# So tell me about visiting New Mexico in the fall **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** vacation-travel\ **Created:** [June 10, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802 "2026-06-10T17:35:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/81 "2026-09-07T01:17:04Z")
Be warned, they’re aggressive little hunter-raptors though. When I lived in Las Cruces and Albuquerque, it would be quite common to see them zip by and snag a fence lizard off a bush or rock and run by gulping it with the lizard tail dangling. The Coyote’s mistake was thinking the roadrunner really _wanted_ the birdseed, instead, it was trolling him! ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/82 "2026-09-07T02:26:40Z")
Go quick before he changes the name. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/83 "2026-09-07T15:26:02Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > mr. romans did love that book about Kit Carson - as he put it “I had no idea he was such a fuckin’ badass!” I’m so glad he liked the book. It was enlightening on many levels. I hope it enhances your trip. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/84 "2026-09-22T01:59:31Z")
So we’re in New Mexico now. Impressions so far: - People are really nice and friendly! Dogs welcome in most places too. - Tourist tax in the downtown area of Santa Fe is particularly high - more so than in the places I’ve been in Europe. Go out a couple miles and you’ll find good food without having to wait in line or pay exorbitant prices. - I am definitely on team red when it comes to chile Liked: The Albuquerque Museum - the Route 66 exhibit was great, but so was the rest of their regular stuff. They even have a Wyeth, though the connection to NM was a bit tenuous - apparently there was a student from NM who came to him in PA study his egg tempera technique. Still it was cool to see. The Natural History Museum was pretty nice too, not the best one I’ve ever seen, but seeing all the stuff about the minerals found in NM was pretty interesting, and of course who doesn’t like dinosaurs? Sandia Peak Tramway was fun and quite scenic. Enjoyed Sawmill Market in Albuquerque and would go back. Had some great tacos there and wished we had some more time to go back and try some of the other places there. Did a [chocolate tasting tour](https://www.santafediscoverywalkingtours.com/) in Santa Fe that was quite informative and enjoyable. It was 3 hours and didn’t seem nearly that long. Chocolate first made it to NM in appoximately 1250 - who knew? Mixed reviews: The Turquoise Trail drive to Santa Fe was also quite scenic and very enjoyable, but Madrid wasn’t worth the stop to us. It’s … kinda dumpy, and seems to be where NM keeps all their leftover hippies. My husband was unimpressed by the art, so we cut that visit short, stopped in Cerillos for about an hour and then moved on. Opted out: Ended up not visiting the Georgia O’Keefe Museum because we aren’t big enough fans of her art to justify the admission fee. Taos tomorrow and then one more day in Santa Fe. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/85 "2026-09-22T02:31:28Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Thanks for clearing up the confusion. Yeah, it’s one of those things that creates _vast_ confusion by using the same term for profoundly different things. This thread being resurrected reminds me of my deep disappointment when ordering Mexican for the first time NM, ages ago. It was entirely a me thing, no slight on NM (though possibly on the restaurant). But when I was asked if I wanted green or red sauce on my enchiladas I said green which in my parochial experience at the time meant a tomatillo-based salsa verde. I was looking forward to that nice bright tomatillo flavor and was pretty disappointed by the blandish chile-based version I got. At the time I just figured it was a shitty restaurant and it may well have been (nothing worse than bland Mexican food - blander Salvadoran food can be fine because it is built that way, bland Mexican not so much IME). But it wasn’t until years later that I found out that tomatillo-based green sauces were just not the default in NM. Then stop calling it green sauce goddamnit 😃! ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/86 "2026-09-22T03:09:10Z")
I’ve appreciated that most of the NM dishes we’ve had here have come with avocados. Comes in real handy to cut the heat a bit when needed. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/87 "2026-09-22T03:33:06Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Enjoyed Sawmill Market in Albuquerque and would go back. Had some great tacos there and wished we had some more time to go back and try some of the other places there. I was checking but it looks like the place the Sawmill owners plan on opening in Santa Fe hasn’t opened yet. If you’re looking for like more artisanal pizzas and craft beer while you’re in Taos, there’s Taos Mesa Brewing. Also, you got a little lucky on the natural history museum. It just reopened after most of a year’s closure for renovations. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/88 "2026-09-22T03:56:13Z")
Well, don’t let anyone _else_ know… – looks furtively left and right – But I often make my homemade salsas and chile verde with tomatillos added in. Keep it on the down low. Actually, I just picked up my bushel of roasted Pueblo chiles this weekend to carry me through the year, and I’ll be visiting my folks in 'Cruces next month, so hopefully I’ll drown my cravings for a few months at least. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/89 "2026-09-22T08:46:43Z")
Tomatilllos are fine, I use them myself for my green chile posole, but green in NM means green chile. Any New Mexican would be disappointed in a green sauce that was mainly tomitillo. The worst is any green chile sauce that includes cream of mushroom soup. Mainly available at tourist restaurants, but man that shit sucks. Avoid it at all costs. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/90 "2026-09-22T23:45:10Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Would it be better to stay in Albuquerque or Santa Fe? Santa Fe. I lived in Taos for 7 years. The ‘scene’ is better in Santa Fe as is the food. They’re not that far apart - an hours drive at the most. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/91 "2026-09-23T01:32:27Z")
You may note that upthread we decided to do both. Glad we did. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/92 "2026-09-30T17:59:35Z")
OK - one more post here about what we did in NM. We took the Sky Railway Sunset Serenade trip in Santa Fe, and enjoyed it. It was a bit pricey, but they take you out into the desert and then stop the train so you can watch the sunset there. As it turns out, it was our only opportunity to see a good one, so glad we did it. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55561326389_dc1abe9b1a_b.jpg "PXL\_20260920\_010558659") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/197666118@N08/55561326389/in/dateposted-public/) Taos was definitely worth the drive - both the high road up and the low road back have their scenic views. We drove through downtown Taos, but didn’t stop - lots of very similar shops in Old Town Albuquerque and the Plaza in Santa Fe. We did stop at Taos Pueblo, which is magnificent - both the buildings and the scenery - and enjoyed chatting with a few of the people there. There are a number of bakeries and artist shops; you can get fry bread and whole loaves of regular bread that are baked in the adobe ovens there. I went into a shop called Real Indian Stuff (couldn’t resist) and we talked with the young shopkeeper. He and his mom make jewelry and sell it there, and his brother makes kachina dolls and paintings. He told us their dwelling was between 400 and 600 years old. Amazing. Imagine waking up to this scenery every day: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55561134146_e899686fb6_b.jpg "PXL\_20260922\_185504849") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/197666118@N08/55561134146/in/dateposted-public/) We also went over to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. No one is allowed to walk across it any more - we stopped at the parking area at the end of the bridge and the security guard there told us too many people were trying to jump, so it’s closed to pedestrians. However, across from the parking area are a couple trails and you can go over there to get some pretty amazing views. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55561243238_9915647f83_b.jpg "PXL\_20260922\_200830972") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/197666118@N08/55561243238/in/dateposted-public/) [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55561539775_6e4094571f_b.jpg "PXL\_20260922\_201043129") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/197666118@N08/55561539775/in/dateposted-public/) The day after we went to Taos, mr. romans went to play chess at the mall in Santa Fe while I did some shopping. The first challenge was finding the shops with stuff I could afford 🙂 but I did get a few little things. Our one disappointment was the Santa Fe Opera - not because of the concert (Robert Plant and Saving Grace) or the venue, but because of the weather - it rained all day long and then the fog closed in. Couldn’t see halfway across the parking lot, so didn’t get to see any of the great views you are supposed to be able to see from there. Robert Plant joked that he brought the Welsh weather with him! Quite a chilly concert. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/93 "2026-09-30T20:04:54Z")
The sky in that bottom pic! ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/94 "2026-09-30T20:40:41Z")
We saw some seriously awesome clouds out there. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802/95 "2026-09-30T21:12:05Z")
When I was at the Rio Grande Gorge bridge a few years ago, it was still open to pedestrians. I remember I only got a tenth of the way across before I had to turn around (I don’t do well with heights). But the scenery was amazing, and you definitely got some great photos! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-visiting-new-mexico-in-the-fall/1030802.md?page=4)