Landing in Las Cruces: April 30

From Austin to Las Cruces, we struck out west on 290 through Texas Hill Country and passed the LBJ Ranch along the banks of the Pedernales River. Continuing on I-10 through west Texas and the city of El Paso (just across the Rio Grande from the drug-war riddled Mexican town of Juarez), we ended up in Las Cruces, NM. late in the afternoon.

Peg was impressed with the wrought iron entry door to our hotel.

The historic village of Old Mesilla is close by, and we went there for a couple of meals, and for the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta. Many of the Fiesta dancers were outfitted in striking costumes.

Mesilla was a lively social center in the 1880s. People came from as far as Chihuahua and Tucson to attend bailes (dances), bullfights, cockfights and theatrical presentations. The town attracted more than its share of violence, and differences were often settled in the streets with guns. Outlaws such as Dutch Hubert, Nicolas Provencio and Billy the Kid frequented many of the bars and dances in town.

In April of 1881, Billy the Kid was tried at the Mesilla courthouse and sentenced to hang. He soon escaped from jail, but was shot to death by Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14.

More Cinco de Mayo dancers

Typical fiesta fare.
These lovely girls were eager to be photographed!

Exquisite costume details
Mariachi con gusto!

The famous chile rellenos at Chopes in La Mesa

It is a pleasant drive from Mesilla to La Mesa past farms and Pecan plantations, most of them owned by Stahmanns http://www.stahmanns.com/

Our primary purpose in visiting La Mesa was to visit Chopes, a quasi-ramshackle diner serving up incredible food. We both opted for the chile rellenos. They were delicious.

The Chopes bar and dining room are in separate buildings. Tip: If you prefer smoke free and quiet dining, try the dining room, shown in the background at the far side of the parking lot.

Diners enjoy cold beer with hot chile, in large or small bottles.

Colorful ristras at the Las Cruces market

Las Cruces Colonnade

Lively quartet at the market

A monk plays solo

Hotel breakfast area

Nachos at Si Senor, with four dips!

http://www.sisenorpdx.com/index.shtml

Just north of Las Cruces is Hatch, NM, home to the world's best chile peppers. We stopped here at the Chile Fanatic to stock up on dried chiles, ristras, and salsa. Their pecans were good too!

http://www.hatchchilefest.com/

Ristras as wreaths and crosses

View towards Alamogordo from Cloudcroft.

School kids sledding at White Sands National Monument

Peg in the dunes

The visitors center

Center & Museum

Looking down the White Sands missile range

http://www.wsmr.army.mil/wsmr.asp

San Augustin pass in the Organ Mountains, east of Las Cruces

Authentic Mexican dinner at El Comedor in Mesilla with the "Christmas" treatment
(red AND green chile)

Buck Wagon in Old Mesilla

Austin, Capital of Texas (and still weird)

We made it to Austin late in the afternoon and checked in to the Holiday Inn Austin Town Lake. The lake itself is right downtown and is a beehive of activity for outdoor enthusiasts who row, run, bike and walk around the lake at all hours.

Keep Austin Weird is a slogan adopted by the Austin Small Business Alliance. They say that in a mostly conservative Texas, Austin is “Weird” because it continues to be progressive in the arts and music. Many people feel that the “Keep Austin Weird” slogan reflects a desire to retain the city's distinct character in the face of increasing pressures to homogenize.

This is the Iron Works barbeque, right downtown, where we enjoyed a decent meal that, of course, was no match for the Salt Lick!


Here is one of two Austin locations for Hey Cupcake! http://www.heycupcake.com/story.html

Weird, but good.

In case you can't read it, the napkin holder message says "Wipe that icing off your face, you big disgrace."


The next day we ate at Chuy's a Tex-Mex favorite with locations throughout the state. We had the Chicken Taquitos, pictured below. Very tasty!

Decor at Chuys Barton Springs location

Chuy's entrance

That afternoon we visited the Lady Bird Johnson Wildfower Center, a delightful spot founded by Lady Bird and actress Helen Hayes to protect and preserve North America's native plants and natural landscapes---a worthy mission. It is now affiliated with the University of Texas.

http://www.wildflower.org/

This work is a cross between origami and watercolor.

A giant scorpion, the centerpiece of one of the gardens.

A formal setting.

And a more natural one.

We had to try Blue Bell ice cream, a Texas favorite. We liked it.

This is the flagship store and headquarters for Whole Foods.

The Blanton Art Museum at the U of T, funded in large part by a generous grant from the prolific James Michener who was born in Doylestown PA and lived in Austin for many years.

http://blantonmuseum.org/

A young New York artist ( I didn't record his name) rendered this young dude, after the style of the Dutch Masters

African tapestry created from metal liquor bottle strips

Detail of lobby wall

Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design & Culture at Mid-Century

Custom Fender guitar with image of Dave Brubeck and friends

We had a great lunch at the Magnolia Cafe, joining Travelzine friends Diana Ball and Lou Matthews, who were so generous to us in helping with information about Austin and Texas.

At the LBJ Museum and Library on the U of T campus, there was an interesting exhibition about the space program in the 60's

LBJ automaton, mouthing folksy words of wisdom

White House watercolor, signed by all living presidents at the time (2004)

Lady Bird's office at the museum, preserved as she had left it

Presidential limo