NM2007 - The Area - Albuquerque

From the neon trim of Route 66 that winds through its center, to its kaleidoscope sunsets, brilliant blue skies and star-filled nights, soaring balloons, and holiday luminaries, Albuquerque is a city of light. More than ever, the Duke City is capturing the national spotlight. Its glowing reviews come from travel giants Orbitz.com and Hotwire.com, which list it as the best overall value for visitors and as a must-see destination. Albuquerque — New Mexico’s largest city — has long been a treasure hidden in plain sight.

Founded in April 1706 and named for a Spanish duke, Albuquerque has evolved into an eclectic, diverse city. Its fertile river valley location attracted Pueblo Indians to the area long before Europeans arrived. Remnants of their great societies are still visible on the city’s west side, where hikers find thousands of images hand pecked into the dark basalt rock, and at Coronado State Monument to the north, a preserved example of the many Pueblo villages that once dotted the banks of the Rio Grande. Now the nearby pueblos of Sandia, Santa Ana, and Isleta thrive with new top-notch resorts, golfing, and casinos.

The Spanish returned to Albuquerque following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The Americans took possession of New Mexico territory in 1848 and U.S. goods and the railroad established the city as a major economic hub. During the Civil War, the Confederate flag briefly flew over the city until the decisive battle at Glorieta Pass, northeast of Santa Fe, forced the Confederacy to retreat to Texas. With the post-war boom of the 1950s, Albuquerque 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. Running from the city’s east limit through downtown, Route 66-era shops and hotels are not only still in business, but newly restored neon signs and exteriors can make today’s motorists think they’ve time-warped back to the 1950s.

History, Nature Prevail at Museums

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

Across the street is the new ¡Explora! Museum — an interactive, science-based children's museum. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science has unveiled its permanent exhibit Start Up! Albuquerque and the Personal Computer Revolution. The first personal computer, the Altair 8800, was made and sold in Albuquerque. This attracted a young Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who worked here before moving to Seattle to start Microsoft. Of course, the museum goes from bytes to bones 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 Atomic Museum. The museum highlights the history of atomic energy. In Old Town, don't miss the International Rattlesnake Museum — a herpetologist's dream that features indigenous rattlesnakes and other reptiles from around the world.

Attractions for all Pleasures

Near the Albuquerque Museum, Old Town Plaza is the must-see historical heart of Albuquerque. 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 Spanish Colonial churches that are omnipresent 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. Be sure to 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. The area between downtown and Nob Hill along Route 66 has experienced a recent renaissance with fun shops and exciting restaurants all within strolling distance from one another. (More on Nob Hill) Also recently opened is the new outdoor Uptown Albuquerque shopping district (Indian School and Louisiana), which features fine shopping and bistro dining.

Endless Natural Beauty

You can literally rise above it all in the Duke City in a hot air balloon. Many companies provide balloon rides year-round and, in October, the city’s turquoise sky hosts the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the largest gathering of hot air balloons anywhere in the world.

In a matter of minutes you can escape into the 38,000-acre Sandia Mountain wilderness, 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 (Bicycling Magazine listed Albuquerque as the third best place to bike in the United States last year). The more adventurous can hike to the top of the 10,500-foot-high mountain along the La Luz trail, 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’ll 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 only see in New Mexico. Watching the sunset over the scintillating lights of Albuquerque far below, you’ll have no doubt you’re in the Land of Enchantment.

Experience Albuquerque!

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

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

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

• ¡Explora! Museum (505) 224-8300, www.explora.mus.nm.us

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

• National Atomic Museum 1905 Mountain Rd. N.W., (505) 245-2137

• International Rattlesnake Museum 202 San Felipe, www.rattlesnakes.com

• Gold Avenue Shopping District www.discovergoldavenue.com

• Nob Hill Shopping District www.rt66central.com

• Uptown Albuquerque shopping district (Indian School and Louisiana) www,abquptown.com

• Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (Oct. 6-14) www.aibf.org

GuestLife Discover — Where the Wild Things

Are Lions and tigers and bears — and chuckwallas and turtles and sharks and just about every other creature that swims, crawls, grows, and flies can be seen at Albuquerque’s nationally recognized Albuquerque Biological Park.

The expansive bio-park consists of separate properties of the Albuquerque Aquarium, Rio Grande Botanic Gardens, Rio Grande Zoo, and Tingley Beach, where visitors can fish and operate model boats. Two new trains connect all the areas.

Enjoy lunch with a Great White Shark at Shark Reef Café at the aquarium. The restaurant shares a wall with the 285,000-gallon saltwater aquarium that is the happy home of several species of sharks, fish, and sea turtles. The zoo takes visitors from Africa to Antarctica, and the botanical gardens feature Mediterranean flora, as well as gardens of plants native to New Mexico. Information: (505) 764-6281, www.cabq.gov/biopark/

GuestLife Don't Miss — Ballooning Over Beauty

Soar above it all at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque Balloon Museum at the Balloon Fiesta grounds. The new, $12 million, 60,000-square-foot building was designed to look like a balloon inflating and celebrates the history and future of ballooning, for which Albuquerque is internationally known. See more than 50 historical and modern gondolas, from French wicker baskets from the 1880s to the Stratolab and Sky Car stratospheric flight gondolas that look like space capsules.

The museum is named for Albuquerque balloonists Max Anderson and Ben Abruzzo, who with Larry Newman made the first nonstop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by gas balloon, Double Eagle II, in 1978.

Information: 9201 Balloon Museum Dr. off of Alameda Boulevard. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call or visit the Web site for special events and hours during the Balloon Fiesta (Oct. 6-14, 2007). (505) 768-6020, www.balloonmuseum.com