Albuquerque

For some reason, I couldn't stop mispronouncing the name of the city as "Albu-quirky", and so it proved to be.  Albuquerque seems to be a place where people feel comfortable expressing themselves in a way that feels unaffected by a pressure to conform. 

For reasons I can't remember, we chose to stay in a home in the Northeast suburbs of Albuquerque.  The neighborhood, one of the wealthiest in the city, consisted of large lots, occupied mostly with beautiful pueblo revival-style homes. 

It was an interesting neighborhood.  Unlike other wealthy suburban areas I've seen, its residents seemed largely unconcerned about landscaping. Very few of the $1M+ homes had elegant landscaping, and even the yards that were well taken care of felt. . .eclectic?  A couple residents had turned their front yards into spaces to keep their farm animals.  The owner of our property seemed to be doing his best to acquire as many plants as possible, both inside and outside.  One home had a ski lift chair welded onto a post in the front yard, and one garage door proudly proclaimed "This house's wine is Jägermeister".  Some residents just hadn't bothered, so their yards were mostly dirt and tumbleweeds.  My sweet mom generously described it as "zero scaping". 

The home we stayed in was one of several sectioned off areas of a single property.  We had two bedrooms, two en suite bathrooms, a connected kitchen/living area, and a private courtyard with a hot tub.  There was also about 200 square feet of closed-in porch, which was largely unusable due to the dozens of potted plants that filled every nook and cranny.  A ladder on the porch led to a cramped loft area which we did not use.  The porch also housed a two-person sauna, which we paid an extra $75 to use at our convenience.

The amenities were pretty great.  In addition to the hot tub and sauna, we enjoyed the air fryer, the lazy boys with the built-in trays, the massage chair, the brand new state-of-the-art washer and dryer, and the bidet that, in addition to performing normal bidet activities, had a nightlight and a heated toilet seat.  There's nothing like a warm enema to start the day!

The drawbacks were the indoor plants, which aggravated my allergies a LOT, a very hard bed, and a single minisplit unit that was placed in the kitchen, making it very hard to heat and/or cool the bedrooms.  We got a mattress topper and played with a combination of ceiling fans and open windows to address the latter two issues, but I couldn't get my allergies under control, which ultimately made Albuquerque a tough stay for me.  For others considering a visit, Albuquerque is supposed to be one of the best cities for allergy sufferers, so don't be discouraged!

When I shared with friends that I was in Albuquerque, I heard from many that it was a place people loved, and we got some great suggestions for things to do. In what I came to think of as typical "Albu-quirky" fashion, the activities varied pretty widely.  There probably aren't a lot of places where you can go to a Talib Kweli concert on Friday night and then hike through a sacred Native American monument the next day. 

These are our "don't miss" favorite things:

Best Bar: Happy Accidents, Nob Hill

This Bob Ross-themed bar has won a bunch of awards.  The drinks and snacks are original and tasty.  Their lengthy list of non-alcoholic cocktails was appealing enough to prevent me from day drinking.  Elliott and I also shared the "Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Popcorn". 

Best Hike: Tent Rocks

The Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is about an hour north of Albuquerque, and it is an absolute treasure.  Make sure you book your time slot in advance.  The ranger will escort you to the parking area, and the hike to the designated peak is a 3-4 mile round trip.  These natural structures are so unique that it's easy to imagine you're on another planet.  It would be the perfect place to film a space western (come on Firefly reboot!!). 

Best Sports Experience: New Mexico United Game

While the facility is older and the soccer team shares it with a baseball team, you can tell that the New Mexico United fans LOVE their team.  I wasn't expecting much, but it was really fun watching them win.

Best Albu-quirky activity: The Painted Lady and Freddy Kruger Bingo

This was so random.  If you're in Albuquerque, make sure you check out The Painted Lady Bar.  It hosts a lot of unique activities.  Elliott and I attended a screening of the original Freddy Kruger movie, where each attendee was given a bingo card to play during the movie.  Each space described a scene from the move ("a crucifix falls from the wall", "a minor character dies", etc.), and I got the first bingo!  The small crowd that was there really got into it.

Best Family Activity: Sandia Tramway

This is just the coolest.  I didn't feel like it started auspiciously - we were basically crammed into the tram car.  But the ride to the top was about as thrilling as a slow-moving vehicle can possibly be.  If I could do it over again, I would have spent the day at the peak of the mountain, exploring the hiking trails and relaxing at the restaurant.  We did an abbreviated version of both.  The highlights were the 10/10 views, the death wish antics of a paraglider, and the excellent food.  Again, if I have the chance to return, I would book a reservation at the "fine dining" part of the restaurant, which I think includes a view of the sun setting over Albuquerque. 

Best Restaurant: Coda Bakery

This Vietnamese bakery and sandwich shop had the best food of anywhere we ate.  It was such an interesting fusion of Vietnamese and New Mexican staples.  At least a third of the patrons were Asian in a city with very few Asians, if that tells you anything.

Runner Up Best Restaurant: Sawmill Food Hall

We popped in for ice cream, but this place was SO cool that I wanted to stay for second dinner.  There are several food halls in Albuquerque, but this one seemed like the most high end option.

Best Of Bougie: Tea at La Quinta at Los Poblanos

Los Poblanos is a beautiful hotel and venue set on acres of lavender fields and working farmland.  It's part of a growing agrotourism trend where a restaurant attempts to source all its ingredients from the adjacent farm or local area.  Although it's a totally different vibe and scale, the aesthetics kind of reminded me of a more down-to-earth version of French Lick or the Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels, Maryland.  You know the sort - where the accommodations are set among beautifully maintained grounds, and weddings cost a fortune.  There's also a "wellness yurt", which I don't think French Lick or Perry Cabin boasts.  We enjoyed afternoon tea in a beautiful dining room adjacent to an old-fashioned library.  The tea service was so lovely that even Elliott drank it, and the accompanying pastries and sandwiches were delicious. 

Overrated:

Petroglyphs

There are multiple sites around Albuquerque where you can view petroglyphs, which are carvings on volcanic rocks.  They're fine.  I get that they are old (300-700 years old), and it's fun to think about why people stopped and took the time to create them.  However, when you consider that Michelangelo carved the statue of David during the same time period, you start to wonder if they might just be the 16th century version of graffiti. 

Lobo Theatre - We went to see a screening of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' in this historic Art Deco theater.  The architecture is historic, but not overly expressive. If you're a big fan of a movie they are showing, give it a shot.  If it's part of one of the "brunch and a movie" events, brunch elsewhere.  Afterwards, check out the well-curated Buffalo Exchange next door. 

New Mexican Food - Please forgive me, but I just couldn't get into New Mexican food.  I probably ordered the wrong things, but it all just seemed like soupier Tex Mex. 

Next stop: Palm Springs!