New Mexico! Same Me!
I'm still pruned from all the soaking.
Our first anniversary trip was a banger.
In the throes of the green card process, we cannot leave the country. But you truly don’t have to because New Mexico feels like another fucking planet. We had a magical, serene, wonderful little vacation and if I can shout into the vortex, it will be to encourage anyone to replicate this trip.
The basics!
There is no good flight path from anywhere. It was as expensive and inconvenient as a trip to Europe. Whatever. Do it anyways. There are enough pictures of that Hilary Duff fountain in Rome.
New Mexico was a gut buster. We struggled to find menu items that didn’t feel like a blowout. There’s so much deliciousness to be had but the portions are huge and it was hard not to feel physically overwhelmed. Bring tums.
Time of year: we went in April and it was perfect. Ski season was over (not bothered), so no crowds and it wasn’t hot and it was just so perfect.
DAY 1: Arrive hungry
Arrive HUNGRY to Albuquerquee, head straight to the indian pueblo cultural center for lunch and a look. Skip the kool-aid pickles. Get the prime rib fry bread dip. Yum.
Have a wander around the museum and acquaint yourself with Pueblo culture. Leave with a new appreciation of New Mexico that will grow exponentially. Not to be a twat, but acquaint oneself with Pueblo culture, the people, the land will make everything else on this trip hit a little deeper. Plus we gotta walk off that fry bread.
Check in to the Hotel Zazz. It’s modest but adorable. We told the front desk we were celebrating our first anniversary and ten minutes after we checked in, there was a knock on our door. They brought us chocolates and a hand-written congratulations card. Swoon. We took a quick little dip in the pool before heading out for adventure in Old Town.
We came for the rattlesnake museum. I also bought some sage -scented soaps that perfumed my suitcase for the rest of the trip, adding a dreamy touch to every stop. We had a late afternoon white wine in the square then went back to the hotel for a costume change.
Hotel Zazz has an incredible on-site cocktail bar. I had a coconut milk clarified punch with tequila that I still think about.
For dinner, we drove 20 minutes across the Rio Grande, to a James Beard–nominated Oaxacan spot: La Guelaguetza (816 Old Coors Dr. SW).
Decor: dentist waiting room
Service: caring but criminal. Everyone was so nice in there, but the food took 90 minutes and the chairs sucked. Roy threatened to bounce twice.
Food: best meal of the trip. We ordered the specialty: pizza birria—basically a giant $22 quesadilla topped with guac, sour cream, cilantro, and a side of beefy jus.
It was transcendent.
Okay! Day 2! We’re going to space. Drive to White Sands 3.25 hours.
We left at 8 AM and got the first pastries at Ihatov: green cheddar croissant and a sourdough cinnamon roll. We laughed out loud when we bit in. They were so ridiculously good. The music was bopping and the views on the way out of town were unthinkable– huge blue sky and expanses. Vacation activated.
Got a coffee in Truth or Consequences because I love oddities. It was a pretty normal town, surprisingly.
We stopped in Hatch, New Mexico, the sacred home of the chile that brought us to New Mexico. We grabbed veggie enchiladas at a forgettable Mexican spot, then hit up one of the roadside shops for Hatch chile merch. I’m going to say it: Hatch chilies are my favorite vegetable.
White Sands was mind blowing! It felt like outer space with miles of white sand for the eyes to see. We did the Dune Life Nature Trail, a 1.1-mile loop and the Interdune Boardwalk, which is 0.4 miles. Short show, but it was HOT and the sand was like hiking on powdered sugar.
The White Sands National Park has one of the best gift shops. Roy didn’t let me buy the Pendleton White Sands blanket, but he probably won’t notice it folded on the edge of our bed later. We love you, Roy!
Another 1.5 hours in the car. We listened to Case 63 with Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac which made the drive fly by. The story is surreal and futuristic, which paired perfectly with the stark, otherworldly landscape. It was truly a perfect match for the scenery, which— meet me in the next paragraph.
The views were shocking. I can hardly muster a description beyond ‘stunning’. I don’t have the verbal tools. Vast expanses of jaw-dropping flats, rocky mountains covered in succulents and sage bushes. I was totally flabbergasted. I had a frame of reference from previous trips to the American Southwest but watching my husband’s little English mind explode over and over again was one of the trip’s treasures.
Arrived in El Paso at a spendy hotel right in town. Walked down the street for a big, spendy Texas ribeye at Weso. Turned the A/C way down, put on the hotel robe, and fell asleep watching Adult Swim commercials.
If I had more time, I’d hit up the Luchesse outlet to meet my buddy Juan in person. Shout out to Juan, who sells me outlet boots over Facebook.
If I had more energy, I’d have made Roy take me line dancing.
Day three! Guadalupe National Park and a really fun night in Carlsbad.
Hit the road early. The best part of hiking is getting on with it and getting over it. Starbucks egg bites and backpack jerky sufficed after that piggy dinner I ate. Piggy.
2 hours of more gorgeous scenery and audio delight to Guadalupe National Park.
Originally, we wanted to do the El Capitan trail, but a lazy morning, a sneaky time zone change, and a very serious Park Ranger warned against a late start so we pivoted. I’ve seen too much true crime to disobey the ranger.
We did the 4 mile Devil’s Hall trail instead. It was SO GOOD. Rocks are sweet, dude.
Finish it.
40 minutes and some Case 63 plot twists later, we arrived in Carlsbad. This hotel was in a beautiful, historic bank.
We wandered over to this brewery, where an Irish gentleman was reading out loud as part of some adult story hour. We got to chatting with the owner, who works during the day as a geologist. (Rocks are sweet, dude!)
Down the street, Yellow Brix had an incredible hatch chili fettuccine. After the hike, the socializing, and the heavy feed, we slept hard.
Day 4: Caverns, aliens, 5.5 hour drive. Carlsbad to Taos
2 hour drive to Roswell for the ALIEN MUSEUM. I won’t deign to review it here and color your experience. Suffice to say it is unmissable. Get a taco salad in town and swing by the UFO Wal-Mart if you need provisions.
Back on the road for the longest haul of the trip—Roswell to Taos. This was hands-down the most dramatic, scenic drive we had.
Desert flats became rivers, creeks, and mountains. The colors changed with the elevation. The sky did some true New Mexico magic. I may have overpacked this trip itinerary in hindsight, but the drives themselves were part of the experience. With a great podcast playing, it felt like what I’m now officially calling Drive-By Cinema™. (Aubrey, hush)
Taos is gorgeous. Julia Roberts has a house here.
We got upgraded to the Southwest Villa at HACIENDA DEL SOL and cried a little watching a beautiful sunset. We went to the grocery store for some wine, and pick up a sesame-crusted pizza at Pizza Out Back.* We lit fire, did some laundry and watched a scary movie for the best night of the trip.
In the morning, we got straight into the hotel hot tub with a coffee before its in-house breakfast service and cried a little more for the sunrise.
*Note: clearly by this time I am in vacation mode, but I swear this was the best pizza of my year. We were living in Brooklyn. It was so nutty and wonderful and crunchy.
Ojo Caliente! Day 5 is lush
Start the day with a shop in town. Given it’s an anniversary, we got some grown up art to commemorate the trip from a real gallery. We also got some grown up gummies for later.
Taos Pueblo was unfortunately closed, but I’d have loved to see it. We breezed through the Earthship Biotecture. It was cool! A little stinky.
We had a goooood long marvel at the Gorge.
We got some veggie sammies on the way to Ojo Caliente.
Ojo Caliente. Holy shit.
Yummy. Sexy. Meow.
This place.
We started with massages to shake off five days of road trip tightness. The scrub included blue corn and prickly pear, which felt both sacred and brunchy and totally of its place.
From there, it was a full surrender to the pools.
Each spring is fortified with different minerals, offering various supposed healing benefits. The best was the iron pool, which is 103 degrees and carbonated. Thrumming bubbies.
This was a heavenly day. We spent all day in the pools. We only got out for white wine and truffle fries at the hotel restaurant. We got straight back in and stargazed from the hot springs. Yum yum yum.
Day 6: Stay until Ojo Caliente kicks you out. On to Santa Fe.
Aubrey wakes up and goes to the 9 AM mindful morning yoga and has never felt more relaxed
We hit up Joseph’s Mine Trail. The trailhead was on the resort. It was 5 beautiful, flat miles of juniper bushes, succulents, then like— a cave made of sparkling pink granite.
It was like a quartzy dance room. Total magic.
We had a goodbye dip in the hot springs before driving to Santa Fe.
We got the Kachina Suite. It had a private garden and a gooood bath tub because there’s no such thing as too much soaking.
Hit the town!!!
Georgia O’Keefe museum. Roy bought an incredible suede embroidered jacket. I almost bought these but the husband/suitcase wouldn’t allow.
We went for dinner at Geronimo from coworker suggestion. It was splurgy and nice but not…well… I’d save it for tomorrow at Sazon and do something low-key in town instead.
Another day in Santa Fe.
But you’re at a culinary hotel! There’s a tasting menu breakfast. We fully went for it even though we had a lunch reservation. We spaced it out plenty.
We went back to the room to bathe (again) and read in bed. And then—it started snowing. Out of nowhere. A full, delicate snowfall through the window on what had been a normal spring day. Just one more little miracle in a trip full of them.
We rolled into our reservation at Plants of the Southwest. an open barn structure in the back of a native-plant nursery with a set menu lunch. It was so fresh and wonderful– we could watch them make it while we sat. The juice was incredible.
We had an afternoon at Meow Wolf, an alternative art gallery with over 70 rooms of immersive installations. It’s surreal, chaotic, and designed to make you feel like a curious little kid in a dimension built by eccentric geniuses. NEat.
Straight into a rooftop happy hour in town before Sazon.
The mole sampler was divine. The black bean soup was the best of my life. It is really a celebration of New Mexico. Truly a perfect place. I’d go back over and over again.
Last day in Santa Fe
Hotel breakfast. Swoon.
One last soak. Book in at Ten thousand waves spa for a day pass.
We booked a private hour and a half in a soaking tub for $75 for 90 minutes. There was the hot tub, a cold plunge, a giant sauna, and a shower and changing area in a private little terrace. It felt like Japan.
We ate some skewers and drank tea at the izakaya restaurant.
We hit Canyon Road in town for the last bit of shopping and sightseeing, then stopped in at the Rosewood Hotel for a happy hour.
I can’t remember what we had for dinner, which means we should have tried to go back to Sazon.
Last day. Head to ABQ for some last magic.
BALLOON RIDE. Albuquerque is famous for its hot air balloon culture—some locals even commute to work this way (and sometimes land a mile off if the wind gets sassy). Drifting above the desert in that big patchwork bubble was surreal and serene. And slightly voyeuristic—you get an unexpectedly intimate view of people’s backyards and patio furniture. I loved it.
We had our last lunch at Los Poblanos because Martha Stewart likes it there. We walked through the lavender farms before we headed to the airport.
And that’s the trip. A week of otherworldly landscapes, green chile on everything, starry soaks, joyful weirdness, and slow, dreamy drives.
If you’re thinking about New Mexico: go.
If you’re not thinking about New Mexico: start.