Just Two Days in El Paso -- lots of fun

The highlight of our visit was seeing my brother (who is stationed at Ft. Bliss) and his wife. In addition to our quick visit, we crammed in a lot of sightseeing and other activities.

We were happy that we went to The Wyler Aerial Tramway, probably the number-one must-see thing. The drive to the tram is a chance to see the beautiful country, and the view at the top is great.
I was also very happy that I got a feel of the history of the area when we visited the three missions on the Mission Trail.
We also did the downtown walking tour, but unfortunately, since most of the museums were closed for the weekend, we only got to see some of the highlights. The alligator park is mentioned in the tour book, but I also enjoyed many other stops such as the mural of the fighters. The Tiffany Dome at Real Camino is a definite must-see. It is also interesting to see historical buildings alongside the modern glass buildings. The architecture of the convention center buildings, such as the Theater, is also very unusual.

We even took in a minor league baseball ballgame (lots of fun seeing the Diablos) and saw many exotic animals at the Ranch at Cattleman’s Steakhouse.

Yes, we also walked to the Mexican border and saw the bridge between the two countries! The ironic thing is that we, the visitors, saw more of El Paso than my brother and his wife. In fact, I made up a photo album and sent it to my brother so he would have a memory of El Paso when he leaves the area for his next assignment!

Quick Tips:

Make sure you get to eat at least one authentic Mexican restaurant.

Pick up the official walking tour brochure ahead of time if you plan to do the tour on the weekend (the convention center is closed during the weekend, and the library closes at noon on Saturday morning).

Check the local paper for seasonal events. We unfortunately missed a Cinco de Mayo festival.

Click here for information about El Paso.

Best Way To Get Around:

We either walked, or my brother drove us.

Staying at the Camino Real was fantastic. While vacationing, we usually stay in timeshares or moderately priced hotels. This visit was different! My brother and his wife picked out the hotel for us to stay while visiting them. Their pick was Camino Real. When I read that the NY Times categorized that hotel as a luxury hotel, I knew this hotel would be much more than we are used to. I was not disappointed.

The location of the hotel was perfect for us – downtown - so we could do some sightseeing before connecting with my brother. It was next door to the convention center area, which included several museums. We also could walk from our hotel to the Mexico border. The hotel has a parking lot for guests, so parking was not a problem.

The lobby area, Dome Bar, Dome Restaurant, Azulejos Restaurant (breakfast and lunch), and all other associated rooms or areas of the first level were breathtaking. Luckily, we had a digital camera, or I would have been broke developing all of the film we took of the wonderful staircases, paintings, chandeliers, stained-glass windows, and of course, the famous stained-glass Tiffany dome! My only regret was that the camera was new, and the lighting was not the best. You will have to take my word for it – the area was beautiful. I don’t think I ever spent so much time wandering around, looking in a lobby before! We had some cocktails in the Dome Bar just so we could take in some of the beauty.

The room also was very nice. First of all, the furniture was first-rate. The bed, dresser, desk, and chairs were high-quality cherry. Marble and mirrors were everywhere! I felt so pampered staying at such a rich room. The bed was very comfortable, which was especially welcome for me, since I usually have such a hard time sleeping on hotel beds. In addition, there was Internet connection right in the room, which was very convenient.

The hotel also had a rooftop pool, which was nice for sunbathing. I did do some swimming, but since we went in April, the water was really too cold for me (though others apparently had no problem with the water temperature!).

Click here for Camino Real’s home webpage. You can see some pictures of the stained dome and other luxury features of the hotel. And the information included is not exaggerating how beautiful the hotel is.

This was a great hotel. Definitely the "jewel" of the city, as noted on the webpage.

Even though my brother and his wife had been in El Paso for close to six months, they had never visited what I think is one of El Paso’s best attractions – The Wyler Aerial Tramway. As for most trams, the focal point of this attraction is the view from the top. As the cable car inched up the mountain (up another 2,000 feet in addition to the parking lot’s starting elevation of 4,000-plus feet), we heard history of the cable cars and the tramway. We were asked to guess which two countries and which three states we would see at the top. The skies were beautiful the day we picked for our trip, so we got a fantastic view of the U.S. and Mexico and the three states (Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua in Mexico)! The cable cars are not as nice as the cable cars for the Palm Springs Tram, but the El Paso observation deck area was much more substantial than the corresponding one in Palm Springs. In fact, we stayed at the top at El Paso for quite some time viewing the scenery using the various "telescopes". There also was a very interesting gift shop where I bought several souvenirs. I am so glad that I brought my brother on the Tram! My pictures don’t do justice to the view visitors actually see.

Click here for the tram’s home webpage.

I really wanted to see the The Mission Trail and the three missions listed in the AAA book. I was in the minority, but we agreed to see one mission as a compromise. However, since the routes were not marked well, I ended up the winner since I saw all three. (They are so close together, it only makes sense to see all three). I was, however, disappointed since there wasn’t much information at the missions themselves. So I read information from my tour book, viewed the missions, took some pictures, and then did more research on the web.

I am still glad that we detoured from the main highway and saw this part of history. I am sure I will probably never return to El Paso, so this chance would probably be my only chance to see part of history. One of the missions is undergoing major renovations, so we didn’t see much there. Another one had some very remarkable religious figures inside the mission. Socorro remains one of the oldest continuously occupied settlements in the Southwest.

I have included some pictures, but I suggest you check out the attached websites for better pictures and information.

Click here for general information.
Click here for information about Yseleta.
Click here for history of the area.
Click here for information about Socorro.

The Diablos

We had a fantastic evening watching the minor league baseball team of El Paso. It has been years since I went to a baseball game, and I couldn’t have picked a better team to watch.

Yes, the home team won, which made it nicer than if they had lost. But there was so much else going on. During the entire game, every kid (and some adults) could be involved with all of the dancing, egg-throwing, running, and many other crazy "games" in between every inning. In addition, at the end of the game, I think every child in the stadium emptied onto the field to see their players. And of course, plenty of autographs were signed. The one picture shows two of the many mascots. The other picture shows one group of dancers, the scoreboard lit up in the background,and also how good seats are in the stadium – not a bad house to be found.

There also was plenty of upbeat music and the normal ballpark food of peanuts, ice cream, hamburgers, and hot dogs. It really was a "happening" followed by fireworks! This team seemed like a local crowd favorite.

Click here for information about the Diablos.

Indian Cliff’s Ranch at Cattleman’s Steakhouse
We spent just as much time going through the ranch/zoo as we spent eating our dinner. This ranch is free for all diners of the steakhouse, though I believe there is a fee if you want to wander around the property without eating there.

There are several sections of the ranch. One section is called the lake walk, which is a wooden walk suspended over the edges of a small lake. It is a peaceful walk around, looking at the geese and other animals in the water, as well as the landscaping. It is also a way of walking off some of the calories consumed at dinner! In the picture, you can see the beautiful skies. Other sections housed different animal species. Some may love the snake pit (not me though). Others may spend more time in the pens with various deer and elk. There were also pens of newborn animals. I especially liked seeing the ostriches.

There are opportunities to go to a few movie sets, take a hay ride, have a picnic, and a refreshment area. I am sure this is not as nice as the El Paso zoo, but since we were not going to the zoo, this was fun.

Click here for information about the ranch.

We ate at various informal and formal restaurants while in El Paso. I included the first two because the location made these two perfect. The third one is a great restaurant. The final two were also good.

Azulejos
This Mexican restaurant is located at Camino Real Hotel, and not only was it convenient, but the food was good and priced reasonably. My husband enjoyed two buffet breakfasts where he was treated courteously and efficiently. The atmosphere was very nice, and he felt comfortable eating a leisurely breakfast by himself. Each buffet breakfast, which consisted of omelettes, sausage, cereal, coffee, and lots of other offerings, cost less than $15 (including tax and tip). The room is a well-lit large dining area with lots of room between tables and plenty of light. Also, there are plenty of sculptures around the room, making it very interesting.

Village Inn
This is a local "Pancake House" that was on the way to the airport. The fact that it is open 24 hours was a plus, since we needed a restaurant close to the airport (but not in the terminal so we could have breakfast with my sister-in-law) that was open early. All three of us ordered pancakes, and all were happy. The service was good, so we didn’t worry about being late for our flight.

Cattleman’s Steakhouse
We drove quite a distance here since we had heard so much about this legendary steakhouse. It is only 35 miles from downtown, but it took much longer to drive than I expected. Obviously, we all ordered steaks, but I ordered the smallest cut possible since I had heard the steaks were enormous. (See the lady’s filet for the small appetite.) The steaks were cooked just right and were delicious. Unlike many restaurants in other tourist areas, your meal includes the extras, such as potatoes and vegetables. We chowed down on the beans, baked potato, coleslaw (very good), and corn on the cob, as well as lots of hot bread. As we ate, we looked around the room. There were quite some interesting items hanging from the ceiling, including a wagon! After eating, we stopped in at the gift store and also visited the property, looking at all of the animals. Hours later, we returned to our hotel after a very entertaining evening!

Click here for Cattleman’s Steakhouse's home webpage, including menus.

Kiki's This was a great local Mexican restaurant. The food was good and inexpensive. I included a picture of us. Click here for Kiki’s webpage, including menus.

Cafe Central This was an eclectic restaurant that was close to our hotel. The food was delicious. I believe you can see the modern look of the restaurant in the picture. Even the website gives a feel of the place.Click here for Café Central’s webpage, including menus.