Weekend in Ruidoso, New Mexico

Mescalero Lake at the resort

Sweetie and I took a long weekend and drove to Ruidoso, NM, to stay at the Mescalero Apache Resort of Inn of the Mountain Gods. The resort (and casino) is located just south of Ruisdoso next to the Mescalero Lake.

I knew the Guvmint was bad

The drive took us through Seminole, Denver City, and Plains, TX, before entering New Mexico on US 380. The drive took us through Tatum and into Roswell, NM. We took a short lunch break and decided to visit the Roswell International UFO Museum and Research Center. Here, we found the TRUTH about how the US Government has been hiding information about UFOs and ALIENS from the American public since the 1940's! Yeah, right. Anyway, we had a grand time exploring the museum and when we left, we ensured no anal probes were deployed to track our movements.

Sweetie and her new friends

After a somewhat mixed lunch at the Cowboy Cafe (my green chili cheese burger was great but Sweetie's cheeseburger was almost inedible!), we continued our drive to Ruidoso. Along the way, we began noticing that the desert fauna was changing into grasslands with tress. We followed the Rio Bonito most of the way into the town. As we drove along, we also noticed that this area was a mecca for tourists!

The Lobby view

We checked into the Inn of the Mountain Gods and, I have to say, it is a very nice looking resort. The back of the hotel overlooks the Mescalero Lake and some very scenic mountains. Guests are busy riding paddle boats or fishing from the shore, playing golf or simply walking around the area. Of course, the casino was full and several bus-loads of new players were arriving just about every hour.

Looking to the lake

Back of the resort

Empty dish

We finally got into our room (after several attempts at getting our electronic key to work) and relaxed for a bit before we headed down to Wendell's Restaurant for an evening of fine dining. Starting with Oysters Rockefeller and escargot, our meal got better with the addition of a fine Beaujolais. Sweetie's selection of duck with pear salsa was good but my elk loin was better. But the evening's best was our selection of lavender crème brûlée. Even I, who disdains desserts, found this delightful.

On Sunday, we got up wonderfully late and sampled their buffet. It was OK. Then, we headed out to visit the Lincoln National Forest. Since most of the forest in this area had been visited by the Little Bear Fire not too long ago, most of the trails and campground areas were closed to the public. In fact, the only area opened in the district was Cedar Creek picnic area. So, we headed there and walked in the picnic area for about 10 minutes, smelled pine trees, pee'ed on a tree, and then left.

Final resting spot for Smokey the Bear

Next on our tour was a visit to the Smokey Bear Historic Park in the Village of Capitan. A small park dedicated to the memory of the original Smokey the Bear, it has a trail showing the different types of fauna that can be found in New Mexico. Actually, a very interesting variety of trees, shrubs, succulents, and cacti was on this trail along with the final resting spot of the original Smokey the Bear.

Lincoln County Wars

Moving on, we traveled to Lincoln, the place of the infamous Lincoln County Wars and home to Billy the Kid. So, it was a big ruckus between two competing shop keepers that eventually killed almost everyone in town. Strange. And here's where Billy the Kid killed two lawmen when he was in custody (even got to see where the bullet went into the wall at the court house/hotel/saloon/dance hall, allegedly). 

New Mexico has listed Lincoln as a State Monument so we paid our fees and went to view a few of the historic buildings. Very interesting if you have any interest in the Lincoln County Wars (I really didn't but it was still pretty interesting).

Then, backtracking to Capitan to have lunch at the Smokey Bear Restaurant. My burger was good but Sweetie's steak fingers were outstanding! If you are ever in the Village of Capitan, stop in for their steak fingers. Plus, it's a very nice, family business and a diner of sorts. You won't be getting Oysters Rockefeller here but the folks are really friendly and the food is pretty darned good.

Ft. Stanton

Ft. Stanton

Not stopping to relax, we drive over to Fort Stanton. Started in 1859, the fort was another one of those forts the government manned to stop the Indian depredations. Here, the Confederates actually invaded and took it over only to leave it a bit later (seeing as how the Apaches drove them out). Afterwards, the fort was used for merchant Marines with consumption, better known as tuberculosis. In 1939, the fort served as the internment site for German merchant seamen from the German luxury liner, S.S. Columbus, which was scuttled outside of New York to prevent its capture by the British.

Whew. Then, we headed down the highway to eventually visit the Hubbard Museum of the Southwest. Small, but very nice! I would also recommend visiting this.

Later in the evening, we stopped at the Apache Casino on US 70 to try the Smokey B's restaurant. Not impressed. But we had great fun at the casino.

On Monday, we decided to have breakfast in the room so we could get an early start back home. Turns out it didn't matter as we got on the road around 0830 anyway.

Stopped in Plains, TX, for a small lunch at a very nice family restaurant. Here, a complete stranger comes up to Sweetie and says, "Thanks for your service." See, she has her specialty license plates of Woman Veteran and he saw her get out of the car. It was a nice, special moment for her.

Overall, just a short getaway to relax. We decided not to make the 3 hour trip to White Sands and to catch it when we go to Hatch for the chili festival. We both really appreciated the change in the temperature as here we enjoyed mid-80's and cool evenings! Big change from the triple digits at home!

Yes. They are out there, waiting for you!