A day in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Being a local tourist - visiting the BioPark and Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico
April 22 is Earth Day, and also our wedding anniversary. We don’t have any real traditions, but when we can we like to spend the day doing something fun. The following day is Tony’s birthday, so sometimes we have to skip one day and play on the other. This year, Tony had a dental appointment on his birthday. So, we decided to go on an adventure on our anniversary.
Twenty years to celebrate
We are happy to be home right now, having a break from bing on the road, To that end, we didn’t want our adventure to keep us in the truck for too long. We thought of driving up to Sant Fe, New Mexico. However, we’ve been there on several occasions and even that hour in the truck seemed like a long way to drive for something we’ve already seen plenty of times.
Instead, we decided to head to the ABQ BioPark. This park is a combination of zoo, aquarium, and botanic gardens. Tingley Beach is also part of the park complex. We have not visited the beach because it is primarily a series of fishing ponds. Someday perhaps we will wander around the beach, just to say we’ve been there. I imagine it’s quite pretty there.
Albuquerque tourists
We still use our GPS to get around Albuquerque quite a bit, because although it’s been almost three years, we still don’t know our way around. I guess that’s the reality of traveling more than we stay home, huh?
So, we got directions to the Bio Park and headed that way. Now, here is a tip if you ever want to visit the zoo, aquarium, or botanic gardens in Albuquerque. The parking is in two different lots. We managed to park in the lot for the gardens and aquarium. We had not been to the zoo together yet (I went for a lunch party one day with a few girl friends) so that was where we planned to visit this day.
We renewed our annual membership (which we first purchased in 2022, and let lapse last year) then went to see the garden railroad in the gardens. After that, we planned to shuttle over to the zoo.
Not today, kids
Unfortunately, the shuttle to the zoo from where we were, wasn’t running that day. We discussed our options: drive to the other parking lot, walk the distance between parks, or go to the aquarium. Looking on the map, it appeared it was nearly three miles distance. We would have walked right through Tingley Beach, though!
We ended up choosing to stay at the aquarium.
Albuquerque Aquarium
The aquarium isn’t huge, but it’s got some really great displays. I always enjoy watching the jellyfish, the sea horses, and the otters. We also watched the bat rays for a while. Some aquariums have “petting tanks” but this aquarium warns to keep hands out of the water. There is a display on the historic fish that used to live in the Rio Grande, that aren’t there any more.
Last time we visited the aquarium, we ate in their cafe. We had fish & chips, which seems kind of odd in an aquarium. Tony wonders if the fish on display were freaked out that we were eating their cousins.
Lunch break
This time, we decide to go elsewhere for lunch. We really enjoy eating at the Frontier Restaurant, so we headed that direction - using the GPS of course! Part way there, we realized we were passing Old Town Albuquerque. We had never taken the time to visit Old Town, so we decided to check it out. I looked at the map on my phone and found a place that looked good for lunch. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was not open so we were looking for another option. Tony asked a security guard, who started telling us about Church Street Cafe. As we stood there, another group of people walked up and seconded the recommendation, adding “ask to sit on the patio.” Well, two recommendation at once sounded good so off we went!
Church Street Cafe really was a great recommendation. Tony ordered a margarita, which he said we really tasty. I got a taco salad and Tony got his regular, chili relent and enchilada combo. I The food arrived pretty quickly. I was super hungry so I was afraid the taco salad looked too small. I was wrong. I almost could not finish it, let alone the sopaipilla. But oh, that sopaipilla! I love to slather mine in honey but I also tried it plain. It was so soft and warm, and had a slight sweetness to it that ALMOST kept me from using the honey. Not quite, but almost.
Old Town Albuquerque exploration
With our tummies full (too full to be honest), we set out on foot to explore Old Town. We quickly learned that this is a location we could not fully explore in one day, let alone a day when it hurt to stand upright, so full were we. There are several plaza-type buildings with multiple shops and galleries in each. Not having any idea where to star, we went to the end of Church Street into the Poco A Poco (little by little) plaza. There, we saw several galleries, an oddities shop, a soap store… And a puzzle store called Puzzled, that had some really fascinating wooden jigsaw puzzles, games, and brain teasers. I started making my Christmas wish list in that store!
Speaking of Christmas, there is a Christmas store in Old Town. Of course we popped in, but seriously we were so full we couldn’t even shop.
It was definitely coffee time, though we were still full. We went into the building that housed - a gallery - and a coffee shop called Raven Blues and got iced cold brew coffees. We sat inside for a while enjoying our coffee.
Our next stop was the Breaking Bad Store. Tony watched the entire series several years ago, and I listened while working a jigsaw puzzle. So I was definitely aware of the basic plot of the show. And living near Albuquerque, it’s hard to not be aware of the show. Because it was filmed in Albuquerque, the city - or at least portions of the city - really celebrates the show.
In the store, we found so much memorabilia of the show. From aprons to dog bowls, stickers to prayer candles, there is something there for every shopper. Another couple came in, looking to buy some “blue crystal” which the store does carry - two forms of blue rock candy!
There is also a museum but we were getting tired so we decided to save that for another day. We absolutely plan to return, and explore some of the other plazas. There are also some tour starting points, like History and Ghost tours and - naturally - Breaking Bad Tours.
It was a good day
With that, we had enough of being on our feet for the day. As we headed toward home, we texted our local friends and invited them over for a beer. We stopped to pick up beer - and somehow also ended up with a cake. Well, after all, it was our anniversary. So for dinner, we had cake and beer. We think that was a fitting end to a fun anniversary day in Albuquerque.
