6/27/13 - Las Cruces, NM

After breakfast we sat outside and drank coffee.  We also watched the birds.  It was very pleasant outside this morning.   We drove to Walmart to pick up a few items and then went to DeLaVega’s Pecan Grill & Brewery.  Their beer comes from Membres Brewery in Deming, New Mexico.  Jim ordered us the sampler of their twelve beers.  We ate lunch also.  I had green chili mac & cheese with chicken and a side bowl of fresh fruit.  Jim had a veggie burger with green chilis and some sweet potato fries. Two of their beers were Green Chili Ale and Pecan Amber Ale.  (There are a lot of pecan tree orchards in Las Cruces.)

 

Afterward we went to the Casita and dropped off the items from Walmart and then drove to Old Mesilla.  There is a really nice plaza with a gazebo and a church.  On one corner is the oldest documented brick building in New Mexico, built in 1860.  On the corner across from that building is an adobe building built in 1850 that once served as the Capital of Arizona and New Mexico.  In this building Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang. It is now a souvenir shop.  Jim saw a funny T shirt he wanted but it didn't come in his size.  He took a picture of it.

It was very hot (101 degrees) and we went inside LaPosta Restaurant and drank a beer.  It occupies a mid 18^th century adobe building and is the only surviving stage coach station of the Butterfield Overland mail route. Kit Carson, Pancho Villa, General Douglas McArthur and Billy the Kid were all here at one time. In the center of the building they have built a large cage that houses about ten beautiful birds.  We drove by the Meson De Mesilla, a restaurant and hotel where Gordon Ramsey just finished filming on June 22.  It will be featured on “Hotel Hell” in the fall.

We found three Geocaches today.  

We decided to get one last beer at High Desert Brewing before leaving tomorrow and then I went to the grocery store for veggies for stir fry tonight.