By Steve Bergsman
For the third year in a row, my wife and I embarked on a winter road trip. I know most people like to save their road trips for the summer months, but we have found there are certain joys about traveling America's highways in the winter. First, of course, is that everything you want to see and everywhere you want to stay is less crowded. Second, prices are often cheaper.
The big drawback is the weather, particularly in the states nearest to my own, Arizona. This year we decided to do a swing through southern New Mexico, which about a week before our departure was hit with a brutal snowstorm that closed some interstates. In mountain towns such as Ruidoso the snow was still deep, but at the lower elevations the bad weather was just something to talk about.
Our first stop was the town of Truth or Consequences, which is mostly famous for being renamed after the name of a game show in the 1950s. However, T-or-C boasts many things that are special, including one of the least-known historic lodges in America, the Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa. And it is, indeed, special. This small lodge on the edge of downtown T-or-C was built in 1929 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. I have no idea how the earlier decades treated Sierra Grande, but in recent years it was owned by a well-known chef from New York, who expanded the kitchen before closing it down.
Then one day in 2012 the founder of CNN and perhaps the largest landowner in America, Ted Turner, wandered in — not such a big surprise as the former media mogul owns two humongous ranches in the area that he has now opened up to ecotourism. Anyway, Turner took an immediate liking to the place and bought it. He has been slowly renovating and adding new features ever since.
The interesting thing about Sierra Grande and, in fact, most of the town of T-or-C, is that it is built over an underground thermal lake, and since ancient times peoples who have inhabited the area have come to take in the hot springs. Sierra Grande is really the best way to exploit this consequence — and that's the truth. The lodge boasts a congenial spa, where one can go for assorted treatments and massages, but most of all it has numerous private hot-spring baths.
The town also boasts the funky little Geronimo Springs Museum with a quality collection of Native American pottery among many assorted historical and just plain weird artifacts.
The most surprising thing about our visit to T-or-C was the cuisine, starting with the excellent (but pricey) kitchen at the Sierra Grande. We also had a good Italian meal at the Bella Luca and a tasty lunch of tacos and sopes at the Brazen Fox Taqueria.
T-or-C is also the starting point for those who want to see the future. Tours to Spaceport America begin in town. Spaceport America, carved out of the arid flatlands of central New Mexico, is what the name purports to be — a kind of airport for future space travel. You might think this is a joke, right? But it's not, and billions of dollars are being poured into Spaceport America, which not only boasts miles of runways but also futuristic terminals and hangars that are up and ready to be occupied.
Private space companies that have already put rockets into space and brought them back whole have used the spaceport. Richard Branson, the CEO of Virgin Galactic, has taken a major interest in the spaceport and is paying about $1 million a year to lease space there. The whole thing is still in its infancy, but who knows, spaceports across the globe might be hosting regular service to the moon colony sometime in the not-so-distant future.
After T-or-C we turned north, stopping at Fort Craig State Park to see the ruins of the adobe-walled fort that protected the frontier from, as it turned out, Confederate soldiers.
Our farthest town north was Socorro, which boasts a wonderful old Franciscan mission constructed in 1840. Going out of our comfort zone, we opted to stay at a bed and breakfast called the Socorro Old Town B&B. At first glance, the neighborhood appeared a bit dicey and the outside of the B&B not particularly inviting, but when we walked in we found it was a gorgeously renovated adobe home, probably more than a century old. The proprietors Terry and J.P. Moore live next door, and after making you feel at home they say goodnight and you don't see them again until the morning, when Terry cooks up a heap of breakfast (the muffins are amazing).
After breakfast we continued east, heading for the winter playground of Ruidoso, stopping midway at a state park called Valley of Fires Recreation Area for a quick mile hike around the lava fields.
About 25 years ago, when my two boys were young, we stayed a night at the Inn of the Mountain Gods, a small, picturesque lodge just outside of Ruidoso on the Mescalero Indian Reservation. A lot can happen in 25 years, and the inn is now an overwhelming resort with casino, golfing and concert hall.
Even though the Mescalero blew the "inn" up huge, the location, especially in winter, is still grand and the resort is handsomely decorated with Native American artwork. The signature restaurant is called Wendell's and it's very good and very pricey. Earlier in the day, we had met the sous chef of the restaurant and he recommended the lamb chops (from New Mexico lambs). My wife and I shared, and the meal was delicious. Always listen the sous chef.
We swung south again and stopped at the White Sands National Monument for another short hike, a two-miler up and down the soft white gypsum sands. Believe me this is one hike you want to do in winter because it's a scorcher there in the summer months
Before we returned to Arizona, we stayed in Las Cruces at the Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces, which bills itself as the premier Heritage Hotel in Southern New Mexico. The restaurant looked good, but we decided to head to Old Mesilla Village, a lovely historical community about five miles from Hotel Encanto. It's like a miniature Santa Fe with a lot of Billy the Kid history and very good restaurants. Poor Billy, he missed the good meals here, as he was taking his vittles at the local hoosegow.
WHEN YOU GO
Most visitors to New Mexico head to the northern towns of Santa Fe and Taos, so they miss the great landscape of high mountains and arid plains in the south. There's a lot of history and more than enough national and state parks to keep you busy for a week.
You can spend a week or two in southern New Mexico and never stay in a chain hotel. I have mentioned a few here but there are many more, so research carefully before you go: www.newmexico.org.
Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
The Geronimo Springs Museum in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, boasts a large collection of American Indian artifacts as well as other historical items. Photo courtesy of Steve Bergsman.
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