New Mexico

Some retirement towns sell the dream first and reveal the price later. This one flips that script. In…

By Miles Croft · Aug 29

A good bookstore can wreck your schedule in the best possible way. You tell yourself you will browse…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 29

A plain roadside store can be easy to pass without a second look. Then the smell of chile…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 29

You could drive past this place without giving the building a second look. That would be a mistake…

By Miles Croft · Aug 28

Lunch gets interesting fast when a deli serves sandwiches that look like they need both hands and a…

By Miles Croft · Aug 28

The best sandwich recommendation usually starts with someone saying, “You have to try this place.” That is exactly…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 28

A good walking town changes the pace of a trip almost immediately. You stop thinking about traffic and…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 28

A good Albuquerque diner can make you forget how long you have been sitting there. The coffee keeps…

By Miles Croft · Aug 27

The first surprise comes before dinner even reaches the table. Behind a modest entrance sits an old adobe…

By Miles Croft · Aug 27

The first lap around a buffet is half the fun. You look over the trays and make a…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 27

You do not have to cross the Atlantic to find church architecture that feels centuries removed from the…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 27

The first clue is the portion size. Plates arrive looking like somebody in the kitchen decided leftovers should…

By Miles Croft · Aug 24

You know the kind of store where you promise yourself you will only be inside for ten minutes?…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 24

Some quilt shops are quick stops. This one can turn into the reason you planned the drive. Set…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 24

Saturday mornings here have a way of pulling people in before they realize how long they have stayed.…

By Miles Croft · Aug 23

You know a vintage shop has you when you start saying, “I’ll check one more booth,” and keep…

By Miles Croft · Aug 23

The fun starts with one oversized page beside the river. Then you spot the next one farther down…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 23

Chain pizza has its place, especially on a busy night, but sometimes you want a pie that feels…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 23

A town this small should not make choosing lunch difficult. Then you arrive hungry. At 8,676 feet, this…

By Miles Croft · Aug 22

National praise can turn a restaurant into a tourist magnet almost overnight. Somehow, that has not happened here.…

By Miles Croft · Aug 22

You know a day trip is working when the drive itself starts feeling like part of the fun.…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 22

Sometimes the best excuse for a drive is knowing a good meal is waiting at the other end.…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 22

Good sourdough can make people do slightly unreasonable things, like drive farther than planned and buy more bread…

By Miles Croft · Aug 21

You know a stop is good when it makes you forget what time it is. That can happen…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 21

You could plan a road trip around scenery alone, but these stops give the drive something more to…

By Miles Croft · Aug 20

Some shops make it almost impossible to stick to the project you came in for. You walk through…

By Miles Croft · Aug 20

One look at this little roadside diner and you know it has stories to tell. The turquoise trim…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 20

Some shops make you want to browse. This one makes you want to cancel the rest of your…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 20

You know a flea market has your attention when “I’ll just look for a few minutes” stops sounding…

By Miles Croft · Aug 19

A neon diner sign can do a lot of talking before anyone steps through the door. Here, it…

By Miles Croft · Aug 19

Some grocery stores are built for speed. This one makes it surprisingly easy to forget you were ever…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 19

The best family adventures are often the ones that do not come with a painful price tag. A…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 19

The first glimpse of this lava field can stop a road trip conversation mid-sentence. Black rock pours across…

By Miles Croft · Aug 18

A summer hike can be going perfectly until you spot one tiny passenger crawling up your sock. That…

By Miles Croft · Aug 18

Some of the best camping weekends happen because you decide to go, not because you planned six months…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 18

Lunch was supposed to be simple. I planned to order a sandwich and head back out. That plan…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 18

You know a shop has your attention when a five-minute browse turns into an afternoon. That happened to…

By Miles Croft · Aug 17

It is hard not to smile when the welcome committee has four legs and absolutely no respect for…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 17

I knew I was in trouble the moment I started studying the buffet before I had finished my…

By Cassie Holloway · Aug 17