Albuquerque, New Mexico

www.accordingtowillyb.com

Transcript

0:04

Well buckle up buttercup. It's time to rise and shine. Travelers, it's time for the according to Willie B Podcast and hosted by yours truly Will. Bryce and I will be your tour guide for the next half hour, and today I'm going to take you on a little mental tour through Albuquerque, New Mexico, one of my actually favorite states to visit. But before I do, I want to share. Two emails with you that I received this last week about the Gratitude Bacon, and if you missed it, just go back and listen to last week's episode and you'll find all, all about everything that you need to know about gratitude, bacon. Um, there was one lady, her name was Elizabeth, that wrote to me from the uk and the reason I chose this one was because she had made the comment of she didn't understand. Why US Americans had such an infatuation with bacon. Um, assured her. It's not all of us, it's mainly just me and a few million of my friends. But I digress. But I told her, I said, you know, uh. You guys have some of the most insane weight, ex weight, expanding pastries that have ever been created on this earth. So you're matching us, uh, tit for tat when it comes to the, uh, calorie, uh, deficit there. But she went on to say. That she did find it, uh, humorous, uh, about the gratitude bacon. She told me. She went on to tell me that I should cook gratitude bacon every single day. I tend to agree with her on that. Uh, but she did, when she went on to say that, you know, she really enjoyed this podcast and she's actually thinking of making a trip to the states on some of the suggestions that she's gotten on the last few episodes. So that was really cool. That was, uh. I really enjoyed hearing somebody say that I got overwhelmed with responses. Uh, I did answer each and every one of'em. I wish that I could literally spend a podcast telling you about every single one, but, you know, time constraints, we'd never get through it. And I'd wind up on a rabbit trail and we'd go down a rabbit hole, and that would be that. Uh, then there was a guy named Paul from Minnesota and he said. I didn't know that there was such thing as gratitude bacon. He said, I went to our local grocer and they didn't have any gratitude bacon. I went to the butcher. He also said, sorry, no gratitude bacon. And so then I went back and listened to the podcast and now I truly understand. And he said, I now cook gratitude bacon every single day. And I leave some out on the counter as a treat instead of apples in a bowl. Uh, I commend you, Paul. Uh, that was my response. Absolutely commend you. So just keep up cooking the bacon. You know, there's, right now there's no shortage. Uh, we may create one, but you know, Hey, uh, it's okay. Bacon is life. And bacon is love. All right. Enough for the rabbit hole. Uh, it was fun. Talking about that and seeing all the responses. I think I had somewhere around 264 emails on gratitude bacon. My goodness, that was insane. But it was a lot of fun. I laughed so hard reading some of those. Um, but you know, we'll share some more throughout the, throughout the next few weeks. Uh, okay, let's jump into Albuquerque, New Mexico. That's what you came here for, was to listen to your next. Travel idea. I will say that Albuquerque, New Mexico is absolutely one of my favorite places to visit, and I'll tell you why. Quite simply because of the Sandia Mountains. Now, if you don't know Sandia, uh, translate from Spanish to English is watermelon. Now, why would they call their mountain range the Sandia Mountains? Well, let me tell you when that. Sunset when that sun starts setting and it hits that mountain face, it turns beet red, just like watermelon, and it is absolutely gorgeous. It's one of the most cool. Things, natural phenomenon I've, I've ever seen. And you could just, if I, I wish I had a home up in the mountains where I could just sit and see the sunset every day reflecting off the Sandia Mountains. Uh, absolute. That's absolutely one of my favorite things about New Mexico. But then you're sitting there thinking to yourself, okay, well spill it. Because if New Mexico is one of your favorites, that means there's some good food there and you would be correct. The one question that you'll have to learn to answer, and I'm going to teach you in this episode how to answer it, is every meal, does it matter if it's breakfast, lunch, snack, whatever, uh, you're going to be asked, uh, red or green. And they're referring to the salsa because they make a red and a green salsa, and they'll ask you which one you want. I always say, yes, please. In other words, I want both. I want the red and the green. Why do I want, why do I have to choose? Um, I. You know, when I said something to someone the other day about, ah, I love New Mexico.'cause they have the, the, you have, they always have to choose between red and green. They're like, Christmas ornaments. I'm like, no, not Christmas ornaments. Salsa. Salsa is life just like bacon is. And when you're a foodie, you understand, but hey, I, I gotta tell you, their red and green salsa is absolutely phenomenal. But they take it a step further than that. I'm gonna, I'm gonna let you in on a secret here in a minute about their, because they grow, they're, they're well known for their hatch chilies, H-A-T-C-H. It is a, it almost kind of resembles like a poblano pepper in a way. But way more flavorful. And then they roast them, like you'll see trucks on the side of the road, they'll have this gas burner with this steel drum with holes in it, and they'll, man, they'll put like 25, 50 pounds of those peppers in there and it's turned by a motor and it just roast them. And the smell from roasting those peppers. If you could bottle that and make a cologne out of it. Wow. But now when it comes to their red and green salsa, yeah, that stuff's so good. You could put it on a bandaid. I said what? I said don't roll your eyebrows at me. Um, when you, if you haven't had it yet, then you don't know you need to go have it and then come back to me and be like, you know what? You're right. You can put that on a bandaid. That stuff is good. But you know, let's talk about what else there is to do. In the great state of New Mexico. And of course these are just, this is basically, I'm keeping it right at the Albuquerque area, if you will. Uh, we'll talk about Ruidoso for a little bit, but I. I wanted to kind of focus on Albuquerque because that's kind of the really, the neat place to go in my opinion there. There's so many cool places in New Mexico, but Albuquerque is one of my favorites and that's what I wanted to tell you about. So every year they have, if you like, hot air balloons, they have a hot air balloon festival and it starts the first weekend in October and runs. Uh, for nine days, and you'll see a, I think it's the largest hot air balloon in the US but you'll see well over 500 hot air balloons, and then they do it again at night, and they call it, instead of a rodeo, they call it a gleo. I didn't make up the name, so don't come at me with that. Um, but they are cool to see that many hot air balloons, uh, in the sky at one time. It's absolutely crazy. And you can find there's, there's different hot air balloon ride, um, attractions there that you can pay to go and ride in a hot air balloon. I, IU there was a time where I wanted to do that. As I've gotten older, I've gotten. Uh, let's call it smarter. And you know, even though I've gone skydiving and this and that and other, yeah, I've, I've wised up in my older age and I'm thinking, yeah, I, I just don't think I would bounce. So I'm gonna sit this one out, but it is cool. Uh, it would, I've heard how quiet it is when you get up there in that basket, uh, under that balloon. So, uh, it would have to be an absolute. Unreal experience, but you know what? I like watching them from the ground as well. There is also the Sandia. Peak Tramway. Now this is a cable car type, um, suspension, uh, ride that will take you some 2.7 miles up the mountainside. So you can literally see like. 11,000 square miles of New Mexico from that tramway. That is really cool. It's definitely something you want to put on your list. Now, New Mexico is not without culture. Uh, that is the other thing that I love about New Mexico. They are very, very big on culture. And you know, they have the Native American, uh, in, well they call it the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, and it's owned and operated by nine different pueblos and talk about a hands-on immersive experience. You just have to go to know what I'm talking about. It is something that you will never forget. And then they've also got a gift shop where they have a lot of the local Native American. Art of art and stuff that's done there locally. It is just so cool. It's almost like their gift shop's almost like a museum in itself. So, um, it's definitely worth checking out. Speaking of museums, I'm going to tell you about a place and it's a little off the beaten path. Uh, they're closed right now, I believe they're doing some renovations, but it's called the Apple Barn and it's about halfway up the mountain going towards Ruidoso. Now, I ran across this place a couple years ago by accident. I went to Albuquerque. I've been to Albuquerque probably at least a dozen or so times, and it was always for work. So I never really had a whole lot of time to do some of the things I wanted to do, but I digress. I had to make, I had to pay the bills. But there was a place called the Apple Barn, and it literally is in the middle of nowhere, which as are a lot of things in New Mexico. But this apple barn, they have an apple orchard. So you can imagine their gift shop is chock full of apple butter applesauce. Apple jelly. Apple cider. But they have, hold on, hold onto your hats. They have cherry cider. I had never had cherry cider. That was the most intense thing I had ever drank, drank in, in my entire life. That was, I, I don't even know how to describe it. Um, it, it's not like cherry juice. It's, it's, it's just this, it's got this sharpness to it, and it's followed by this sweetness. I'm telling you, if you go to Albuquerque, New Mexico, if you go to New Mexico, period, find somewhere that has cherry cider. That is the most incredible stuff you will ever drink in your life. I kid you not, but I lie to you. Not more than once and on purpose, unless I was being paid for it, but I'm just kidding. Um, they also have, uh, in Albuquerque, they have, they call it the bio park, BIO park. Um, there's a zoo, there's a botanical gardens, and. There is an aquarium, and the cool part about the bio park is each one of those areas has some really immersive hands-on exhibits. Um, it is, uh, you, you will come away with a, a, a different point of view of going to the zoo, going to botanical gardens, et cetera. It was just so cool. And their aquarium, uh, had a lot of hands on. Immersive, different exhibits that just really set, set the bar, in my opinion. They set the bar above your average aquarium, and I've been to a lot of aquariums, but they really set the bar, excuse me. I, I challenge you to go by and check that out. Um, there's, uh, if you're looking for something for adult fund, there is the Sandia, uh, resort and Casino. Um, it's actually a pretty. Pretty big place. Uh, they've got a huge hotel, uh, et cetera. If you're looking for a museum, and this one I did not go to, and I, I don't care how many emails you send me, I'm not going, I understand this, but here it is for those that. Care to go. It is the Rattlesnake Museum. No, thank you. I'm sorry. I don't care for no ropes. Uh, those electrical extension cords that, uh, yeah, no, not doing it care. Nothing about snakes unless they are. Uh, unless I have a pair of boots made out of them or I will eat rattlesnake. Uh, that's as close as I'm going to get one. It has to be fried and well fried to make sure it's not, you know, still, uh, a no rope. Because once a no broke, always a no broke. Sorry. Uh, but I have eaten rattlesnake. It's, it's not bad. It's um. Mm. A lot of people say, oh, it tastes like chicken. And, you know, I'm like, quit with everything tastes like chicken. It's like alligator. I love alligator. Alligator is one of my favorite meats. Um, but it's, it does not taste like chicken. Um, just because it's white meat, like chicken, that doesn't mean it tastes like chicken. Uh, it tastes like alligator. An alligator tastes delicious. So there's that. Um. But anyway, I do wanna mention some restaurants that are there here in a second, but I'll finish telling you a few more things that are there that you don't wanna miss out on, if you remember, or if you were a fan of the show, breaking Bad then, you know, Walter White's house in that, in that show is there in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Uh, so that's cool to drive by. Uh, there's also, if you're looking for nightlife, um. Well, actually, if you're looking for nightlife or breakfast, I, I know that sounds weird, but. Uh, the nightlife on Central Avenue is really cool. There's just a lot of different nightlife type venues on that, on that avenue. And, but if you go in early in the morning, there's a couple places there that serves a really good breakfast, and yes, they're going to ask you red or green and just remember they're not talking about Christmas presents or decorations. There's also, if you have time, this is really cool. Uh, but like I said, if you have the time and it's the New Mexico Rail Runner. It's a high speed rail. Now, if you like roller coasters, that thing is fun to ride. Uh, you can go from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. I forget the amount of time, but it is like really fast. It's, it's, it's insane. It's like being inside a rollercoaster. Um. I, I, I've ridden it and it is a blast. I'm like, they call this commuter train. This is fun. I would go to work every day just to ride the train. Can you come in today? Well, yes I can. I'll go ride the train. Um, I. So now I'm gonna talk to you about the food. So the first place I'm gonna tell you about is an oddity. Shocker. Huh? So it's called the Buckhorn Tavern, B-U-C-K-H-O-R-N, Tavern. And it is in a very small town. I don't even remember, I don't even know if you can call it a town. I don't even know if there is a town name there, but it's about halfway. Between Las Cruces, New Mexico and Albuquerque. So it's about an hour and 10, 15 minute drive from Albuquerque in the absolute positive middle of nowhere. When they came up with that phrase, they were describing this place because literally you will drive up on it and not even realize it. There's a post office there. And this cafe, that is it, and some tumbleweeds going across the road. The reason I mentioned the Buckhorn Tavern is if you were a Bobby Flay or are a Bobby Flay, I. Fan. You will know that Bobby Flay did a hamburger challenge there and he lost to this Buckhorn Tavern because they have the green chili cheeseburger using the, you guessed it, hatch green chilies. If you took the hatch green chilies off, what kind of cheeseburger is it? It's a cheeseburger. It's a good cheeseburger, don't get me wrong. But when you put that hatch green chili, they make like this, it's not a salsa. They just took the roasted green chilies and chopped'em up and they make like a, a chutney, I guess, if you will. And they put it on that burger, the flavors that come out of that burger. Or something out of a dream novel that I'm, I'm not making, I, you, you could laugh if you want to, but I'm telling you that was absolutely hands down one of the most intense, flavorful things I have ever eaten in my life, and it was worth that hour and some odd minute drive to go down there to it. I'm telling you. Uh, if I tell you that something's worth driving to, to go eat, you need to drive there and go eat that. Um, I'm, I'm telling you, it's just I still have visions of that burger. Um, there's some other places there's, uh, in, in Albuquerque there's a place called Sadie's, uh, S-A-D-I-E-S. Uh, they do lunch and dinner and very, very good. I think one of my absolute favorite places in New Mexico, if I was gonna have to vote on one, Sadie would have to be really up there. Uh, if you're looking for a good breakfast, um, with nostalgia, there's the 66 Diner, which is, uh, independently owned, uh, another uh, Mexican food restaurant.'cause there's a lot of Mexican food there. And it's not like the Tex-Mex, it's not like the. Uh, Mexican food that you're thinking of. This is, this is really different. It's, um, really authentic, uh, Mexican food and it's, um, from a different region. It's just really hits different and there's some very unique items on the menus in that area. And I'm telling you, man, it just hits different. That stuff is just absolutely phenomenal. And then. Don't forget to get red and green salsa. I'm telling you, I, and I keep reminding you, but you're still gonna go there and forget. And they're gonna, you're going to come back and you'll be like, I went to New Mexico and I had the red salsa. Or I went to New Mexico and I had the green salsa. I'll be like, did you not have both? No, I just had one. I'm like, well, that's the problem that I told you 10 times. Have both. Um, but there's that, if you're looking for a steak, uh, there is the Ranchers Club. I know it sounds a little kind of different, but I'm telling you, the Ranchers Club, if you're wanting something high end, a steak, a lamb chop, salmon, et cetera, this place is, is off the chain. Good. I'm telling you. Uh, and you will not be disappointed. Um. But that's one of the things that, so if, if you, like, if you go up towards the apple barn and go up to the mountains,'cause that, that's what I love about New Mexico. You can stay down in Albuquerque. And I say down because you, when you go to Ruidoso. You're going up the mountain and that's where your hunting is, that's where your skiing is. There's multiple ski lodges up there. Uh, there is multiple like rivers and streams to fish out of. Uh, if, if you're, uh, hiking, I mean, the list just goes on. Anything that you can think of to go do up in the mountains. That's where you go. You go up to Ruidoso and there's some, there's a street going down downtown Ruidoso, and most of the cafes and stuff on that street have like a, uh, let's call it a porch or a deck or something of that nature. And you can sit out while you're eating your lunch or your dinner, and you have the most incredible. View, looking down that mountain, I'm chilling you. It's, it makes the food taste twice as good, even though the food's already good, it makes it taste twice as good. Um, but going up to Ruidoso, that's, you'll pass the apple barn. Oh, see, I got down a rabbit hole and I forgot to tell you about the apple barn. Not only do they have like their little general store with the apple butter applesauce, yada, yada, yada. They have. A little, um, almost kind of like a miniature museum in the back, and it is very diverse. Probably one of the most diverse things I've ever seen. But it's very unique because it's this little handmade village and it goes in multiple rooms. And then there's some of the most. Unique oddities that you will see. Almost like it's, it's, I'll tell you what it reminds me of, it reminds me of going into a Ripley's, believe it or not. Uh, it's almost like they got some of the stuff that they were no longer using, and I'm not gonna say rejects, but definitely some oddities. Okay. It's like, well, that's. Different. You know, I mean it's just, it just was, but you know, they've got ice cream and brownies and, I mean, they're all just so much stuff in that little store. But like I said, they have the. Uh, they have an apple orchard. So, uh, you could, there's certain times of the season you could pick up fresh apples. Uh, a really quirky, unique place. It reminds me so much of some of the tourism, uh, kitschy kind of cheesy, uh, tourist attractions back in the late seventies, but definitely not to be missed. Uh, one thing, and you'll see it when you drive up, is there's this massive statue of a. Man with an apple head. So yeah, I, you know, I can't make this stuff up. I'm telling you, I something about when I travel, I, I find the weird stuff and, but it was a good weird, it was something that I've never forgotten. And it took me, uh, two, I'm gonna hate to admit this, but it took me three trips to be able to, to find it. I saw it on the first trip and then the second trip. I couldn't find it. And I went up the same exact road, but for certain some reason I couldn't find it. And then the third trip I went back, I'm like, all right, I'm gonna find this place. I know it exists. I'm not crazy. And sure enough, there it was. And I, I stopped and it was, it was absolutely worth the stop. Um, you don't want to miss that. But Albuquerque and Ruidoso, you could spend easily a long weekend there and have an absolute great time. It's great for a couple to have a getaway. It's great for families. There's so much to see and do. If you take family, if you have kiddos and you wanna take the kiddos, make sure that you go to Albuquerque and you take them to the bio park with the zoo and the gardens and the um, and the aquarium. Because they have so many different, uh, hands-on exhibits, uh, you, you will not be disappointed. I promise you they won't be disappointed as well. Uh, but that pretty much wraps up what I have for Albuquerque, and so we will have another episode next week right here, same time, same channel. We do have some additional, uh, traveling coming up, and so there is going to be some really cool content. Uh, over the next couple of months, I would say, I would venture to say through the end of the year, uh, there's so much travel between now and then. Uh, it, there's some really cool stuff coming up that you don't wanna miss as well as on. Uh, culinary Highway. Um, in two weeks we'll be in Philadelphia, shooting episodes of Culinary Highway in Philadelphia, shooting episodes of Culinary Highway in Atlantic City. Uh, just so much stuff coming up. I'm telling you, you don't wanna miss this. I'm trying to keep as much of this content fresh and up to date as I can for you guys because you know the amount of listeners that I have now. I want to make sure to keep. Producing the, the best content I possibly can. You know the address. If you have any thoughts, opinions, or suggestions, it's right there at according to willie b.com, or willing to according ah, but butcher up them words according to Willie B. At gmail.com. If you have any thoughts, don't forget to caffeinate and conquer. That is very important and we will have more news on the coffee coming back very, very soon. But until I see you again, have a great day and I'll see you next week. Bye-bye.