New Mexico (w / pics) !

OK - so its not Vegas.     But Albuquerque/Santa Fe has almost as many casinos as Vegas.   Holy cow do they have a bunch !     And I paid a few of them a visit.  More importantly I got to discover this beautiful part of the country.    I'll share some gambling notes and interesting things I learned about this state below.     Turns out there's alot more more to New Mexico than Alec Baldwin shooting people.   

Lets get the gambling out of the way.     New Mexico is majority Native American reservation and they have casinos in number the same way your county has gas stations.  Most of them, frankly, are awful.   THey look nice on the outside but they suck up cash and are riddled with lousy games.    But there are two exceptions both in the Albuquerque metro area.   

#1)   Santa Ana Star Casino, Bernalillo NM

(stock photo)

This was my favorite of the two. 

Craps:      $5 Craps tables with 5X odds and a good field bet.   Thats better than 90% of the tables in Vegas right now.     I pulled out slightly ahead after visiting two seperate nights     

VP:     Nothing good.  I played some spin poker games with lousy schedules.   

Slots:   Plenty to choose from and they seemed relatively loose.   I hit a couple big hits on Willy Wonka =)

#2) Sandia Resort, Albuquerque

This place is a very high end resort with a fantastic golf course , convention rooms and swanky hotel.     Its in the same echelon as Red Rock or M-Resort.       $15 craps tables weren't making me happy but they had 5X odds and a good field bet.   So I played and lost.   BUt it didnt suck.      The casino floor is huge - mostly slots which were also loose like Santa Ana.    VP wqas equally lousy.      I looked more than played here - but it sure is nice to look at.

How about some of these sites?      New Mexico is an amazingly beautful state.   The climate is high desert which means you dont get much rain - but you also dont get the crazy heat like you do in Vegas or Phoenix.    Many people in Albuquerque dont have air conditioning in their house.  There's no need.

The culture and natural beauty have a personality all their own.   And I liked it.     Check out some of the art.

Gallery in Old Town ABQ

And then there is Meow Wolf in Santa Fe.   You might recognize the one from Vegas.  This is the original one.   Its kind of like paying a visit to Willy Wonka's house.     

Also need to shout out the Spanish Architecture.    Houses all look like this.....the one in the picture is a little higher end but you get the idea.   They are gorgeous.

The  food !    Most people know about Authentic Mex Food...and its bastardized cousin Tex Mex (which is awesome )....but there is a whole other derivative too:  New Mexican.     

New Mexican is largely defined by the green and red chili sauce they literally smother on everything.       Almost everyone grows them in their gardens here.   You harvest them when they are green...but you can let them hang and dry out whereby they turn red.      You make the sauce differently depening on what color they are.    

red chili drying out after harvest.

The final result is something that looks like below which I got at Mary-and-Tito's -  a local dive that regualrly makes best places to eat in Albuquerque.    Note how the red sauce is a puree  whereas the green sauce is very chunky.     You want a burger?  Its coming with green/red sauce.  Scrambled Eggs?  Green or Red Sauce.   Pizza?  You get the idea.    Its a universal condiment.

Are you a fan of the TV Show,  Breaking Bad?    If not then I dont know if we can be friends anymore.   

For the people who are - lets see if you recognize any of these landmarks from the show which was filmed in Albuquerque.

Jessie Pinkman's drug dealing spot

Los Pollos Hermanos - its an actual fast food spot by a different name in real life

Walt's Car Wash

Wendy the prostitute's motel

Saul Goodman's Legal office

Here's a few pics from Bandalier National Monument just outside of Los Alamos.   A tiny stream provided enough water for a colony of native pueblo folk to thrive here for generations.   They lived in the mountain caves which you can explore in a real life game of Chutes-n-Ladders.      $25 per auto will get you in the door.

Finally, I like to give places I visit a score on my potential retirement destination scale.

Here's how ABQ measured up.

1)   Cost of living.   A.    ABQ is cheap !  DIrt cheap.    You can buy a gorgeous 2000 sq/ft house in Spanish Architcure style for under 300K in a nice neighborhood.    

2) Taxes.   B      New Mexico taxes your Social Security benefits.  Boo !  But there's no state sales tax of any kind.   Property taxes are among the lowest in the country.  There is  a state income tax.    No toll roads.

3)  Isolation Index   D     Next closest big city is El Paso, TX which is a 5 hour drive.      Phoneix, Denver, Las Vegas, Amarillo can be reached with a full days drive.   Grand Canyon, Petrified Forrest, Taos, and Santa Fe are easy drives.

4) Weather  A    Sunny 300+ days a year.   Daytime Temps top out around 90 in the Summer and 50 in the winter.    Nights are cooler.    DOesnt get crazy hot or crazy cold.   Just kinda pleasant year round.

5)  Healthcare F    New MExico ranks near the bottom in access and qualtiy of Healthcare.    NM is a poor state and doctors like rich patients better than poor ones.    Supposedly its getting better.

6) Culture, Entertainment, stuff to do     A

Route 66 goes right through town and ABQ celebrates it with lots of great diners, pubs, and restaurants.   Old Town and Santa Fe give way to great cultural and culinary delights.   Nearby mountains provide plenty of outdoor fun.    No pro sports teams.  Good college basketball team.    Balloon Festival.

7) Transportation.    B

Albuquerque Sunport is a legitimate mid-sized airport that will get you direct flights to most big cities west of the Mississippi.  East is a different matter.   One hour direct flight to Vegas?  Yes please !     There's also an Amtrak Rail station that connects Taos/Santa Fe/ ABQ which looks like a blast.

8)  People   A.  

Holy cow - the people here are awesome.   Everybody looks like they just rolled out of bed.    You wont find alot of angry Antifa's types or MAGA zealots here.   There's no time for any of that.   Not when there's carne adovada on the stove....or a blunt that needs to be hit.    Its almost laid back to a fault.  If you live here you'll need to make frequent trips to Vegas to pump up your adrenaline.   

Final Grade:  B

Albuquerue gets a pretty high grade on my retirement scale.    I dig the food,architecture,  nice people,and cost of living.   I struggle with the healtcare access and isolation.  But you could do alot worse than this city.    Its definitly in my top 5 so far.

Thanks for all the great pics! Yeah, everything you said about ABQ is true. And Hatch green chile in particular is the nectar of the gods :)

It's maybe the last large city in the West where the cost of living hasn't gone to the moon. The climate and scenery are great (a little hot and dry, but not too bad) and the blending of cultures is awesome.

The isolation isn't too bad if you consider that it's a big city and you're unlikely to need to go elsewhere for anything you need--and since other cities/locales are as far away as they are, you'll be flying there anyway :) But there's a lot in the area (mostly to the north--Taos, Santa Fe) to explore.

It is, frankly, a kind of poor city--but that's why the cost of living is low. The food is awesome and there's a lot of culture to enjoy--particularly art. As a retirement destination, it absolutely beats the crap out of its nearby rival, Feenicks.

There are at least two casinos on I-40 between ABQ and the AZ border that last time I was in the neighborhood, had a decent amount of 99%+ video poker. VPFree2's info is pretty skimpy and outdated for New Mexico, so I have no idea what it's like there now. Santa Ana Star Casino in Bernalillo, about 20 mi north of ABQ, is reported to have at least some pretty good VP.

Thanks for TR and pics super. Love New Mexico, have been to Santa Fe 3 times beautiful, quaint, super clean, very expensive, love it.Inn of The Mountain Gods, gorgeous, exclusive, super golf, expensive and my all time favorite Ruidoso, New Mexico would buy a second home here if had the $$$$$ , had long time friend who had summer home & we visited every summer for 15 years he has passed away, we have his ashes & picture in our sun room, talk to him every day. It is a brautiful city and 12 hour drive for us, got me thinking maybe fly to El Paso, rent car & visit next summer. Thanks again & you got an old man thinking about some wonderful memories.

Thanks for the awesome trip report. I 100% agree with your assessment that ABQ certainly rates as a potential retirement location apart from the Healthcare aspect......I did not realize it had good casinos though so I am grateful for your honest opinion of the two you have highlighted above. Now I just need to convince the wife we need a road trip. The weather seems ideal but I'm not too sure about the food....it would take some getting use to everyday. (I do like a chinese meal)....Again thanks for the TR report PJ...

Terry

Lived in ALB for a few years and enjoyed very much.  The airport is also a big plus.

You might check a few of the financial facts as the state definitely does have sales and income taxes.  Property taxes are among lowest in the US.

Healthcare evaluation is tricky as NM is the 4th largest state so there are hundreds of miles without access.  In ALB, you have two major health systems, Lovelace and Presbyterian so access is not an issue and quality of care is above average.  ALB has far better healthcare and educational system than (for instance) Las Vegas.