DONNA ON THE SIDE IN ALBUQUERQUE
Great Southwest Classic - Part 2
Turquoise Trail - the Sandia Tram

by Donna Dye

The Great Southwest Classic Setting and Scenery

The Great Southwest Classic is set in southeast Albuquerque in the shadow of the Sandia Mountains. It's a multi-cultural city formed from Indian, Spanish and Anglo heritages that has become a population of about 700,000.

Albuquerque, a name taken from a small village in Spain, was founded in 1706 on the banks of the Rio Grande River. The city embraces old west history, distinctive architecture, and leading edge science and technology. There are hot air balloons, chile peppers, adobe styled buildings, Sandia mountains, Sandia tram, indians and pottery. An hour's drive north is Santa Fe, with arts and crafts galore. There's a lot of fun and good times to have as part of the the Great Southwest Classic scene.

Albuquerque is a place for ballooning. While ballooning is done year around, it's the October Kodak Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta that makes it special. There are as many as 850 balloons in the air at once. A sight to behold. While its out of season for the Great Southwest Classic, it's something to associate with Albuquerque. Although, John and I have never done any ballooning, our kids took a ride in Albuquerque one year. They thought the ride was a little tame for their taste but still thoroughly enjoyed it. (I suppose that kind of a reaction is to be expected from a thrill seeking high jumper and pole vaulter.)

City Pics Courtesy of

A Side Trip--The Turquoise Trail

The Turquoise Trail is a name given to the scenic road through old "ghost towns" of Golden, Madrid and Cerrillos to Santa Fe.

Sandia Crest --Spectacular, panoramic views from the top of Sandia Mountain 10,678 feet above sea level. It's reached by climbing on a 16 mile switch backed paved road through the Cibola National Forest to the crest. A beautiful ride.

Looking North

Looking Northeast - East

Looking Southeast - South

Looking West

Next stop on the Turquoise Trail is Golden, which you will miss if you go too quickly. Then comes Madrid. Madrid is pronounced MAD-rid with the accent on the first syllable. This is an old mining town that started mining turquoise, then gold and then, until the 1950's coal. Today, it's stuck in the 1960's. Looking around you see various 60's signs:: beads, dress, beards, and long sometimes unkempt looking hair.. It's full of arts and crafts, threatre etc. Can't say if anyone makes any money, but we guessed that tourists might be helpful.

It's a scruffy looking place....rundown shacks, buildings etc. Sprinkled here and there, were some fixed up places, brightly painted with reds, pinks, purples, yellows and greens. But the art galleries and ice cream shop are first class.

On the way to Madrid
A first view of Madrid.
Approaching the heart of town.
	Madrid has lots of things to do. There is the Old Coal Mine Museum, The Madrid Opera House, the Engine House Theatre, and lots of art galleries that are located in unique spaces. Our favorite place was the Mine Shaft Tavern. It's one of the oldest roadhouses in the country. There is regular live music, fun, drinks and food. We had drinks and listened to the Corbin Band, which was very good. It's a colorful place sprinkled with lots of motorcyclists, tourists and locals.
I guess you could call this Main Street, just around the bend from the Mineshaft Tavern, museum and theatre.
Java Junction is a unique coffee house. Here you can have coffee and treats.
The Old Boarding House Mercantile which is a grocery and market.

The next stop on the Turquoise Trail is Cerrilos, another miner's town filled with remnants of the past. We didn't stop. Instead, we headed back to Albuquerque where we could have a nice dinner and get situated for the first game of the NBA playoffs. But to get back, we headed toward Santa Fe to pick up I-25.

Santa Fe in the distance at the foot of the mountains.

Dinner Time at Sandia Tram

On our way back to Albuquerque, we stopped on the other side of Sandia Mountains to have dinner at Sandiago's Mexican Grill at the Tram. Sandiago's is located at the tram station. From the restaurant you can look out over Albuquerque and west. We sat outside on the Patio. The menu is what I would call upscale Mexican. I had grilled salmon with three pepper glaze, black beans and braised chard. John had blue corn cheese enchiladas with beans and rice. The food was very good and so was the Margarita and Mexican beer. Sandiago's has no place to watch the NBA game in true sport fan fashion. So, we had to move on before the sunset. This will definitely be a stop for next year's visit.

We didn't take the tram. We'd already been to Sandia Crest.

A lovely spot to relax and enjoy the scene.

Looking south and west

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