I recently had a business trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was not really looking forward to it, as the only thing I knew about the city is that my childhood BFF’s dad lives there….

It ended up being a great couple days! When I first got to the city, I had a few hours before my first appointment, so I checked into my hotel and got my nails done. I tell you what, that gel mani lasted the absolute longest that any of my manicures has, ever! I’m not sure why, but if you need a manicure when you’re in Albuquerque, hit up Lisa’s Hair and Nails off of San Antonio Drive. I stayed at a Marriott (I’m a Marriott freak… if you haven’t noticed already) on the north side of town, because it looked like they had a better fitness center… and I’m starting to learn that a hotel with a good fitness center sometimes trumps a better location (since Uber is so easy!). Of course, this rule does not always hold true, but when in smaller cities, there’s no reason not to pick the bigger hotel which might be farther away.

There was some really beautiful landscape out on the outskirts of this town. Business had me driving about 30 minutes out to the Double Eagle Airport, and the scenery was really neat. I tend to always be pleasantly surprised by the natural beauty when I have to drive out in the middle of nowhere for a meeting.

On my second day in Albuquerque I got to spend the afternoon at the ABQ Zoo and Aquarium. I find that visiting a zoo in different cities is a GREAT thing to do if you’re not sure what to do J Parking was free and admission to the zoo, aquarium, and botanical gardens was only $10 total. I honestly think this was my favorite zoo yet. And I am stunned that it was in the small city of Albuquerque. The zoo offered a large cat section, extensive reptilian area, bugs galore, an amphibian house, and lots of baby animals of all shapes and sizes, along with the typical giraffes, polar bears, rhinos, etc. I am not a fan of frogs, normally, but the amphibian exhibit was amazing! They had tons of different frogs that you hear about often but don’t ever get the chance to see such as the poison dart frog and the bullfrog. The reptiles were also a highlight, as they had everything from black and brown mambas and cottonmouths to the absolutely massive snapping turtle pictured below! It was really quite a treat.

On my final day, I had a couple hours to poke around the “Old Town” of Albuquerque. I enjoyed a Mexican hot chocolate and poked around the various American Indian stores. This was a great way to kill a couple hours before my flight out. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures, but there were a lot of colorful bags and traditional items to peruse.

All in all, I really enjoyed this city and would be happy to go back for a few days in the future.

Have you ever been to Albuquerque? Stayed anywhere interesting? Post below 🙂

Stay Practical!

-PG

P.S. did you know you can even go snow skiing only about an hour away??