Albuquerque

Celebrating its 300th birthday with new and expanded museums, a vibrant nightlife, outdoor adventure and birthday bashes, the Duke City feels as if it’s just getting started.

Albuquerque may be 300 years old this year, but it’s not acting its age. The growth and renewal in this lively city permeates every aspect of life. Duke City celebrates its tricentennial throughout summer 2006 and into October, when the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta will glow like candles on a birthday cake.

In April 1706 Governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdez set quill to parchment and informed Spain’s Duke of Alburquerque that he and 35 families had founded the Villa de Alburquerque, named in the duke’s honor. Cuervo y Valdez cited the abundant water, timber and good farmland. Albuquerque (the first U.S. post office here mistakenly dropped the first “r”) has evolved into an eclectic, diverse city that has embraced the many cultures that have embraced it. Its fertile river valley location attracted Pueblo Indians to the area long before the arrival of Europeans.

When the Spanish settlers arrived, they too were taken with the good farming, stable wood supply from the Sandia Mountains and mild climate. After the Spanish returned to Albuquerque, following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, they established a healthy barter system with their pueblo neighbors. When the U.S. took possession of New Mexico territory in 1848, American goods and the railroad further established Albuquerque as a major economic hub for the state as well as the expanding country.

Following World War II, Albuquerque enjoyed a growth like nowhere else in New Mexico. With the post-war boom of the 1950s, the city was a major stop along Route 66, the 2,000-mile highway that connected Chicago with Los Angeles. Albuquerque boasts one of the best existing stretches of the Mother Road in the country, Central Avenue, where restored neon signs and exteriors can make you think you’ve time warped back to 1950s.

An excellent place to begin exploring the city is at the expanded Albuquerque Museum. In addition to highlighting Duke City’s history from pre-Spanish contact through the Civil War, a permanent art collection contains classic works by such luminaries as Georgia O’Keeffe, as well as changing New Mexico-related exhibits.

Just across from the Albuquerque Museum you’ll find the Explora museum, an interactive, science-based children’s museum for kids of all ages.

If you’d like to include time in your travels, hop across Mountain Road and visit the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. The updated museum celebrates its 20th birthday in 2006 and features all aspects of New Mexico’s natural history, including colossal skeletons of dinosaurs that roamed here.

Leap from the dinosaur age to the atomic age at the nearby National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. The museum highlights the history of atomic energy, from its discovery to Los Alamos’ Manhattan Project and atomic weapons to peaceful uses for atomic energy and nuclear medicine.

Rev into high gear at the new Unser Racing Museum to learn about Albuquerque’s Indy-winning racing royal family, and soar above it all at the new Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum at the Balloon Fiesta grounds that celebrates the history and future of ballooning, for which Albuquerque is famous.

Near the Albuquerque Museum, Old Town Plaza is the historical heart of the city and a must see. After enjoying one of several cozy restaurants with lush, shady patios that serve everything from a quick breakfast burrito to multi-course French cuisine, enjoy a stroll on the tree-shaded, grassy Plaza. San Felipe de Neri church, built in the 1700s, is open to everyone throughout the day and is a good example of the colonial Spanish churches throughout New Mexico. On Christmas Eve in Old Town, thousands of paper sacks filled with sand and candles called luminarias (farolitos in northern New Mexico) glow as people of all faiths gather to celebrate the season.

Albuquerque’s revitalized downtown has something for everyone, from a new multiplex movie theater, day spas, restaurants serving everything from Thai to tamales, trading posts that still buy directly from Native American artists and clubs featuring live music from blues to cowpunk to techno. Make sure you check out Gold Avenue downtown, Albuquerque’s boutique shopping district.

Several miles east of downtown on Central Avenue is Nob Hill, a thriving neighborhood along Route 66 with more eclectic shops and delicious dining. Locals love to spend a leisurely evening dining bistro style along the sidewalks, and adventurous shoppers will appreciate the one-of-a-kind fashion boutiques and world imports found in the locally owned shops.

If the hustle and bustle of the neon-lit city gets to be too much, you can literally rise above it all in a hot air balloon. Several companies offer balloon rides year-round, and in October the city is seen worldwide when the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the largest gathering of hot air balloons anywhere in the world, takes to the turquoise skies.

In a matter of minutes you can escape into the wilderness areas of the Sandía Mountains, the city’s soul. Many single-track trails roll through the foothills at the base of the mountain and are a favorite playground of mountain bikers and hikers. If you’re more adventurous, hike to the top of the 10,500-foot mountain, or simply take the 15-minute ride to the top on the Sandia Tram, the longest cable car in the world. At the top you will have an eagle’s view of Albuquerque below, as well as miles of trails to hike in solitude. Twilight is the perfect time to be at the top of the crest, when the western sky puts on a show you can see only in New Mexico. Watching the sunset over the lights of Duke City, you’ll have no doubt you’re in the Land of Enchantment.

CELEBRATING 300 YEARS

Tricentennial events
www.albuquerque300.org.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Oct. 7-15, 2006, www.aibf.org

Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum
9201 Balloon Museum Dr. N.E., (505) 768-6020, www.cabq.gov/balloon

Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain Rd. N.W., (505) 243-7255, www.cabq.gov/museum

Explora Museum
1701 Mountain Rd. N.W., (505) 224-8300, www.explora.mus.nm.us

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
1801 Mountain Rd. N.W., (505) 841-2800

Museum of Nuclear Science and History
1905 Mountain Rd. N.W.(505) 245-2137, www.atomicmuseum.com

Unser Racing Museum
1776 Montaño N.W. (505) 341-1776, www.unserracingmuseum.com

Gold Avenue
www.discovergoldavenue.com

Nob Hill
www.rt66central.com

Petroglyph National Monument
(505) 899-0205, www.nps.gov/petr

Coronado State Monument
(505) 867-5351, www.nmmonuments.org