New Mexico, Old Mesilla - Thursday, April 18, 2019 - Tour of the Plaza

Mesilla was established in 1849.  The Double Eagle restaurant where we are headed for lunch was established in the same year.  It is the oldest structure on the historic plaza, which is itself a National Historic Landmark.  The most beautiful structure on the plaza is the Basilica of San Albino.  The church is only open during services so we haven’t been able to see the inside.  But, I always admire beautiful stained glass windows.

We’ve been here before, but I always enjoy a walk through the shops.  We were here early so there is still plenty of parking.  I didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without (RVers have to be selective).

The plaza is getting ready for the Easter celebrations and parade this coming weekend.

This beautiful cast iron entrance gate leads to the Double Eagle restaurant.  This building has been home to some of Mesilla Valley’s most prominent families.  It has also been a cotton warehouse and then a series of small shops.  In 1970 Robert O. Anderson, who later became the president of Atlantic Richfield Oil bought the building and turned it into a restaurant.  He brought in gold, crystal, art and antiques.  The building was purchased in 1984 by C.W. Ritter and his wife who added to the antiques and art.  There are several ornate rooms off of the main patio where we ate lunch.  I peeked into a few of these but meetings were going on so I didn’t take pictures.  The paintings and sculptures throughout the building are all museum quality and date from the 1880’s through the 1930’s.

Lots of greenery in the lobby and throughout the building.

I had to be careful of the pictures I took of the bar.  Greg said the blog might get an R-rating otherwise.  There were lots and lots of paintings of “ladies” on the walls.  Otherwise, it was extremely ornate.

We ate lunch in the Billy the Kid Patio.  Billy the Kid was jailed in Mesilla in 1881 and tried for murder.  Next to our table was a seven foot carved stone fountain surrounded by Cycad Palms, which can be traced back to dinosaur times.  These plants are valued at $5,000 each by botanists.  They had no idea the danger I posed to these plants.  I’ve only managed to keep two of my original six houseplants alive.  I had the San Franciscan sandwich for lunch (with leftovers for supper).  I would definitely recommend this one.  

Dona Ana County, where we are located is the largest pecan producing county in New Mexico.  Some of the trees in the orchards we passed coming in date back to 1932.  Legacy Pecans is a family owned farm here in the valley.  Our only purchase of the day besides lunch was some really great pecans.

The Patio saloon was owned by Judge Roy Bean, the famous Texas Hanging Judge and his brother.  He got his start here in Mesilla and then stole the town’s money which was kept in the only safe in town (at the bar).  He then headed for Texas.

One of the gift and jewelry shops in town, the Thunderbird de la Mesilla, is the oldest documented brick building in New Mexico.  Construction on the building began in 1860.  It has been a general store, residence, saloon and town hall.  Two former owners were killed during robberies.  Things were much calmer today.

New Mexico, Las Cruces - Thursday, April 30, 2015 - Historical Old Mesilla

The website for this resort advertised that it was within walking distance to Old Mesilla.  I checked with the front desk this morning and found out that “walking distance” was a mile and a quarter.  We decided we could handle that and headed out to explore.

San Albino Catholic Church has stood on the plaza since 1852.

The stained glass windows are beautiful.

We walked through about half of the shops around the plaza, checking out things we might come back for later.  I wanted to have lunch at La Posta, a Mexican restaurant that has been in business since September 16, 1939 when it was opened by 25 year old Katy Griggs.

 

 

Katy bought the old adobe building that was once a Butterfield Stage Coach stop from her uncle for $1.00.  Katy and her uncle were part of a renowned merchant family from Mesilla.  Katy died in 1993 but the restaurant is still run by the same family and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  The walls are filled with accolades from all kinds of magazines and newspapers.

When the café first opened it had 4 tables on a dirt floor and no running water.  It’s a lot bigger today, the floor is no longer dirt and they have running water. 

Front entrance is impressive.

 

 

The bar produces a very good margarita.

 

 

The lobby has a huge exotic bird cage.

 

 

 

And some red piranhas.  They really do sparkle.

 

 

Lunch was very good.  Unfortunately, we started eating before I realized I didn’t take any pictures.

Next door to La Posta was The Chocolate Lady.  We bought dessert for later.

 

 

It was hard to choose.

 

 

We walked back around the plaza and made some purchases before we left.  Here are some scenes from this beautiful area.

 

 

 

 

Walking back to the resort we passed one of the many local pecan orchards.

 

 

We realized as we were looking at some literature on the area that I made a mistake in yesterday’s post.  The mountains to the east of Las Cruces are the Organ Mountains, not the Oregon Mountains.  I wish I could blame it on auto correct, but that isn’t the case.  I must have been tired when I wrote the post yesterday.  When I went back into my posts to make my correction to yesterday I couldn’t find it.  That’s because I labeled it Las Cruces, AZ instead of Las Cruces, NM.  Not only have I lost track of what day it is (it can’t be the last day of April), I’ve also lost track of where I am.

 

 

Our last stop of the day was St. Clair Winery.  The last paragraph sounds like I need wine J.  New Mexico is the oldest wine producing state in the country – production started in 1629.  Today there are 47 vineyards and wineries throughout New Mexico.  The St. Clair Winery is the largest.

 

 

Our purchases for today, clockwise from the top:  wine, rhubarb jam, a tiny purple pot to go with a purple stone I purchased near the Grand Canyon, chocolate covered salted caramels and cashew turtles, a piece of pecan pie and half a pound of pecan pieces.