Albuquerque

The city of Albuquerque has an old town with lots of history and charm. The Old Town dates back to 1706, built by Spanish settlers in colonial Spanish style. In the center of Old Town, there is a church built in the 1700s, St Felipe de Neri. There is a gift shop at the church that is great for religious souvenirs at a reasonable price. In the middle of the plaza is a park with a small gazebo, which sometimes holds live musicians playing music. We saw them on a Saturday morning. We also used the gazebo as a picnic area when we got pizza from a restaurant around the corner. Saturday mornings are also when the plaza comes alive with craft vendors, live music and open shops. Shops close early, most by 5:30pm, a handful by 8pm. Across the street from the park is a Plaza called Plaza Don Luis. It is a cute plaza with small shops and bunches of red chilies hanging from the ceiling. We found a store near the front of the plaza that sold red and green chili cookies and peanut brittle. They were delicious! The plaza is also a good place for souvenir shopping.

Wandering about OldTown Albuquerque, NM
Wandering about OldTown Albuquerque, NM

Walking distance from Old Town is theNew Mexico Natural History Museum. We got free entry through our membership with San Jose Tech Museum, which is an ASTC museum member. Interesting exhibits included local dinosaurs found in the New Mexico area. For parents with young kids, there is a playground in the city park across the street. There is also free street parking around this city park.

Our last morning in New Mexico we spent at Petroglyph National Monument. Most of the petroglyphs here are believed to be from 1330 to 1600 A.D. There are over 25,000 petroglyphs over 17 miles of rock here. The Monument is located about 15-20 mins out of downtown Albuquerque. It is a good place for a short easy hike (1-2 miles) when you only have a couple of hours to spare. The kids had fun looking for ancient drawings (or grafiti) along the trail.

Website: Albuquerque, New Mexico