This past weekend we had some some friends come visit us from Georgia. Thanks to the fact that Andrew's dad works for Delta, they were able to get pretty good deals on tickets. (Have I mentioned the fact that it's about $500 full price to fly a round trip from ABQ to ATL? Yeah, ridiculous.) Having them out here was not only awesome because we had an opportunity to visit, but also because it gave us an excuse to explore Albuquerque a little.
The first night they were here we hit up the Albuquerque River of Lights down Central at the botanical gardens (side note: Central, the main road that connects to the street leading to the base, is also Historic Route 66, though I have no idea how Route 66 works because we've also stumbled upon it where it doesn't seem it could lead into Central...). It's the same kind of deal as any one of those walking light tours, but it was a fun, if kind of kitch-y, thing to do with friends. I forgot to take my camera with me, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that this particular tour was very typical New Mexican, with scorpions, dinosaurs, and wolves in addition to the usual light fare of toys, trains, and hummingbirds (?). Not to mention the insect castle...
The plan for Saturday was to get some real Mexican food and then either do the Sandia Peak Tramway or head to Old Town. So our first stop was the Bumble Bee Grill, which we pass all the time and is ranked in the top 10 best Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque. Yum.
The man working behind the counter (who I'm guessing was also the owner) was very nice, offering a military discount not only to me and the hubs, but to our friends as well, which is almost unheard of. As it turns out, he used to work for Chick-fil-a and had been to Atlanta a time or two.
One of the more unique things about the grill was that lamb was an option for meat. Being a lover of gyros, I went for the lamb burrito, but actually didn't love it-I think mentally lamb and salsa just don't mix for me. Still, it was pretty good, and the free chip and salsa bar was especially fantastic for this lover of salsas. Definitely worth trying out, and I'm sure we'll be back.
Sandia Peak was a more appealing option to our friends over Old Town, but not wanting to shell out the $40 per couple, we decided to just drive towards the mountains and see where we ended up. I'd heard about the Turquoise Trail (a scenic route that leads from Albuquerque to Santa Fe) from about a million people (read: three), so we took it and ended up getting off to go up to Sandia Crest. It was so. beautiful. While the rest of us would have been content to stop at any number of the hiking areas on the way up, Andrew was determined to make it to the top, and make it to the top we did.
We took so many awesome pictures, but I'm a little hesitant to show them because I look SO HUGE. I'm not exaggerating when I say I was wearing five layers (not including underthings) and it was still cold up there. An unfortunate side effect of trying to be warm: hunchback. And hunch...front...
Over the city
The next morning, before we took them to the airport, we decided to try out Frontier restaurant across from the University of New Mexico campus. We'd actually been recommended this place by another pilot via Andrew's dad, but had been hesitant to try it because the reviews were only OK. It was really, really good. The environment was a mix between the Varisty and Waffle House. You took your seats and waited for your number to pop up on a screen after you got in line to order. It was kind of chaotic on a Sunday morning, but the food was delicious. I tried carne adovada for the first time, which is a kind of pulled pork in hot sauce (at least that's what it tasted like to me). It didn't really mesh well with my breakfast foods, but it was pretty good-I think next time I'll stick to bacon :)
Overall, we had a really good time exploring the city a little with friends, and we have a much better idea of where to take people when they come to visit (that's an open invitation-come visit us!). I'm excited to try to explore more of the night life (specifically, there are a couple of really pretty posh looking clubs I'd like to venture into) and I still really want to see Old Town. But I no longer feel completely new to the city.
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