Oct 30, Las Cruces, Mesilla

Oh my, did we have a day! We drove to Las Cruces, and first went to the Veterans Memorial. It was dedicated in 2005 and is a lovely, emotionally moving park. First off you see the three flags, surrounded by a 3/4 curved wall. When you walk down to it, you see all the different wars that was fought for our freedoms - and the names are ONLY those from Dona Ana County that died in them.

Then, you go on the memorial walk - and the first sculpture is three figures representing the survivors of the Bataan Death March - 1 looking forward to surviving, 1 looking sideways to see where they were, and 1 looking back to see where they had been. In front of and behind are footprints in cement, that were made by taking 38 survivors footprints in plaster, then pushing them into the cement - and most of them are of bare feet! Apparently on that march, many of them had no shoes. It is awesome to see this tribute.

There are also many other tributes on the walk, the marines, Korean war, US Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Army, and several units I didn't recognize. It is extraordinarily well done! If you ever get to Las Cruces, do make it a stop (and there are rest rooms there too)! It is not commercialized, they don't ask for donations nor is anyone selling anything at the park.

Then we drove downtown to the old town of Mesilla. There are many shops, some tiny, some large, all selling different variations of gifts, lots of jewelry, wonderful arts/crafts decor, clothing, knick knacks, t-shirts, etc. We spent several hours walking, admiring, walking, touching, etc. I resisted buying anything although I found something in the very first store we went in...David bought some fresh Hatch chili salsa and I went back to that store and bought a beautiful cashmere/wool blend poncho for $15...It is gorgeous and should be just right for the cool winter nights in Texas!

This is inside the Basilica

These are some of the musicians making good music in the square!

Here I'm bargaining with a jewelry maker - she won!

The square inside Old Mesilla

One of the main reasons we went down there was because I had a gift certificate for $25 for the restaurant 'Peppers' that we heard was very good. OMG, they weren't kidding - it was fabulous! We started with chips, salsa & chili con queso...David ordered Spinach Enchilad's and a Chili Relleno, I had Beef brisket that was slow roasted over a cactus fire, and drenched with a honey chipolte bbq sauce and shoestring fries. We shared a to die for coconut flan!


David - thanks for a wonderful day!