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June, 1998

Old Town Albuquerque

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By Melissa Corley
Journal Web Staff
There are lessons to be learned when visiting Old Town Albuquerque:
1) There is something there for everyone.
2) You're dreaming if you think you can do everything there in one day, or even two.
3) It's impossible to simply windowshop -- well, at least for me it is.
4) Looks can be deceiving.
I've visited Old Town on four occasions and I discover something new there every time. This last visit, my discovery was the Rattlesnake Museum -- the largest of its kind.

Old Town Location: Can be accessed from Rio Grande in between I-40 and Central. Hours: Vary depending on individual shops. Cost: Free Features: Shops, restaurants, various museums, gunfights on Sundays and special events.

The museum, located on San Felipe NW, holds several varieties of rattlesnakes and other slithering desert inhabitants and continuously plays videos about them.
There is a souvenir shop as well, featuring not only rattlesnake memoralibilia, but other New Mexico souvenirs. Museum visitors receive "Certificates of Bravery" for touring the exhibits.
I also toured the San Felipe de Neri Church, an Albuquerque landmark dating back to 1706 when it was on the west side of the plaza. It moved to the north side in 1793 and is still housed within those original walls.
The third oldest church in America, it still operates as a parish. It also features a small museum and gift shop with artifacts from throughout the church's history. Grapevines the church used to produce its own wine still grow in the courtyard.
One of the main activities to do in Old Town is shopping, however, and this is the area where Old Town has something for everybody.
Besides the traditional trading posts and souvenir shops held within the endless network of courtyards that is Old Town, there are art galleries, fine clothing and jewelry stores, antique stores, even a UFO Lab.
Although not really a lab, it is the place to find nearly everything you need to keep up with extraterrestrial happenings. It features magazines and newletters for UFO enthusiasts, bumper stickers, books, masks, even "X Files" nail files. There is also a replica of the alien autopsy that allegedly occurred in Roswell.
If you are looking for a broader spectrum of home decorations, there is plenty to choose from in Old Town.
Weems Gallery, located right across from the Old Town Information Center features modern southwestern-style items from paintings to dishes to jewelry. My favorite is a Kokopelli figure posing with a golf club.
If you're looking for more traditional southwestern items, the Hanging Tree Gallery is a good place to start.
This gallery features antiques, furniture, weavings and oil paintings that "could all be yours today!" declared owner Reggie Sawyer as I walked in. It's the gallery's firm policy, he said.
While Howdy Doody perches above him behind the register, Sawyer can tell you the story behind every piece in his gallery.
If there is something in particular you are looking for, there are 20 specialty shops in and around Old Town. The Candy Lady, La Pinata and the Old Town Perfume of the Desert and Candle Shop drew me to them, but there is also the Christmas Shop, the Old Town Card Shop, Discover Balloons and many others.
All of this shopping is bound to make you hungry, however, and I recommend the Church Street Cafe. It looks small from the outside, but once you step inside, it seems to go on forever.
The restaurant is inside the oldest residence in Albuquerque and one of the oldest buildings in the state, dating back to the early 1700s.
The food is southwestern along with the decor, which features wall hangings, punch-tin lamps, mosaic tile tables and placemats made of laminated old newspapers that are fun to read while you wait.
If you've become tired of the southwestern theme, La Crepe Michel has great French food you can eat on their patio. Or, if you want to just cool off, there is a Snowcone Factory a couple doors down from the Rattlesnake Museum.
If you're too broke to shop, there is still plenty to do in Old Town. Besides the San Felipe de Neri Church, there are several historical markers. For complete information on these and other New Mexico attractions go to the Old Town Visitors Center on Romero NW.