restaurant is really small - go during off hours or be prepared to wait.

http://www.bobcatbite.com/

here a link to a youtube video about bobcat bites

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD2cI1i2vqQ

It's a hoot and the burgers are really good

Other places

Bandelier National Monument - wonderful restored Anasazi ruins. You can climb up a series of ladders to a restored kiva up in a cliff cave. Snack bar has good green chile cheese fries (are you detecting a pattern here)

http://www.americansouthwest.net/new..._monument.html

Between ABQ and Santa Fe, the back route is the Turquoise trail. The drive up top of Sandia Peak is said to have great views (haven't done that yet), Madrid is the touristy town (the mine shaft tavern has quite reasonable food ) but for an unusual exploration, stop in Cerillos which has all the atmosphere of a ghost town, but people live there (some very interesting and talented people, in fact). There is a little petting zoo / trading post / mining museum there also.

http://www.turquoisetrail.org/

Birding Again

You can hike up to the Hawk Watch spring observation area in the Sandia Mountains near ABQ

here is a link to the brochure:

http://tiny.cc/m7qlw

and there website

http://www.hawkwatch.org/home/index....esearch-Sites/

Well this is all for now

Have a great trip!

Pamela

luvtravl

Terrific info. Now I want to go to New Mexico too!

ElendilPickle

Bisbee is in Arizona - not exactly a day trip.

You could take the high road from Santa Fe to Taos and the other road back. It's a beautiful drive.

Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos has great hikes and old Native American ruins.

Bosque del Apache is more like two hours south of Albuquerque, but it is a good place to see birds.

There are a ton of threads here on good restaurants. What kinds of food do you like, and what is your general budget?

Lee Ann

joy2mom

Looking for healthy food, organic, etc. Also looking for a place near Santa Fe to spend a special more pricey anniversary - preferably with a great view and perhaps music? Thanks for any help

joy2mom

Thank you all so very much for taking the time to send all the great ideas! Hope I can take most of them in!