We've all heard about the vast emptiness in the southwest and the desert. I assure you it's true. I promise you that sometimes you will forget when the last time you saw a town was. I swear that mirages do happen. The southwest has an exotic beauty, combined with an eerie vastness, a sense of death and a loneliness. It's beautiful. It's photogenic. It's solitude in its most exaggerated form.
The first time I ever flew to Las Vegas I got my very first sense of this feeling. I remember taking a night flight and seeing the blackest sky I'd ever seen. I remember seeing this dot of light in the distance that grew larger and larger as we approached the dazzling lights of Vegas and all that it had to offer in the middle of nowhere in the desert. It's a feeling that's all around in that part of the world.
New Mexico was no different. My husband and I were driving through the southern part of the state to avoid snow storms on our cross country drive. We'd scheduled a driving day followed by a non driving day the whole way home to soothe our old bones a bit for a drive that we'd not planned to take, but found necessary in the wake of a family emergency. We drove from Sun City, Arizona to Connecticut. Our first driving day took us across much of the southern desert of Arizona and New Mexico and landed us in a town that you may have heard of over the years. Roswell, New Mexico.
Anyone who's ever read this blog probably knows that I have an amazing inner geek. When I was laying out this cross country trip, I couldn't resist stopping at one of the places that had always been on my bucket list.
There are thousands of books, shows, movies and whatever about a bizarre incident that happened in the vicinity of Roswell on July 7,1947. Legend and lore says that a spaceship landed on Mac Brazel's ranch that night. Myth says that the U.S. government came out and got rid of all the evidence, claimed that it was a weather balloon and covered the whole thing up. Conspiracies say that the government took the aliens away to a top secret base. Since then, believers of alien visits and spaceships have made this strange desert town their Mecca.
I've read a lot of the books, watched a lot of shows and movies on the subject. I love a good controversy that doesn't directly involve me. One of the things that I love most in this world is an unusual place. I love to go to places that would earn a spot right on the cover of an Atlas Obscura book. Roswell is that place.
I've spent my life traveling. One of the things that I've encountered over the years that makes for some powerful memories are what I call tourist traps. It's not a complaint. The world needs all kinds of things for travelers and tourists to see and enjoy. I'm not a fan of resorts either. No big deal. Anyone who's ever been to Cedar Point knows what I'm talking about. Not the amusement park, but the area surrounding it is riddled with offbeat tourist traps. I went to the Blue Hole, which was a hole. I went to Crystal Caves which wasn't much to write home about. Over the years I've followed road signs and billboards to some ridiculous things that were only there to take your money. That's what I call a tourist trap. A little stone ledge in the Adirondacks is not a natural bridge. It's a tourist trap.
That being identified, I will say that in my opinion, Roswell, New Mexico is a tourist trap. But, it is the best tourist trap in the world and the only one I have ever recommended visiting. Irregardless of the city making most of its money on tourists and alien believers, it's a lot of fun!
UFO culture has become a science. Whatever happened in Roswell in 1947, it created its own culture. The local cinema was long ago converted to the UFO Museum and Research Center. People who study these sightings and abductions and oddities, do come to Roswell to do research. They have a lot of information on a subject that yields very little information. People from all over the world come to the center to do research.
The museum covers every minute and every inch and every item of the history of the spaceship landing in 1947. Let me say that no matter what you believe, no matter what you think of the history of this place; several people's lives were changed by that single event. Learning about it is remarkably interesting no matter what your beliefs.
Every year, for the anniversary of the crash, there's a giant festival in Roswell. I wish I could have been there for the annual UFO Festival in July.
The aliens are the stars of the show in this town, but there's more to Roswell than aliens.
Roswell is a city that wasn't designed to be a flourishing city. There's really only one main drag in town and the entire city has grown up around it. It reminded me of some of the cities in the Midwest where my friends and I used to go cruising back in the day. Almost all businesses, stores, hotels, and restaurants are along the main drag. There are other streets and some other areas, but all the main stuff is on main street.
I must say that all of the people that we met who lived in Roswell were kind and happy to meet new people. I also must say that I ate some extremely good local food while I was there. But, if you come to this amazing town that was designed for you to get your geek on, believe in the extraterrestrial, and spend money on souvenirs; realize that these people love their culture, myth and legend. Don't make fun of it, if you get the urge. It's a lifestyle.
We embraced everything about this amazing city. We even tried out virtual reality. We did a session that was designed to make us feel like the alien during the events surrounding the crash. I wouldn't have missed it for the world, and virtual reality is fun. Won't lie.
Now, we all have probably heard over the years that Roswell is UFO central. But, there are other things there. For one thing, there's a military academy. I didn't know that until I drove by it. It's been there for over a hundred years and is part of why the town was created in the first place. The aliens didn't come along until much later. They also have a college. They have an airport that doesn't cater to spaceships alone. There's more to Roswell than UFO's.
While visiting anywhere, I like to check with people who live there and find out what they suggest for an activity. No one in Roswell has to suggest that you check out the alien lifestyle. Everyone who enters the city knows about that.
Roswell sits atop a plateau in the southwestern desert. The southwest used to be a sea and the desert that remains is a remnant of when water was there. It makes for an interesting landscape and occasionally that landscape forms into something pretty incredible.
We spoke to the lady that ran the front desk of our hotel and she told us about a place called Bottomless Lakes State Park. She gave us directions and off we went. a few miles out of town, we found the strangest collection of salted lakes and sinkholes we'd ever seen. It was the first time that I'd seen a natural body of water in some time, and it fascinated me.
The park has swimming, camping, hiking and scenic drives. It has a visitor center where you can learn about the geography of the area. It's remarkable.
Bottomless Lakes State Park is a scenic combination of sand, rock, salt, sunken Earth, lakes and exotic southwestern plant life. It was an experience that I'm glad I had, and I never would have known about if I hadn't asked someone that lived in Roswell about things to do. Communicate as you travel. Can't stress that enough.
Is Roswell a tourist trap or the location of the greatest intergalactic cross rip of all time? I don't know. But, if it's the location of the greatest intergalactic cross rip of all time, it's a once in history event that belongs exclusively to them, and they cherish it. If Roswell is a tourist trap, it's the greatest tourist trap in the world, and you will have a good time. I know lots of people who spend a fortune on going to Disney every year. I would so rather go to Roswell.
We went, we saw, we met people. It was a great city and has great citizens. We had a great time, tried some new things, ate some great food and hiked in some amazing nature. If you ever get a chance to go to Roswell, New Mexico, I highly recommend it.
Get your geek on, try something new, be open to everything you see and hear and enjoy!
https://www.roswell-nm.gov/Pages
https://www.newmexico.org/places-to-visit/regions/southeast/roswell/
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g47182-Activities-Roswell_New_Mexico.html
https://www.history.com/topics/paranormal/roswell
https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/roswell-new-mexico
https://www.roswellufomuseum.com/
https://www.rair.org/about-amoca
https://www.luxuryhotelsguides.com/?fullufi=20084222&msclkid=b04ece371f5f17572225ac7ac16ea208
https://www.roswell-nm.gov/328/Goddard-Planetarium
https://spaceportroswellnm.com/tickets
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/73320
https://www.roswellgalacticon.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BwjmwmZnIk
https://airportguide.com/airport/info/ROW
https://www.iexplore.com/destinations/new-mexico/ufo-tour-of-roswell-new-mexico
https://www.bottomlesslakesstatepark.com/
https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=restaurants&find_loc=Roswell%2C+NM
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