My Tiny Vegas: Las Vegas, New Mexico News, Stories, Photographs, and More!

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: Abraham's Tiendita

West side students hang out at the tiendita ("little store") after school, where they buy tamales, green chile and bean burritos, sodas, and biscochitos.

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: New Mexico Highlands University

New Mexico Highlands University is home of the Cowboys and Cowgirls!

How can New Mexico sport such a lush green lawn in the middle of April?? Well, my dear readers, the answer is... astroturf! Yes, Highlands University has a full complement of FAKE grass! The reasoning behind the astroturf installation was to help keep things looking neat and pretty during our times of drought. The University is thinking of removing the plastic grass and moving to xenoscaping. I sure hope so!

The Ivan Hilton Science Center at New Mexico Highlands University.

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: Sewing Man

Las Vegans have a deep love and appreciation of music, art, and literature. Many of the town's residents have had family in the area for 400 years!

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: Old stuff, cheap!

No matter where you walk in town, you will see pieces of our history. Las Vegas, New Mexico, has several antique shops where you can purchase old cowboy boots, postcards from long ago, cow horns, Native American jewelry and beaded clothing.

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: Beans and Sweets

A mystical mural on the east wall of Beans and Sweets, where National meets the Rio Gallinas Bridge.

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: Popular Dry Goods

All the ranchers and cowboys and local pretty boys get their Stetsons, cowboy boots, bolo ties, and jeans at Popular Dry Goods. I bought my own hat, a malevolent black cowgirl hat with a wide brim, at Popular as well as my best cowboy boots. Walking into Popular is like walking into a temporal rift, into 1950, into the old Wild West.

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: Rincon Bonita

Get your finest Western Wear, including tuxedos and bridal fashions, at Rincon Bonita Western Wear, on Bridge Street. The obligatory pick-up truck rests, waiting for his owner.

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: The Mighty Gallinas

The Rio Gallinas splits Las Vegas, New Mexico into East and West. Some of my neighbors call it the Mighty Gallinas, though it rarely flows higher than you see in the photograph, above, taken this afternoon.

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: Tile detail at Total Fashion

Total Fashion, on the Plaza, has some old tile work around its storefront. Like most of Las Vegas, New Mexico, the tiles are worn, forgotten.

Scenes from Las Vegas, New Mexico: La Castaneda Hotel

The "haunted" La Castaneda Hotel from several angles. The Casteneda sits on the edge of the Great Plains, one block west of the railroad tracks. The saloon still runs today, though the rest of the hotel is boarded up and not in use. La Castaneda is one of the early Harvey Houses to be built in the Mission Revival Style.