Corrales
We took a drive to Corrales one afternoon this winter. It's 50 miles from our house, an easy drive straight south down the Can Am highway. It's only 15 miles north of Albuquerque, a suburb of the city I guess, but it's really its own little burg, and a real throwback to another time.
It's a small village of less than 8,000 people, wedged in the narrowest strip of land between the Rio Grande river and the sprawling immense suburban monoculture of Rio Rancho tract homes and malls and the Intel Corp. campus to the west.
Corrales was, and still is, a farming community. The look and feel of wineries, a wholesale tree farm, horse stables and garden plots makes this little place seem like it belongs to centuries past.
It was mid winter when we visited, but in summer you can tell the town is green and leafy, with mature shady trees and small scale agriculture all around. The river isn't much -- it's the Rio Grande, after all, which is a poor excuse for a river to my New England eyes, but in New Mexico it is everything. Tilled fields hug the banks, and the town's only commercial street follows the river.
What struck me was how Corrales has found that sweet spot between a quaint village that is still a working, living community, and the precious Disneyfied, upscale, frozen-in-time artifact for tourists that it could have become.
There are a couple cute cafes and bakeries; the agriculture now is wine grapes and landscape trees and farmer's markets, no longer goats and chickens and truck farms. But it has kept its old time feeling, its small scale, and enough old utilitarian buildings that it still feels like a modest, working class town.
However, it is close to a major urban area, and there are some upscale homes, especially on the river. There are festivals and town events clearly intended to bring in tourists (art shows, harvest fairs, parades, an event called The Running of the Tractors. . .)
Every June there is a garden tour of lovely southwest style gardens at homes in town, and I plan on going this June.
I'm looking forward to seeing Corrales in the summer season. Homes have lawns, and fields are green. Trees, both at the extensive tree farm and in town yards, will be in leaf. Apparently the river provides the irrigation for this farm town, although this is still New Mexico, where rain is just a vague promise.
I'll post about the garden tour when we go.
It's a small village of less than 8,000 people, wedged in the narrowest strip of land between the Rio Grande river and the sprawling immense suburban monoculture of Rio Rancho tract homes and malls and the Intel Corp. campus to the west.
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| The commercial tree farm in Corrales stretches along the main street, with an awesome view of the Sandia mountains on the other side of the Rio Grande |
Corrales was, and still is, a farming community. The look and feel of wineries, a wholesale tree farm, horse stables and garden plots makes this little place seem like it belongs to centuries past.
It was mid winter when we visited, but in summer you can tell the town is green and leafy, with mature shady trees and small scale agriculture all around. The river isn't much -- it's the Rio Grande, after all, which is a poor excuse for a river to my New England eyes, but in New Mexico it is everything. Tilled fields hug the banks, and the town's only commercial street follows the river.
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| We had lunch at the Indigo Crow, sitting near a blazing fireplace. Like most of Corrales, it's not much to look at, but it's quaint and authentic and cozy, with good food. |
What struck me was how Corrales has found that sweet spot between a quaint village that is still a working, living community, and the precious Disneyfied, upscale, frozen-in-time artifact for tourists that it could have become.
There are a couple cute cafes and bakeries; the agriculture now is wine grapes and landscape trees and farmer's markets, no longer goats and chickens and truck farms. But it has kept its old time feeling, its small scale, and enough old utilitarian buildings that it still feels like a modest, working class town.
 |
| Farmer's markets and cafes are the thing in this little agricultural town now. |
However, it is close to a major urban area, and there are some upscale homes, especially on the river. There are festivals and town events clearly intended to bring in tourists (art shows, harvest fairs, parades, an event called The Running of the Tractors. . .)
Every June there is a garden tour of lovely southwest style gardens at homes in town, and I plan on going this June.
I'm looking forward to seeing Corrales in the summer season. Homes have lawns, and fields are green. Trees, both at the extensive tree farm and in town yards, will be in leaf. Apparently the river provides the irrigation for this farm town, although this is still New Mexico, where rain is just a vague promise.
I'll post about the garden tour when we go.
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