A Walking Tour of Aubuquerque

Having been to Albuquerque a few years ago for a National Flute Association Convention, I knew a bit about downtown Albuquerque. Unfortunately, the touring venue in Albuquerque is not in downtown. It is about 5 miles away on the University of New Mexico campus. Well there were a couple of things that I wanted to see again in downtown so one day I decided to have a crazy walking adventure from where we were staying to downtown and back. Here are some highlights of my walk:

There is an episode of The Simpsons where the Springfield Isotopes are going to leave Springfield and move to Albuquerque. Now I don't know if there is any fact behind the episode, but there is an Isotopes minor league baseball team in Albuquerque. Their stadium looked to be pretty fun too.

A stretch of the old Route 66 runs through downtown Albuquerque.

When I revisit cities, I like to see if I can find some of the places that I had visited before. We bought flowers for the display at the Flute Convention at the above flower shop. (Plus they have pretty cool signage.) Below is the Convention Center.

I also went to Old Town Albuquerque which is about a mile outside of the current downtown area. From what I remember this is where Albuquerque was originated, and there are a bunch of old buildings

and an old church there. These days it is a tourist trap lined with shops and restaurants. I fell into the trap and ate lunch there.

I had originally planned to have a rental car in Albuquerque so that I could drive out to see the natural highlights of the area. Alas that Budget would not give me a car nor could they tell me what the problem was. Oh well!

KiMo Theatre

In my wanderings through downtown Albuquerque, I found this cute little old movie palace. The KiMo is on the old stretch of Route 66, and seems right at home in Albuquerque. Sadly I could not get inside to see the house, but the pictures that I found online of the interior indicate that it is equally as enchanting after you enter the building.

Clouds in the Desert

Popejoy Albuquerque

Popejoy Hall, the theatre we performed at in Albuquerque, is actually on the campus of the University of New Mexico. Therefore like most college theatres, it is not the most aesthetically pleasing theatre one could hope for, but the pleasures of Albuquerque help to make up for that fact.

Eye See You

Chicago Birthday 2010

I tend to be a creature of habit, and one of my favorite recurring habits involves my birthday. For most of the past several years, I have treated myself to a trip to Chicago for my birthday. Since my birthday happens so close to the 4th of July, I am able to not only give myself the present of food at The Taste of Chicago I can also give myself the present of Broadway with the annual Broadway in Chicago Preview Concert at the Petrillo Bandshell. This year I was able to get a very cool hotel room for very cheap price using Hotwire.com, and I also got a very cheap ticket to see the Chicago production of Billy Elliot. All of this and more helped to make up for the fact that when I got on the treadmill at the hotel gym and the default age of 35 came up on the display I just pushed okay. Oh well I had two great days in Chicago!