Admittedly our stop in Las Cruces was designed as a “utility” stop… do laundry, shop for food, really cool stuff like that.  Awesome you say?  Totally!  Best.  Laundromat.  Ever!  Kidding.

We camped at Siesta RV Park, although “camped” would be better described as “parked”.  But as said, our goal was utility and this campground (parking lot) met our needs.  It was conveniently located a short way off of I-10, close to old town Mesilla (pro Meseeyah) and close to Las Cruces.

 

We headed first to downtown Las Cruces, with the Organ Mountains in the backdrop, the city is in a beautiful setting.  The city of Las Cruces is a modest one, with strong adobe and Spanish influence; kind of a “working man’s” town, and probably a great place to live and raise a family.

We spent more time, though, in Mesilla, just south of Las Cruces, where we found a lot of nice things and a very cool vibe.  The old town area is so cute, and we found three epic food & beverage recommendations!

Getting into town mid-afternoon, we made an early dinner at La Posta De La Mesilla, a Mexican restaurant in Mesilla that has been here since 1939.  Let me just say, this place was awesome – no lie!  Great margarita’s, fabulous food (we had shrimp ceviche, chile relleno, folded taco, green chile enchilada…ooh la la), absolutely cool place and decorated to the nines – would go back in a heartbeat.

For an afternoon break in chores, we joined friends at Peppers Café and Double Eagle Restaurant.  What a treat!!  Now, full disclosure, we were there at the bar for cocktails and not to eat, but the place is an absolute “must see” if in town. We participated in their Award Winning Margarita (yes, that is actually it’s name – for very good reason).  Booleah.  The bar is so cool, and apparently parts of it was shipped from Chicago where it had been part of an Al Capone bar.

Amongst other friendly bar patrons, we met Dan and Tom.  Now Dan and Tom were former women’s basketball coaches at New Mexico State University and (if I recall correctly) one of their former students coordinated a reunion for the game on Saturday and invited these (and other) former coaches and players to attend the game on Saturday.  Neither one of them had been here in for a long time – they have lived elsewhere (Pittsburgh and Rochester) for years.  How cool is that?

The Double Eagle Restaurant, while we did not dine, is so inviting!

Old town Mesilla is really charming, just really a nice place to stroll around.

For dinner we took another recommendation and went to a place called Chala’s Wood Fired Grill, also in Mesilla.  This place was awesome – great Mexican food, but several of us had a New York strip and smoked pork chops – which were superb.

For a “utility stop”, this stop in Las Cruces and Mesilla had plenty of great stuff in it!