Favorite reasons you enjoy Las Cruces -- the positives -- anything goes! :) (Albuquerque: rent, hotel)

[Wisteria]

I am looking at Las Cruces for retirement, too, as is Nancy Thereader.

I know it has good weather and all of that, but what about the town, itself, appeals to you? I know we have a sticky about restaurants, but what about other things?

Festivals, every day life, people, organizations, cultures, stores, spirituality, the arts, neighbors, homes, music, outreach, holidays, lifestyle, recreation, historic sites, anything goes. I'd like to keep this to the positives -- especially for those of us who are not yet living there. Thanks!

Especially if you have recently relocated to Las Cruces in the past year or two, and you enjoy it, why is that? How does it compare to what you were experiencing before?

I realize every place has its pros and cons, and I just want the pros, right now! When I asked a similar question about Albuquerque before I spent some time there, that thread was remarkably helpful, and I found many things I never would have known existed, and it made my trip much nicer! Thanks to those who contributed those great ideas!

Thanks, everyone!

[Wisteria]

Come on, don't be shy....I know some people like it there (or so I've been told). I'm sure there's a ton of stuff, but I just don't know about it.

Thanks, again!

[Six Foot Three]

LOL....wisteria you only gave them 10 minutes as i'm sure you'll get responses .

[TigerLily24]

Some of my favorite things in no particular order:

The Farmers' Market

The Branigan Library and Coas bookstores.

The downtown ramble
Lucky Seven: Downtown venues ready to Ramble - Las Cruces Sun-News

Seeing the mountains every day

The exquisite light early in the morning and at sunset

Spontaneous ballooning - you never know when a hot air balloon is going to appear, one flew over my development one morning. Very cool, though it scared my poor dogs to death.

The differences between the east (mostly desert landscape) and west (very green, agricultural) sides of town.

Old Mesilla

The plants blooming in the spring and, oddly, to me anyway, the profusion of roses everywhere. I never associated roses with the southwest before I lived here.

Cool evenings and early mornings and warm afternoons.

The Farm & Ranch Museum

Flying in and out of the El Paso airport - my favorite U.S. airport now.

NMSU - museum, library, shows, the rodeo team

The Rio Grande Theater

Dinner theater at Boba Cafe
http://www.bobacafelc.com/

Color My World Nursery - it's like going to a botanical garden

There are so many things

[Wisteria]

6 FOOT 3: LOL....wisteria you only gave them 10 minutes as i'm sure you'll get responses.

Sorry about that! Gosh, ten minutes sure seems like a long time sometimes!! Hahaha! My apologies -- guess I was rushing around so much, I figured at least an hour had gone by! Thanks, 6 FOOT 3, and you were right!

TigerLily24:
The downtown ramble
Lucky Seven: Downtown venues ready to Ramble - Las Cruces Sun-News

Dinner theater at Boba Cafe
Boba Cafe, a Las Cruces New Mexico Restaurant serving oriental and west coast cuisine

Spontaneous ballooning - you never know when a hot air balloon is going to appear, one flew over my development one morning. Very cool, though it scared my poor dogs to death.

Wow, spontaneous ballooning -- so people can rent or have their own and just drift on over, like the Wizard of Oz?? I always wanted to see those, but I thought they only happened during certain festivals -- good to know! That is pretty cool!

The Downtown Ramble -- that is great to hear. I know a lot of cities have started things like that -- I used to go to one regularly in Seattle. That I will definitely check out!

And that Boba Cafe sounds like fun!

I've heard of the Coas Bookstore -- it seems to be quite popular.

What influence, if any, does the university have there, or is it tied into some of the things listed?

Thanks -- see, I never would've known about those! It will help for my trip there in a few months. Keep 'em coming! This is great! Thanks, again!

[tecpatl]

I'm a big Mesilla fan and have written about it previously. Lately it's been door pictures, which are in the LC and the NM sticky threads.
Mesilla: Any opinions?

Recently the Gadsden Museum in Mesilla has reopened and I walked thru the other day. Its a private museum, run by decendents of the storied Fountain family, and costs 5 bucks. You get a personal tour, quite long, of a home full of Mesilla and Fountain family history and artifacts with lots of stories and anecdotes. It's been in operation most of the time since the late 1930's and is quirky and personal as all get-out. Worth the trouble and the fin.
La TigerLily has hit on a ton of good things which I enjoy.
I'm going to spill a food secret here: On weekdays the Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism Management program at NMSU serves lunch at 100 West Cafe in the west end of G. Thomas Hall. Some days are a buffet, some days are alaCarte, the buffets are 8 bucks, a screaming deal, and lunch starts at noon. They don't do it all the time so do a schedule check before you go, but DO go, and get there a little early as they are popular. You won't be sorry.
NMSU: School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management - 100 West Café Menus (http://aces.nmsu.edu/academics/shrtm/100-west-caf-menus.html - broken link)
There....I've spilled the beans
They also do international dinners with wines every few weeks, and the meals are tremendous, all cooked and served by students. These sell out almost instantly.

[Wisteria]

tecpatlI'm going to spill a food secret here: On weekdays the Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism Management program at NMSU serves lunch at 100 West Cafe in the west end of G. Thomas Hall. Some days are a buffet, some days are alaCarte, the buffets are 8 bucks, a screaming deal, and lunch starts at noon. They don't do it all the time so do a schedule check before you go, but DO go, and get there a little early as they are popular. You won't be sorry.
NMSU: School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management - 100 West Café Menus
There....I've spilled the beans
They also do international dinners with wines every few weeks, and the meals are tremendous, all cooked and served by students. These sell out almost instantly.

I imagine that sometimes they even SERVE beans!

I checked out their website and didn't see a culinary section to it -- do they do their own cooking, or is it brought in? I've been looking for some culinary programs, too, and wondered if maybe they just call it something else -- do you know?

Mesilla sounds so pretty -- and expensive for me -- but certainly a place to go and hang out! I've heard good things about it!! Thanks!

[Six Foot Three]

Originally Posted by Wisteria

Sorry about that! Gosh, ten minutes sure seems like a long time sometimes!! Hahaha! My apologies -- guess I was rushing around so much, I figured at least an hour had gone by! Thanks, 6 FOOT 3, and you were right!

LOL....

Also TigerLily gave you some great info about Las Cruces especially about checking out Mesilla .

[nancy thereader]

Seeing the mountains every day
The exquisite light early in the morning and at sunset
Spontaneous ballooning - you never know when a hot air balloon is going to appear, one flew over my development one morning. Very cool, though it scared my poor dogs to death.
The differences between the east (mostly desert landscape) and west (very green, agricultural) sides of town.
Old Mesilla
The plants blooming in the spring and, oddly, to me anyway, the profusion of roses everywhere. I never associated roses with the southwest before I lived here.
Cool evenings and early mornings and warm afternoons.

Don't these reasons sound wonderful, wisteria?
Can't you feel the warm desert sun? Can't you see the skies filled with stars?

[lawmom]

I was only there for a couple of days, but liked how the air felt. That sounds weird, I know, but it felt very different, at least from the northeast. It was over 80 degrees, and the sun was hot, but the air was thinner, not as "close" as here.