Madrid on the Turquoise Trail

On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is having no internet for the rest of your life and 10 is being at a free buffet of your favorite foods, Madrid, NM ranks a 7.

This town is an adorable gem! I don't know how I lived almost my entire life in Albuquerque and never knew about this cute artistic town. It is a mere 45 mile drive from Albuquerque. The tourist part of the town is an easy stroll of less than one mile from one end to the other on the main street. Each of the buildings on the street, most of which are antique houses, have been converted to a shop of some kind-- a diner, a sculpture yard, a jeweler, et cetera. This is a town we may not return to annually, but we absolutely will come back many times in our lives.

First things first... How to Pronounce Madrid:

Those of us who speak Spanish or are fluent in the languages of world history or geography may know very well that Madrid is the capital of Spain. That famous 450+ year old city correctly maintains the proper Spanish pronunciation of Muh-drid. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, and after much attempted argument to the contrary, I finally came to the truth that New Mexico Madridians pronounce the name of their town MAD-rid. I know, it makes no sense, but alas it is the human named truth.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, let us move onto A Little Bit of History:

Clear back in the 17th century, Madrid was a lead miner's town. Coal mining began in 1835 and a special green form of turquoise called Cerrillos Turquoise was also mined nearby. This model miner's town closed in the 1950s and became essentially a ghost town. In the 1970s, hippies and artists began moving into town looking for real estate in the mountains. Since that time, Madrid has continued in this pattern of awesome artistry. If you possess even the slightest percentage of hippy in your DNA, your day there will be filled with so much to see and do that you may find yourself there five hours later still not wanting to leave.

Onto Our Story of the Day:

We arrived to town around noon. We began our journey in Madrid by stopping by a few shops. During this time, we asked for a recommendation for lunch and we went on to try it out. The name of this diner was Mama Lisa's Cafe. If you come from a decently large city like us, this cafe may be unlike any place you've ever dined before. We are accustomed to restaurants where everything on the menu is available at any point in the day. You come in anytime, take one of the plenitude of tables available, and have paintings on the wall to look at as you wait for your food to be delivered. If this is also the "norm" for your experience in diners, Mama Lisa's Cafe may surprise you.

We came in toward the end of the lunch rush. The menu was posted on a whiteboard at the door, so you had to select your meal before sitting. We found the last table available and we seated ourselves. The waitress/hostess/cashier/busgirl came out to greet us. She took our order and we observed the surroundings as we waited for our food to be delivered. My favorite piece was a woven wood moose hanging on the wall. It was fun to people watch while looking out the front window toward the main street. Our meal was served on a giant plate. Orrin got a brisket sandwich and I got a green chile chicken enchilada meal. The photo below was after he put everything green onto my plate.

Our food was delicious, but then the most interesting part of the dining experience began. As we ate, we eavesdropped on the surrounding tables, which were very nearby. We discovered that grandma, our tablemate, had ordered the last available bowl of tortilla soup. Soon after, we learned that the house was out of all the pies listed on the menu. Little by little, we became aware of more and more items which had run out for the day. The most devastating was that the of their 3 unique flavors of ice cream listed (of which, we were very excited to try blueberry lavender) only a chile flavored one was left. We were not so keen on trying that one, so we all shared a piece of chile chocolate cake with grandpa. I just have to take a moment to rant about how even growing up in New Mexico where I add green chile to almost every plate, I personally do not believe chile should be mixed with sweets. There is just something so wrong about that. Okay, the rant is done. We paid our check and headed onto some more stores.

What immediately struck me was how the shop owners conducted themselves. In the city, when a salesman talks to you, you feel like it is because they are under some sort of obligation. Most people you would see running the stores were well into their retirement. Some would tell stories of how their grandparents used to make certain styles of jewelry and some of their molds are still used for the silverwork in bracelets. They would tell stories about how they aren't in the shop for the money in the least bit. One man told us that he lives on a lot not too far away with about 50 acres of land. He only runs the shop because if he didn't see people occasionally, he or his dog would go crazy. What you will find inside many of the stores are all sorts of jewelry and Native American style pottery and trinkets. I guess that turquoise is found in veins of rocks like the one below.

One unique stop is called Maggie's Diner. As the sign right outside clearly states, "This is NOT a diner. It is a store." In fact, the building was also originally built to be a set for the 2007 comedic movie Wild Hogs, featuring Tim Allen and John Travolta. It has since been turned into a shop jam packed with souvenirs: t-shirts, bandanas, mugs, and sarcastic posters. 

Here are a few other fun trinkets we found at Madrid.

Rock-shaped soap 

Miniature Missions of NM

Random statues all over town

Air compressor wind chimes 

Crows that fill their beaks with water then release it out

A train!

Shop full of nothing but cute, funny sheep

We have saved the best for last just for you. If nothing else, the shop we are about to mention is reason enough to take a trip to Madrid. The name of this spectacular stop is Shugarman's Little Chocolate Shop. This is a man who owned an award winning restaurant for 20 years. He retired and started playing with chocolate. This led to his starting up his own shop. He gets the best ingredients from around the world. He will ask you if you prefer white, dark, or milk chocolate and then proceed to let you sample various chocolates until you pick the perfect few you'd love to purchase. He mixes various things like lemons, cherries, super foods, coconut, mango, and many more options into his chocolate. The options will be different every time you come in. We had extra time to sample...the store had seen no customers all day long and then shortly after we came in, about 8 other people entered. The chocolate was some of the highest quality we've ever had. It is worth every dime you pay for it!

Total Cost:
Mama Lisa's Diner: $10-12 per meal plus more if you get a dessert
Shugarman's Chcocolate: $13 (what we spent on it) $9.40 per 1/4 pound
Ice Cream at Jezebel Studio and Gallery: $3 each
Plus whatever souvenirs you purchase
Our total cost: ~$41

Bonus
The next town south of Madrid has a ruin or two that you can view as you drive past it on the Turquoise Trail. Here is a photo:

Comment below about what kind of shop you wish you could see in Madrid! Or what your favorite shop was!