Albuquerque — AT the American International Rattlesnake Museum in Old Town Albuquerque, I spotted a sign on the door. "We love tourists," it said. "They taste just like chicken."
In the past, this city was about as welcoming as that sign. Shops in Old Town had to be persuaded to stay open evenings, and until recently, zoning laws prohibited visitors from sitting on a restaurant patio and having a glass of wine or a margarita.
So tourists would fly into Sunport, Albuquerque's airport and slither their way up Interstate 25 to Santa Fe, its sexier, better-dressed sister city.
Now Albuquerque is sprucing up its Cinderella image and turning into one of the belles of the tourist ball. TripAdvisor placed Albuquerque fourth in last year's listing of the top 10 underrated world destinations, and online travel company Orbitz chose it as one of five "outstanding locations that should be on everyone's must-see list" in the next five years.
If one thing has put Albuquerque on the tourist map, it's the annual International Balloon Fiesta (Oct. 5-14 this year). It "helped establish a sense of place," said Dale Lockett, president and chief executive of the city's convention and visitors bureau.
The fiesta began modestly in 1972 as a hot-air-balloon rally sponsored by a local radio station publicizing its 50th anniversary. The event, held in a dirt parking lot, attracted 20,000 spectators and 13 balloons. These days, the 10-day festival draws up to a million visitors and as many as 700 balloons.
The balloon crowd had just left when I visited in late October. I decided to ground myself here, so I checked into Los Poblanos, a historic inn not far from Old Town. The inn once was the home of Albert Simms and Ruth Hanna McCormick, who met while serving in Congress in the late 1920s, married and moved to New Mexico, his home state.
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast at the inn, I set off to find out what all the "better-than-it's-ever-been" buzz was about.
I started in Old Town, site of Albuquerque's first Spanish settlement in 1706. The shops in the adobe buildings around the band-shell-centered square weren't doing much trade, selling T-shirts, turquoise and kachina dolls. I quickly lost interest and headed for Old Town's Spanish Colonial twin-spired 1793 San Felipe de Neri Church, where Masses are still celebrated. It is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city, and its rectory was leased to the Army after the Civil War.
