About a month ago Last year, we took advantage of a shared day off and headed up to spend the weekend in Albuquerque. It’s about a 3 and a half hour drive north of El Paso, and we made it our last long weekend at Fort Bliss. We crossed off a few more NPS sites, explored the original Route 66, and spent some time in one of New Mexico’s oldest cities.
Where we stayed in Albuquerque
We decided to take a long weekend at the very last minute, so we didn’t have a lot of hotel options. We found a deal through American Express at the Nativo Lodge. It’s a large, boutique hotel where many of the rooms have been decorated by local artists. It was also totally sold out the weekend we stayed, though I was surprised at how quiet it was. The room was comfortable, and the hotel has easy access to I-25.
Where we ate in Albuquerque
We grabbed lunch on Friday at Bourbon and Boots, a bar in the downtown area, to watch Virginia Tech play in the first round of the men’s basketball tournament. It sits on Historic Route 66. We split fried chile strips, loaded cheese fries, and the green chile brisket mac and cheese. The food was good, and service was really fast. Our next full meal was an early dinner on Saturday. We splurged a bit and tried Farina Pizzeria, one of the top rated pizza restaurants in the country. We split the Salsiccia and the Carni and then grabbed cannoli to go for dessert. It was a delicious meal with good service, if a bit pricey. On our way out of town Sunday morning, we stopped at Mimi’s Cafe. Mimi’s was one of our go-to breakfast spots in Colorado. We picked up a four-pack of muffins to enjoy on the drive back to Texas.
What we did in Albuquerque
We headed out in the morning and made it to Albuquerque before noon. The weather was great, so we drove to Petroglyph National Monument to explore and hiked the Boca Negra Canyon trail.
Next, we stopped at the Albuquerque Biological Park, where we strolled around the zoo. They have a great Cat Walk with all sorts of big cats. This is a great option for families with kids as it has lots of open park space in between the habitats. From there, we headed to the downtown area, ate lunch, and checked out part of the original Route 66.
After checking into our hotel, we drove over to the Sandia Peak Tramway. It was pretty packed, and we wound up waiting over an hour in line. But all’s well that ends well because we rode the tram up Sandia Peak during a beautiful sunset.
We got an early start Saturday and made our west on I-40. A mix-up on our GPS rearranged our day, so we stopped at the Ice Caves and Bandera Volcano first. This is a bit of a tourist trap where you can hike up an extinct volcano caldera and down into an underground ice cave. Was it a bit cheesy? Yes. Was it actually an interesting hike? Yes. If you’re already in the area or driving down NM 53, consider stopping.
From there, we continued down NM 53 to El Morro National Monument. We walked the Inscription Rock trail, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely a recommended stop. Then we popped back on I-40 and drove two exits to El Malpais National Monument. After exploring a few trails and overlooks, we drove back to town for an early dinner.
We woke up on Sunday morning and packed up. After a quick stop at Mimi’s Cafe, we navigated to three of the four sites of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. We picked up US 54 near Carrizozo and drove home to El Paso during a wind storm.
Have you ever visited Albuquerque?
