Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
Well buckle up buttercup.
It's time to rise and shine.
Travelers, it's time for theaccording to Willie B Podcast
and hosted by yours truly Will.
Bryce and I will be your tourguide for the next half hour,
and today I'm going to take youon a little mental tour through
(00:24):
Albuquerque, New Mexico, one ofmy actually favorite states to
visit.
But before I do, I want toshare.
Two emails with you that Ireceived this last week about
the Gratitude Bacon, and if youmissed it, just go back and
listen to last week's episodeand you'll find all, all about
(00:44):
everything that you need to knowabout gratitude, bacon.
Um, there was one lady, her namewas Elizabeth, that wrote to me
from the uk and the reason Ichose this one was because she
had made the comment of shedidn't understand.
Why US Americans had such aninfatuation with bacon.
(01:08):
Um, assured her.
It's not all of us, it's mainlyjust me and a few million of my
friends.
But I digress.
But I told her, I said, youknow, uh.
You guys have some of the mostinsane weight, ex weight,
expanding pastries that haveever been created on this earth.
(01:32):
So you're matching us, uh, titfor tat when it comes to the,
uh, calorie, uh, deficit there.
But she went on to say.
That she did find it, uh,humorous, uh, about the
gratitude bacon.
She told me.
She went on to tell me that Ishould cook gratitude bacon
(01:54):
every single day.
I tend to agree with her onthat.
Uh, but she did, when she wenton to say that, you know, she
really enjoyed this podcast andshe's actually thinking of
making a trip to the states onsome of the suggestions that
she's gotten on the last fewepisodes.
So that was really cool.
That was, uh.
I really enjoyed hearingsomebody say that I got
(02:17):
overwhelmed with responses.
Uh, I did answer each and everyone of'em.
I wish that I could literallyspend a podcast telling you
about every single one, but, youknow, time constraints, we'd
never get through it.
And I'd wind up on a rabbittrail and we'd go down a rabbit
hole, and that would be that.
Uh, then there was a guy namedPaul from Minnesota and he said.
(02:40):
I didn't know that there wassuch thing as gratitude bacon.
He said, I went to our localgrocer and they didn't have any
gratitude bacon.
I went to the butcher.
He also said, sorry, nogratitude bacon.
And so then I went back andlistened to the podcast and now
I truly understand.
(03:00):
And he said, I now cookgratitude bacon every single
day.
And I leave some out on thecounter as a treat instead of
apples in a bowl.
Uh, I commend you, Paul.
Uh, that was my response.
Absolutely commend you.
So just keep up cooking thebacon.
You know, there's, right nowthere's no shortage.
(03:21):
Uh, we may create one, but youknow, Hey, uh, it's okay.
Bacon is life.
And bacon is love.
All right.
Enough for the rabbit hole.
Uh, it was fun.
Talking about that and seeingall the responses.
I think I had somewhere around264 emails on gratitude bacon.
My goodness, that was insane.
(03:42):
But it was a lot of fun.
I laughed so hard reading someof those.
Um, but you know, we'll sharesome more throughout the,
throughout the next few weeks.
Uh, okay, let's jump intoAlbuquerque, New Mexico.
That's what you came here for,was to listen to your next.
Travel idea.
I will say that Albuquerque, NewMexico is absolutely one of my
(04:07):
favorite places to visit, andI'll tell you why.
Quite simply because of theSandia Mountains.
Now, if you don't know Sandia,uh, translate from Spanish to
English is watermelon.
Now, why would they call theirmountain range the Sandia
Mountains?
Well, let me tell you when that.
(04:29):
Sunset when that sun startssetting and it hits that
mountain face, it turns beetred, just like watermelon, and
it is absolutely gorgeous.
It's one of the most cool.
Things, natural phenomenon I've,I've ever seen.
And you could just, if I, I wishI had a home up in the mountains
(04:54):
where I could just sit and seethe sunset every day reflecting
off the Sandia Mountains.
Uh, absolute.
That's absolutely one of myfavorite things about New
Mexico.
But then you're sitting therethinking to yourself, okay, well
spill it.
Because if New Mexico is one ofyour favorites, that means
there's some good food there andyou would be correct.
(05:17):
The one question that you'llhave to learn to answer, and I'm
going to teach you in thisepisode how to answer it, is
every meal, does it matter ifit's breakfast, lunch, snack,
whatever, uh, you're going to beasked, uh, red or green.
And they're referring to thesalsa because they make a red
and a green salsa, and they'llask you which one you want.
(05:40):
I always say, yes, please.
In other words, I want both.
I want the red and the green.
Why do I want, why do I have tochoose?
Um, I.
You know, when I said somethingto someone the other day about,
ah, I love New Mexico.
'cause they have the, the, youhave, they always have to choose
between red and green.
They're like, Christmasornaments.
I'm like, no, not Christmasornaments.
(06:02):
Salsa.
Salsa is life just like baconis.
And when you're a foodie, youunderstand, but hey, I, I gotta
tell you, their red and greensalsa is absolutely phenomenal.
But they take it a step furtherthan that.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna let you inon a secret here in a minute
about their, because they grow,they're, they're well known for
(06:22):
their hatch chilies, H-A-T-C-H.
It is a, it almost kind ofresembles like a poblano pepper
in a way.
But way more flavorful.
And then they roast them, likeyou'll see trucks on the side of
the road, they'll have this gasburner with this steel drum with
holes in it, and they'll, man,they'll put like 25, 50 pounds
(06:46):
of those peppers in there andit's turned by a motor and it
just roast them.
And the smell from roastingthose peppers.
If you could bottle that andmake a cologne out of it.
Wow.
But now when it comes to theirred and green salsa, yeah, that
stuff's so good.
You could put it on a bandaid.
I said what?
I said don't roll your eyebrowsat me.
(07:07):
Um, when you, if you haven't hadit yet, then you don't know you
need to go have it and then comeback to me and be like, you know
what?
You're right.
You can put that on a bandaid.
That stuff is good.
But you know, let's talk aboutwhat else there is to do.
In the great state of NewMexico.
And of course these are just,this is basically, I'm keeping
(07:30):
it right at the Albuquerquearea, if you will.
Uh, we'll talk about Ruidoso fora little bit, but I.
I wanted to kind of focus onAlbuquerque because that's kind
of the really, the neat place togo in my opinion there.
There's so many cool places inNew Mexico, but Albuquerque is
one of my favorites and that'swhat I wanted to tell you about.
(07:52):
So every year they have, if youlike, hot air balloons, they
have a hot air balloon festivaland it starts the first weekend
in October and runs.
Uh, for nine days, and you'llsee a, I think it's the largest
hot air balloon in the US butyou'll see well over 500 hot air
(08:15):
balloons, and then they do itagain at night, and they call
it, instead of a rodeo, theycall it a gleo.
I didn't make up the name, sodon't come at me with that.
Um, but they are cool to seethat many hot air balloons, uh,
in the sky at one time.
It's absolutely crazy.
And you can find there's,there's different hot air
(08:35):
balloon ride, um, attractionsthere that you can pay to go and
ride in a hot air balloon.
I, IU there was a time where Iwanted to do that.
As I've gotten older, I'vegotten.
Uh, let's call it smarter.
And you know, even though I'vegone skydiving and this and that
and other, yeah, I've, I'vewised up in my older age and I'm
(08:58):
thinking, yeah, I, I just don'tthink I would bounce.
So I'm gonna sit this one out,but it is cool.
Uh, it would, I've heard howquiet it is when you get up
there in that basket, uh, underthat balloon.
So, uh, it would have to be anabsolute.
Unreal experience, but you knowwhat?
I like watching them from theground as well.
(09:21):
There is also the Sandia.
Peak Tramway.
Now this is a cable car type,um, suspension, uh, ride that
will take you some 2.7 miles upthe mountainside.
So you can literally see like.
11,000 square miles of NewMexico from that tramway.
(09:47):
That is really cool.
It's definitely something youwant to put on your list.
Now, New Mexico is not withoutculture.
Uh, that is the other thing thatI love about New Mexico.
They are very, very big onculture.
And you know, they have theNative American, uh, in, well
(10:08):
they call it the Indian PuebloCultural Center, and it's owned
and operated by nine differentpueblos and talk about a
hands-on immersive experience.
You just have to go to know whatI'm talking about.
It is something that you willnever forget.
And then they've also got a giftshop where they have a lot of
(10:30):
the local Native American.
Art of art and stuff that's donethere locally.
It is just so cool.
It's almost like their giftshop's almost like a museum in
itself.
So, um, it's definitely worthchecking out.
Speaking of museums, I'm goingto tell you about a place and
it's a little off the beatenpath.
(10:52):
Uh, they're closed right now, Ibelieve they're doing some
renovations, but it's called theApple Barn and it's about
halfway up the mountain goingtowards Ruidoso.
Now, I ran across this place acouple years ago by accident.
I went to Albuquerque.
I've been to Albuquerqueprobably at least a dozen or so
(11:13):
times, and it was always forwork.
So I never really had a wholelot of time to do some of the
things I wanted to do, but Idigress.
I had to make, I had to pay thebills.
But there was a place called theApple Barn, and it literally is
in the middle of nowhere, whichas are a lot of things in New
(11:34):
Mexico.
But this apple barn, they havean apple orchard.
So you can imagine their giftshop is chock full of apple
butter applesauce.
Apple jelly.
Apple cider.
But they have, hold on, holdonto your hats.
They have cherry cider.
I had never had cherry cider.
(11:57):
That was the most intense thingI had ever drank, drank in, in
my entire life.
That was, I, I don't even knowhow to describe it.
Um, it, it's not like cherryjuice.
It's, it's, it's just this, it'sgot this sharpness to it, and
it's followed by this sweetness.
(12:17):
I'm telling you, if you go toAlbuquerque, New Mexico, if you
go to New Mexico, period, findsomewhere that has cherry cider.
That is the most incrediblestuff you will ever drink in
your life.
I kid you not, but I lie to you.
Not more than once and onpurpose, unless I was being paid
for it, but I'm just kidding.
(12:38):
Um, they also have, uh, inAlbuquerque, they have, they
call it the bio park, BIO park.
Um, there's a zoo, there's abotanical gardens, and.
There is an aquarium, and thecool part about the bio park is
each one of those areas has somereally immersive hands-on
(13:01):
exhibits.
Um, it is, uh, you, you willcome away with a, a, a different
point of view of going to thezoo, going to botanical gardens,
et cetera.
It was just so cool.
And their aquarium, uh, had alot of hands on.
Immersive, different exhibitsthat just really set, set the
(13:24):
bar, in my opinion.
They set the bar above youraverage aquarium, and I've been
to a lot of aquariums, but theyreally set the bar, excuse me.
I, I challenge you to go by andcheck that out.
Um, there's, uh, if you'relooking for something for adult
fund, there is the Sandia, uh,resort and Casino.
(13:47):
Um, it's actually a pretty.
Pretty big place.
Uh, they've got a huge hotel,uh, et cetera.
If you're looking for a museum,and this one I did not go to,
and I, I don't care how manyemails you send me, I'm not
going, I understand this, buthere it is for those that.
Care to go.
(14:07):
It is the Rattlesnake Museum.
No, thank you.
I'm sorry.
I don't care for no ropes.
Uh, those electrical extensioncords that, uh, yeah, no, not
doing it care.
Nothing about snakes unless theyare.
Uh, unless I have a pair ofboots made out of them or I will
(14:27):
eat rattlesnake.
Uh, that's as close as I'm goingto get one.
It has to be fried and wellfried to make sure it's not, you
know, still, uh, a no rope.
Because once a no broke, alwaysa no broke.
Sorry.
Uh, but I have eatenrattlesnake.
It's, it's not bad.
It's um.
(14:48):
Mm.
A lot of people say, oh, ittastes like chicken.
And, you know, I'm like, quitwith everything tastes like
chicken.
It's like alligator.
I love alligator.
Alligator is one of my favoritemeats.
Um, but it's, it does not tastelike chicken.
Um, just because it's whitemeat, like chicken, that doesn't
mean it tastes like chicken.
(15:08):
Uh, it tastes like alligator.
An alligator tastes delicious.
So there's that.
Um.
But anyway, I do wanna mentionsome restaurants that are there
here in a second, but I'llfinish telling you a few more
things that are there that youdon't wanna miss out on, if you
remember, or if you were a fanof the show, breaking Bad then,
(15:31):
you know, Walter White's housein that, in that show is there
in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Uh, so that's cool to drive by.
Uh, there's also, if you'relooking for nightlife, um.
Well, actually, if you'relooking for nightlife or
breakfast, I, I know that soundsweird, but.
Uh, the nightlife on CentralAvenue is really cool.
(15:55):
There's just a lot of differentnightlife type venues on that,
on that avenue.
And, but if you go in early inthe morning, there's a couple
places there that serves areally good breakfast, and yes,
they're going to ask you red orgreen and just remember they're
not talking about Christmaspresents or decorations.
(16:16):
There's also, if you have time,this is really cool.
Uh, but like I said, if you havethe time and it's the New Mexico
Rail Runner.
It's a high speed rail.
Now, if you like rollercoasters, that thing is fun to
ride.
Uh, you can go from Albuquerqueto Santa Fe.
I forget the amount of time, butit is like really fast.
(16:39):
It's, it's, it's insane.
It's like being inside arollercoaster.
Um.
I, I, I've ridden it and it is ablast.
I'm like, they call thiscommuter train.
This is fun.
I would go to work every dayjust to ride the train.
Can you come in today?
Well, yes I can.
I'll go ride the train.
Um, I.
So now I'm gonna talk to youabout the food.
(17:02):
So the first place I'm gonnatell you about is an oddity.
Shocker.
Huh?
So it's called the BuckhornTavern, B-U-C-K-H-O-R-N, Tavern.
And it is in a very small town.
I don't even remember, I don'teven know if you can call it a
(17:22):
town.
I don't even know if there is atown name there, but it's about
halfway.
Between Las Cruces, New Mexicoand Albuquerque.
So it's about an hour and 10, 15minute drive from Albuquerque in
the absolute positive middle ofnowhere.
When they came up with thatphrase, they were describing
(17:44):
this place because literally youwill drive up on it and not even
realize it.
There's a post office there.
And this cafe, that is it, andsome tumbleweeds going across
the road.
The reason I mentioned theBuckhorn Tavern is if you were a
(18:05):
Bobby Flay or are a Bobby Flay,I.
Fan.
You will know that Bobby Flaydid a hamburger challenge there
and he lost to this BuckhornTavern because they have the
green chili cheeseburger usingthe, you guessed it, hatch green
(18:26):
chilies.
If you took the hatch greenchilies off, what kind of
cheeseburger is it?
It's a cheeseburger.
It's a good cheeseburger, don'tget me wrong.
But when you put that hatchgreen chili, they make like
this, it's not a salsa.
They just took the roasted greenchilies and chopped'em up and
they make like a, a chutney, Iguess, if you will.
(18:49):
And they put it on that burger,the flavors that come out of
that burger.
Or something out of a dreamnovel that I'm, I'm not making,
I, you, you could laugh if youwant to, but I'm telling you
that was absolutely hands downone of the most intense,
(19:10):
flavorful things I have evereaten in my life, and it was
worth that hour and some oddminute drive to go down there to
it.
I'm telling you.
Uh, if I tell you thatsomething's worth driving to, to
go eat, you need to drive thereand go eat that.
Um, I'm, I'm telling you, it'sjust I still have visions of
(19:31):
that burger.
Um, there's some other placesthere's, uh, in, in Albuquerque
there's a place called Sadie's,uh, S-A-D-I-E-S.
Uh, they do lunch and dinner andvery, very good.
I think one of my absolutefavorite places in New Mexico,
if I was gonna have to vote onone, Sadie would have to be
(19:54):
really up there.
Uh, if you're looking for a goodbreakfast, um, with nostalgia,
there's the 66 Diner, which is,uh, independently owned, uh,
another uh, Mexican foodrestaurant.
'cause there's a lot of Mexicanfood there.
And it's not like the Tex-Mex,it's not like the.
Uh, Mexican food that you'rethinking of.
(20:14):
This is, this is reallydifferent.
It's, um, really authentic, uh,Mexican food and it's, um, from
a different region.
It's just really hits differentand there's some very unique
items on the menus in that area.
And I'm telling you, man, itjust hits different.
That stuff is just absolutelyphenomenal.
(20:34):
And then.
Don't forget to get red andgreen salsa.
I'm telling you, I, and I keepreminding you, but you're still
gonna go there and forget.
And they're gonna, you're goingto come back and you'll be like,
I went to New Mexico and I hadthe red salsa.
Or I went to New Mexico and Ihad the green salsa.
I'll be like, did you not haveboth?
No, I just had one.
I'm like, well, that's theproblem that I told you 10
(20:55):
times.
Have both.
Um, but there's that, if you'relooking for a steak, uh, there
is the Ranchers Club.
I know it sounds a little kindof different, but I'm telling
you, the Ranchers Club, ifyou're wanting something high
end, a steak, a lamb chop,salmon, et cetera, this place
(21:17):
is, is off the chain.
Good.
I'm telling you.
Uh, and you will not bedisappointed.
Um.
But that's one of the thingsthat, so if, if you, like, if
you go up towards the apple barnand go up to the mountains,
'cause that, that's what I loveabout New Mexico.
You can stay down inAlbuquerque.
And I say down because you, whenyou go to Ruidoso.
(21:40):
You're going up the mountain andthat's where your hunting is,
that's where your skiing is.
There's multiple ski lodges upthere.
Uh, there is multiple likerivers and streams to fish out
of.
Uh, if, if you're, uh, hiking, Imean, the list just goes on.
(22:02):
Anything that you can think ofto go do up in the mountains.
That's where you go.
You go up to Ruidoso and there'ssome, there's a street going
down downtown Ruidoso, and mostof the cafes and stuff on that
street have like a, uh, let'scall it a porch or a deck or
(22:22):
something of that nature.
And you can sit out while you'reeating your lunch or your
dinner, and you have the mostincredible.
View, looking down thatmountain, I'm chilling you.
It's, it makes the food tastetwice as good, even though the
food's already good, it makes ittaste twice as good.
Um, but going up to Ruidoso,that's, you'll pass the apple
(22:44):
barn.
Oh, see, I got down a rabbithole and I forgot to tell you
about the apple barn.
Not only do they have like theirlittle general store with the
apple butter applesauce, yada,yada, yada.
They have.
A little, um, almost kind oflike a miniature museum in the
(23:05):
back, and it is very diverse.
Probably one of the most diversethings I've ever seen.
But it's very unique becauseit's this little handmade
village and it goes in multiplerooms.
And then there's some of themost.
Unique oddities that you willsee.
Almost like it's, it's, I'lltell you what it reminds me of,
(23:27):
it reminds me of going into aRipley's, believe it or not.
Uh, it's almost like they gotsome of the stuff that they were
no longer using, and I'm notgonna say rejects, but
definitely some oddities.
Okay.
It's like, well, that's.
Different.
You know, I mean it's just, itjust was, but you know, they've
(23:49):
got ice cream and brownies and,I mean, they're all just so much
stuff in that little store.
But like I said, they have the.
Uh, they have an apple orchard.
So, uh, you could, there'scertain times of the season you
could pick up fresh apples.
Uh, a really quirky, uniqueplace.
It reminds me so much of some ofthe tourism, uh, kitschy kind of
(24:13):
cheesy, uh, tourist attractionsback in the late seventies, but
definitely not to be missed.
Uh, one thing, and you'll see itwhen you drive up, is there's
this massive statue of a.
Man with an apple head.
So yeah, I, you know, I can'tmake this stuff up.
I'm telling you, I somethingabout when I travel, I, I find
(24:35):
the weird stuff and, but it wasa good weird, it was something
that I've never forgotten.
And it took me, uh, two, I'mgonna hate to admit this, but it
took me three trips to be ableto, to find it.
I saw it on the first trip andthen the second trip.
I couldn't find it.
And I went up the same exactroad, but for certain some
reason I couldn't find it.
(24:56):
And then the third trip I wentback, I'm like, all right, I'm
gonna find this place.
I know it exists.
I'm not crazy.
And sure enough, there it was.
And I, I stopped and it was, itwas absolutely worth the stop.
Um, you don't want to miss that.
But Albuquerque and Ruidoso, youcould spend easily a long
weekend there and have anabsolute great time.
(25:19):
It's great for a couple to havea getaway.
It's great for families.
There's so much to see and do.
If you take family, if you havekiddos and you wanna take the
kiddos, make sure that you go toAlbuquerque and you take them to
the bio park with the zoo andthe gardens and the um, and the
(25:40):
aquarium.
Because they have so manydifferent, uh, hands-on
exhibits, uh, you, you will notbe disappointed.
I promise you they won't bedisappointed as well.
Uh, but that pretty much wrapsup what I have for Albuquerque,
and so we will have anotherepisode next week right here,
same time, same channel.
(26:01):
We do have some additional, uh,traveling coming up, and so
there is going to be some reallycool content.
Uh, over the next couple ofmonths, I would say, I would
venture to say through the endof the year, uh, there's so much
travel between now and then.
Uh, it, there's some really coolstuff coming up that you don't
(26:23):
wanna miss as well as on.
Uh, culinary Highway.
Um, in two weeks we'll be inPhiladelphia, shooting episodes
of Culinary Highway inPhiladelphia, shooting episodes
of Culinary Highway in AtlanticCity.
Uh, just so much stuff comingup.
I'm telling you, you don't wannamiss this.
(26:44):
I'm trying to keep as much ofthis content fresh and up to
date as I can for you guysbecause you know the amount of
listeners that I have now.
I want to make sure to keep.
Producing the, the best contentI possibly can.
You know the address.
If you have any thoughts,opinions, or suggestions, it's
right there at according towillie b.com, or willing to
(27:08):
according ah, but butcher upthem words according to Willie
B.
At gmail.com.
If you have any thoughts, don'tforget to caffeinate and
conquer.
That is very important and wewill have more news on the
coffee coming back very, verysoon.
But until I see you again, havea great day and I'll see you
(27:29):
next week.
Bye-bye.
Well buckle up buttercup.
It's time to rise and shine.
Travelers, it's time for theaccording to Willie B Podcast
and hosted by yours truly Will.
Bryce and I will be your tourguide for the next half hour,
and today I'm going to take youon a little mental tour through
(00:24):
Albuquerque, New Mexico, one ofmy actually favorite states to
visit.
But before I do, I want toshare.
Two emails with you that Ireceived this last week about
the Gratitude Bacon, and if youmissed it, just go back and
listen to last week's episodeand you'll find all, all about
(00:44):
everything that you need to knowabout gratitude, bacon.
Um, there was one lady, her namewas Elizabeth, that wrote to me
from the uk and the reason Ichose this one was because she
had made the comment of shedidn't understand.
Why US Americans had such aninfatuation with bacon.
(01:08):
Um, assured her.
It's not all of us, it's mainlyjust me and a few million of my
friends.
But I digress.
But I told her, I said, youknow, uh.
You guys have some of the mostinsane weight, ex weight,
expanding pastries that haveever been created on this earth.
(01:32):
So you're matching us, uh, titfor tat when it comes to the,
uh, calorie, uh, deficit there.
But she went on to say.
That she did find it, uh,humorous, uh, about the
gratitude bacon.
She told me.
She went on to tell me that Ishould cook gratitude bacon
(01:54):
every single day.
I tend to agree with her onthat.
Uh, but she did, when she wenton to say that, you know, she
really enjoyed this podcast andshe's actually thinking of
making a trip to the states onsome of the suggestions that
she's gotten on the last fewepisodes.
So that was really cool.
That was, uh.
I really enjoyed hearingsomebody say that I got
(02:17):
overwhelmed with responses.
Uh, I did answer each and everyone of'em.
I wish that I could literallyspend a podcast telling you
about every single one, but, youknow, time constraints, we'd
never get through it.
And I'd wind up on a rabbittrail and we'd go down a rabbit
hole, and that would be that.
Uh, then there was a guy namedPaul from Minnesota and he said.
(02:40):
I didn't know that there wassuch thing as gratitude bacon.
He said, I went to our localgrocer and they didn't have any
gratitude bacon.
I went to the butcher.
He also said, sorry, nogratitude bacon.
And so then I went back andlistened to the podcast and now
I truly understand.
(03:00):
And he said, I now cookgratitude bacon every single
day.
And I leave some out on thecounter as a treat instead of
apples in a bowl.
Uh, I commend you, Paul.
Uh, that was my response.
Absolutely commend you.
So just keep up cooking thebacon.
You know, there's, right nowthere's no shortage.
(03:21):
Uh, we may create one, but youknow, Hey, uh, it's okay.
Bacon is life.
And bacon is love.
All right.
Enough for the rabbit hole.
Uh, it was fun.
Talking about that and seeingall the responses.
I think I had somewhere around264 emails on gratitude bacon.
My goodness, that was insane.
(03:42):
But it was a lot of fun.
I laughed so hard reading someof those.
Um, but you know, we'll sharesome more throughout the,
throughout the next few weeks.
Uh, okay, let's jump intoAlbuquerque, New Mexico.
That's what you came here for,was to listen to your next.
Travel idea.
I will say that Albuquerque, NewMexico is absolutely one of my
(04:07):
favorite places to visit, andI'll tell you why.
Quite simply because of theSandia Mountains.
Now, if you don't know Sandia,uh, translate from Spanish to
English is watermelon.
Now, why would they call theirmountain range the Sandia
Mountains?
Well, let me tell you when that.
(04:29):
Sunset when that sun startssetting and it hits that
mountain face, it turns beetred, just like watermelon, and
it is absolutely gorgeous.
It's one of the most cool.
Things, natural phenomenon I've,I've ever seen.
And you could just, if I, I wishI had a home up in the mountains
(04:54):
where I could just sit and seethe sunset every day reflecting
off the Sandia Mountains.
Uh, absolute.
That's absolutely one of myfavorite things about New
Mexico.
But then you're sitting therethinking to yourself, okay, well
spill it.
Because if New Mexico is one ofyour favorites, that means
there's some good food there andyou would be correct.
(05:17):
The one question that you'llhave to learn to answer, and I'm
going to teach you in thisepisode how to answer it, is
every meal, does it matter ifit's breakfast, lunch, snack,
whatever, uh, you're going to beasked, uh, red or green.
And they're referring to thesalsa because they make a red
and a green salsa, and they'llask you which one you want.
(05:40):
I always say, yes, please.
In other words, I want both.
I want the red and the green.
Why do I want, why do I have tochoose?
Um, I.
You know, when I said somethingto someone the other day about,
ah, I love New Mexico.
'cause they have the, the, youhave, they always have to choose
between red and green.
They're like, Christmasornaments.
I'm like, no, not Christmasornaments.
(06:02):
Salsa.
Salsa is life just like baconis.
And when you're a foodie, youunderstand, but hey, I, I gotta
tell you, their red and greensalsa is absolutely phenomenal.
But they take it a step furtherthan that.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna let you inon a secret here in a minute
about their, because they grow,they're, they're well known for
(06:22):
their hatch chilies, H-A-T-C-H.
It is a, it almost kind ofresembles like a poblano pepper
in a way.
But way more flavorful.
And then they roast them, likeyou'll see trucks on the side of
the road, they'll have this gasburner with this steel drum with
holes in it, and they'll, man,they'll put like 25, 50 pounds
(06:46):
of those peppers in there andit's turned by a motor and it
just roast them.
And the smell from roastingthose peppers.
If you could bottle that andmake a cologne out of it.
Wow.
But now when it comes to theirred and green salsa, yeah, that
stuff's so good.
You could put it on a bandaid.
I said what?
I said don't roll your eyebrowsat me.
(07:07):
Um, when you, if you haven't hadit yet, then you don't know you
need to go have it and then comeback to me and be like, you know
what?
You're right.
You can put that on a bandaid.
That stuff is good.
But you know, let's talk aboutwhat else there is to do.
In the great state of NewMexico.
And of course these are just,this is basically, I'm keeping
(07:30):
it right at the Albuquerquearea, if you will.
Uh, we'll talk about Ruidoso fora little bit, but I.
I wanted to kind of focus onAlbuquerque because that's kind
of the really, the neat place togo in my opinion there.
There's so many cool places inNew Mexico, but Albuquerque is
one of my favorites and that'swhat I wanted to tell you about.
(07:52):
So every year they have, if youlike, hot air balloons, they
have a hot air balloon festivaland it starts the first weekend
in October and runs.
Uh, for nine days, and you'llsee a, I think it's the largest
hot air balloon in the US butyou'll see well over 500 hot air
(08:15):
balloons, and then they do itagain at night, and they call
it, instead of a rodeo, theycall it a gleo.
I didn't make up the name, sodon't come at me with that.
Um, but they are cool to seethat many hot air balloons, uh,
in the sky at one time.
It's absolutely crazy.
And you can find there's,there's different hot air
(08:35):
balloon ride, um, attractionsthere that you can pay to go and
ride in a hot air balloon.
I, IU there was a time where Iwanted to do that.
As I've gotten older, I'vegotten.
Uh, let's call it smarter.
And you know, even though I'vegone skydiving and this and that
and other, yeah, I've, I'vewised up in my older age and I'm
(08:58):
thinking, yeah, I, I just don'tthink I would bounce.
So I'm gonna sit this one out,but it is cool.
Uh, it would, I've heard howquiet it is when you get up
there in that basket, uh, underthat balloon.
So, uh, it would have to be anabsolute.
Unreal experience, but you knowwhat?
I like watching them from theground as well.
(09:21):
There is also the Sandia.
Peak Tramway.
Now this is a cable car type,um, suspension, uh, ride that
will take you some 2.7 miles upthe mountainside.
So you can literally see like.
11,000 square miles of NewMexico from that tramway.
(09:47):
That is really cool.
It's definitely something youwant to put on your list.
Now, New Mexico is not withoutculture.
Uh, that is the other thing thatI love about New Mexico.
They are very, very big onculture.
And you know, they have theNative American, uh, in, well
(10:08):
they call it the Indian PuebloCultural Center, and it's owned
and operated by nine differentpueblos and talk about a
hands-on immersive experience.
You just have to go to know whatI'm talking about.
It is something that you willnever forget.
And then they've also got a giftshop where they have a lot of
(10:30):
the local Native American.
Art of art and stuff that's donethere locally.
It is just so cool.
It's almost like their giftshop's almost like a museum in
itself.
So, um, it's definitely worthchecking out.
Speaking of museums, I'm goingto tell you about a place and
it's a little off the beatenpath.
(10:52):
Uh, they're closed right now, Ibelieve they're doing some
renovations, but it's called theApple Barn and it's about
halfway up the mountain goingtowards Ruidoso.
Now, I ran across this place acouple years ago by accident.
I went to Albuquerque.
I've been to Albuquerqueprobably at least a dozen or so
(11:13):
times, and it was always forwork.
So I never really had a wholelot of time to do some of the
things I wanted to do, but Idigress.
I had to make, I had to pay thebills.
But there was a place called theApple Barn, and it literally is
in the middle of nowhere, whichas are a lot of things in New
(11:34):
Mexico.
But this apple barn, they havean apple orchard.
So you can imagine their giftshop is chock full of apple
butter applesauce.
Apple jelly.
Apple cider.
But they have, hold on, holdonto your hats.
They have cherry cider.
I had never had cherry cider.
(11:57):
That was the most intense thingI had ever drank, drank in, in
my entire life.
That was, I, I don't even knowhow to describe it.
Um, it, it's not like cherryjuice.
It's, it's, it's just this, it'sgot this sharpness to it, and
it's followed by this sweetness.
(12:17):
I'm telling you, if you go toAlbuquerque, New Mexico, if you
go to New Mexico, period, findsomewhere that has cherry cider.
That is the most incrediblestuff you will ever drink in
your life.
I kid you not, but I lie to you.
Not more than once and onpurpose, unless I was being paid
for it, but I'm just kidding.
(12:38):
Um, they also have, uh, inAlbuquerque, they have, they
call it the bio park, BIO park.
Um, there's a zoo, there's abotanical gardens, and.
There is an aquarium, and thecool part about the bio park is
each one of those areas has somereally immersive hands-on
(13:01):
exhibits.
Um, it is, uh, you, you willcome away with a, a, a different
point of view of going to thezoo, going to botanical gardens,
et cetera.
It was just so cool.
And their aquarium, uh, had alot of hands on.
Immersive, different exhibitsthat just really set, set the
(13:24):
bar, in my opinion.
They set the bar above youraverage aquarium, and I've been
to a lot of aquariums, but theyreally set the bar, excuse me.
I, I challenge you to go by andcheck that out.
Um, there's, uh, if you'relooking for something for adult
fund, there is the Sandia, uh,resort and Casino.
(13:47):
Um, it's actually a pretty.
Pretty big place.
Uh, they've got a huge hotel,uh, et cetera.
If you're looking for a museum,and this one I did not go to,
and I, I don't care how manyemails you send me, I'm not
going, I understand this, buthere it is for those that.
Care to go.
(14:07):
It is the Rattlesnake Museum.
No, thank you.
I'm sorry.
I don't care for no ropes.
Uh, those electrical extensioncords that, uh, yeah, no, not
doing it care.
Nothing about snakes unless theyare.
Uh, unless I have a pair ofboots made out of them or I will
(14:27):
eat rattlesnake.
Uh, that's as close as I'm goingto get one.
It has to be fried and wellfried to make sure it's not, you
know, still, uh, a no rope.
Because once a no broke, alwaysa no broke.
Sorry.
Uh, but I have eatenrattlesnake.
It's, it's not bad.
It's um.
(14:48):
Mm.
A lot of people say, oh, ittastes like chicken.
And, you know, I'm like, quitwith everything tastes like
chicken.
It's like alligator.
I love alligator.
Alligator is one of my favoritemeats.
Um, but it's, it does not tastelike chicken.
Um, just because it's whitemeat, like chicken, that doesn't
mean it tastes like chicken.
(15:08):
Uh, it tastes like alligator.
An alligator tastes delicious.
So there's that.
Um.
But anyway, I do wanna mentionsome restaurants that are there
here in a second, but I'llfinish telling you a few more
things that are there that youdon't wanna miss out on, if you
remember, or if you were a fanof the show, breaking Bad then,
(15:31):
you know, Walter White's housein that, in that show is there
in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Uh, so that's cool to drive by.
Uh, there's also, if you'relooking for nightlife, um.
Well, actually, if you'relooking for nightlife or
breakfast, I, I know that soundsweird, but.
Uh, the nightlife on CentralAvenue is really cool.
(15:55):
There's just a lot of differentnightlife type venues on that,
on that avenue.
And, but if you go in early inthe morning, there's a couple
places there that serves areally good breakfast, and yes,
they're going to ask you red orgreen and just remember they're
not talking about Christmaspresents or decorations.
(16:16):
There's also, if you have time,this is really cool.
Uh, but like I said, if you havethe time and it's the New Mexico
Rail Runner.
It's a high speed rail.
Now, if you like rollercoasters, that thing is fun to
ride.
Uh, you can go from Albuquerqueto Santa Fe.
I forget the amount of time, butit is like really fast.
(16:39):
It's, it's, it's insane.
It's like being inside arollercoaster.
Um.
I, I, I've ridden it and it is ablast.
I'm like, they call thiscommuter train.
This is fun.
I would go to work every dayjust to ride the train.
Can you come in today?
Well, yes I can.
I'll go ride the train.
Um, I.
So now I'm gonna talk to youabout the food.
(17:02):
So the first place I'm gonnatell you about is an oddity.
Shocker.
Huh?
So it's called the BuckhornTavern, B-U-C-K-H-O-R-N, Tavern.
And it is in a very small town.
I don't even remember, I don'teven know if you can call it a
(17:22):
town.
I don't even know if there is atown name there, but it's about
halfway.
Between Las Cruces, New Mexicoand Albuquerque.
So it's about an hour and 10, 15minute drive from Albuquerque in
the absolute positive middle ofnowhere.
When they came up with thatphrase, they were describing
(17:44):
this place because literally youwill drive up on it and not even
realize it.
There's a post office there.
And this cafe, that is it, andsome tumbleweeds going across
the road.
The reason I mentioned theBuckhorn Tavern is if you were a
(18:05):
Bobby Flay or are a Bobby Flay,I.
Fan.
You will know that Bobby Flaydid a hamburger challenge there
and he lost to this BuckhornTavern because they have the
green chili cheeseburger usingthe, you guessed it, hatch green
(18:26):
chilies.
If you took the hatch greenchilies off, what kind of
cheeseburger is it?
It's a cheeseburger.
It's a good cheeseburger, don'tget me wrong.
But when you put that hatchgreen chili, they make like
this, it's not a salsa.
They just took the roasted greenchilies and chopped'em up and
they make like a, a chutney, Iguess, if you will.
(18:49):
And they put it on that burger,the flavors that come out of
that burger.
Or something out of a dreamnovel that I'm, I'm not making,
I, you, you could laugh if youwant to, but I'm telling you
that was absolutely hands downone of the most intense,
(19:10):
flavorful things I have evereaten in my life, and it was
worth that hour and some oddminute drive to go down there to
it.
I'm telling you.
Uh, if I tell you thatsomething's worth driving to, to
go eat, you need to drive thereand go eat that.
Um, I'm, I'm telling you, it'sjust I still have visions of
(19:31):
that burger.
Um, there's some other placesthere's, uh, in, in Albuquerque
there's a place called Sadie's,uh, S-A-D-I-E-S.
Uh, they do lunch and dinner andvery, very good.
I think one of my absolutefavorite places in New Mexico,
if I was gonna have to vote onone, Sadie would have to be
(19:54):
really up there.
Uh, if you're looking for a goodbreakfast, um, with nostalgia,
there's the 66 Diner, which is,uh, independently owned, uh,
another uh, Mexican foodrestaurant.
'cause there's a lot of Mexicanfood there.
And it's not like the Tex-Mex,it's not like the.
Uh, Mexican food that you'rethinking of.
(20:14):
This is, this is reallydifferent.
It's, um, really authentic, uh,Mexican food and it's, um, from
a different region.
It's just really hits differentand there's some very unique
items on the menus in that area.
And I'm telling you, man, itjust hits different.
That stuff is just absolutelyphenomenal.
(20:34):
And then.
Don't forget to get red andgreen salsa.
I'm telling you, I, and I keepreminding you, but you're still
gonna go there and forget.
And they're gonna, you're goingto come back and you'll be like,
I went to New Mexico and I hadthe red salsa.
Or I went to New Mexico and Ihad the green salsa.
I'll be like, did you not haveboth?
No, I just had one.
I'm like, well, that's theproblem that I told you 10
(20:55):
times.
Have both.
Um, but there's that, if you'relooking for a steak, uh, there
is the Ranchers Club.
I know it sounds a little kindof different, but I'm telling
you, the Ranchers Club, ifyou're wanting something high
end, a steak, a lamb chop,salmon, et cetera, this place
(21:17):
is, is off the chain.
Good.
I'm telling you.
Uh, and you will not bedisappointed.
Um.
But that's one of the thingsthat, so if, if you, like, if
you go up towards the apple barnand go up to the mountains,
'cause that, that's what I loveabout New Mexico.
You can stay down inAlbuquerque.
And I say down because you, whenyou go to Ruidoso.
(21:40):
You're going up the mountain andthat's where your hunting is,
that's where your skiing is.
There's multiple ski lodges upthere.
Uh, there is multiple likerivers and streams to fish out
of.
Uh, if, if you're, uh, hiking, Imean, the list just goes on.
(22:02):
Anything that you can think ofto go do up in the mountains.
That's where you go.
You go up to Ruidoso and there'ssome, there's a street going
down downtown Ruidoso, and mostof the cafes and stuff on that
street have like a, uh, let'scall it a porch or a deck or
(22:22):
something of that nature.
And you can sit out while you'reeating your lunch or your
dinner, and you have the mostincredible.
View, looking down thatmountain, I'm chilling you.
It's, it makes the food tastetwice as good, even though the
food's already good, it makes ittaste twice as good.
Um, but going up to Ruidoso,that's, you'll pass the apple
(22:44):
barn.
Oh, see, I got down a rabbithole and I forgot to tell you
about the apple barn.
Not only do they have like theirlittle general store with the
apple butter applesauce, yada,yada, yada.
They have.
A little, um, almost kind oflike a miniature museum in the
(23:05):
back, and it is very diverse.
Probably one of the most diversethings I've ever seen.
But it's very unique becauseit's this little handmade
village and it goes in multiplerooms.
And then there's some of themost.
Unique oddities that you willsee.
Almost like it's, it's, I'lltell you what it reminds me of,
(23:27):
it reminds me of going into aRipley's, believe it or not.
Uh, it's almost like they gotsome of the stuff that they were
no longer using, and I'm notgonna say rejects, but
definitely some oddities.
Okay.
It's like, well, that's.
Different.
You know, I mean it's just, itjust was, but you know, they've
(23:49):
got ice cream and brownies and,I mean, they're all just so much
stuff in that little store.
But like I said, they have the.
Uh, they have an apple orchard.
So, uh, you could, there'scertain times of the season you
could pick up fresh apples.
Uh, a really quirky, uniqueplace.
It reminds me so much of some ofthe tourism, uh, kitschy kind of
(24:13):
cheesy, uh, tourist attractionsback in the late seventies, but
definitely not to be missed.
Uh, one thing, and you'll see itwhen you drive up, is there's
this massive statue of a.
Man with an apple head.
So yeah, I, you know, I can'tmake this stuff up.
I'm telling you, I somethingabout when I travel, I, I find
(24:35):
the weird stuff and, but it wasa good weird, it was something
that I've never forgotten.
And it took me, uh, two, I'mgonna hate to admit this, but it
took me three trips to be ableto, to find it.
I saw it on the first trip andthen the second trip.
I couldn't find it.
And I went up the same exactroad, but for certain some
reason I couldn't find it.
(24:56):
And then the third trip I wentback, I'm like, all right, I'm
gonna find this place.
I know it exists.
I'm not crazy.
And sure enough, there it was.
And I, I stopped and it was, itwas absolutely worth the stop.
Um, you don't want to miss that.
But Albuquerque and Ruidoso, youcould spend easily a long
weekend there and have anabsolute great time.
(25:19):
It's great for a couple to havea getaway.
It's great for families.
There's so much to see and do.
If you take family, if you havekiddos and you wanna take the
kiddos, make sure that you go toAlbuquerque and you take them to
the bio park with the zoo andthe gardens and the um, and the
(25:40):
aquarium.
Because they have so manydifferent, uh, hands-on
exhibits, uh, you, you will notbe disappointed.
I promise you they won't bedisappointed as well.
Uh, but that pretty much wrapsup what I have for Albuquerque,
and so we will have anotherepisode next week right here,
same time, same channel.
(26:01):
We do have some additional, uh,traveling coming up, and so
there is going to be some reallycool content.
Uh, over the next couple ofmonths, I would say, I would
venture to say through the endof the year, uh, there's so much
travel between now and then.
Uh, it, there's some really coolstuff coming up that you don't
(26:23):
wanna miss as well as on.
Uh, culinary Highway.
Um, in two weeks we'll be inPhiladelphia, shooting episodes
of Culinary Highway inPhiladelphia, shooting episodes
of Culinary Highway in AtlanticCity.
Uh, just so much stuff comingup.
I'm telling you, you don't wannamiss this.
(26:44):
I'm trying to keep as much ofthis content fresh and up to
date as I can for you guysbecause you know the amount of
listeners that I have now.
I want to make sure to keep.
Producing the, the best contentI possibly can.
You know the address.
If you have any thoughts,opinions, or suggestions, it's
right there at according towillie b.com, or willing to
(27:08):
according ah, but butcher upthem words according to Willie
B.
At gmail.com.
If you have any thoughts, don'tforget to caffeinate and
conquer.
That is very important and wewill have more news on the
coffee coming back very, verysoon.
But until I see you again, havea great day and I'll see you
(27:29):
next week.
Bye-bye.
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