Day Trips from Albuquerque Part I: Northern Lights

Day trips from Albuquerque are a perfect way to experience the best of both worlds in New Mexico. Staying in downtown Albuquerque offers a wide selection of dining, shopping and nightlife options by night, while providing a central location from which to explore the myriad activities the Land of Enchantment has to offer by day. This four-part series will provide ideas for every type of traveler wishing to discover the unending delights of this state.

Less than an hour’s drive northwest of Albuquerque is New Mexico’s state capital, Santa Fe.  But since it’s best explored on foot, consider leaving your car behind for the day and taking the New Mexico Rail Runner Express from downtown for a 90 minute ride through the Rio Grande Valley up to the nation’s oldest capital.

The Plaza is the best place to begin your exploration of this city rich in history. The Spanish settlers built their homes here in 1610,with the following centuries seeing riots, revolts, and respite by travelers from the Santa Fe Trail. A great city for history buffs, Santa Fe also boasts the nation’s oldest public building in continuous use, the oldest church, and the oldest house in the United States. But you don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy Santa Fe! In all directions from the Plaza, shoppers, art lovers, and food connoisseurs can find their fill of treasures by spending a day in the city of ‘Holy Faith.’

If you’re in the mood to combine human history with hiking, then a visit to Bandelier National Monument is the perfect place to go. Approximately 2 hours north of Albuquerque, this park’s human history dates back over 10,000 years, where you will find petroglyphs, ancient dwellings, and old masonry walls. With over 33,000 acres of preserved land, there is plenty of hiking, camping, boating, and picnicking opportunities, as well as interpretive programs and even Opera on the Rocks!

If geological history is your thing, or you’re simply looking for more breathtaking hiking trails, then head to Kasha-KatuweTent RocksNational Monument. A joint venture between the Cochiti Pueblo and the Bureau of Land Management, this area is dotted by tall spires of volcanic ash that were formed from eruptions that occurred6 -7 million years ago. And as with any outdoor adventure in New Mexico, don’t forget your sturdy shoes, sunscreen, and plenty of water.

Discover All Good and Tasty Things in New Mexico

With all good things comes both commonality and uniqueness. A taxicab driver in Manhattan and a Masai warrior in Kenya can both be watching the full moon rise, and yet geography and culture lend themselves to a different experience.

So it goes with New Mexican cuisine. Influenced by Spanish, Mediterranean, Mexican, Pueblo Native American and Cowboy Chuckwagon cultures (according to Clyde Casey in the 1994 issue of New Mexico Cooking), much of New Mexico’s food bears a common resemblance to other dishes found throughout the world. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that the New Mexico chile is a ubiquitous staple, garnishing almost every dish imaginable, from burritos to bagels, huevos rancheros to hamburgers, and pizza to posole.

It should come as no surprise then that the chile is New Mexico’s largest agricultural crop, and can be green or red, depending on when they’re picked (hint: green is hotter than red!). In fact, New Mexico is the only state with an official question – “Red or green?” And in 1983, the official spelling of ‘chile’ was entered into the U.S. Congressional record, with the state senator calling it a “magical and life-giving fruit.”

In addition to chiles, New Mexican gastronomy includes copious amounts of shredded iceberg lettuce and tomatoes, as well as sopaipillas dripping with honey. What is largely absent is the Tex-Mex use of sour cream, and the Cal-Mex use of guacamole. This is because of early lack of refrigeration in New Mexico, and the fact that avocados can’t be grown naturally in the southwestern dessert climate.

Another staple to the New Mexican diet is the tortilla. The bread of choice for New Mexicans, it can be slathered with peanut butter, or drizzled with melted cheese. Even chocolate sauce is used as a common topping on this thick and chewy flour flatbread. Beans and corn or papas (fried potatoes) and calabacitas (mixture of squash, onions and spices) complete the basic ingredients of New Mexican cuisine, providing basic nutrition and a delicious addition to chile sauce of any kind!

And these, my friends, are all good (and tasty) things!