10 things to do in El Paso before you die
 

Well, hopefully you won't die soon, but here is some stuff to do in El Paso if you are ever in this neck of the woods.

1. Visit the Missions

2. Mt. Cristo Rey

3. Hueco Tanks

4. Sunland Race Track and Casino

5. Visit Ciudad Juarez , don't want to drive, you can always take the trolley

6. Eat at Chico's Tacos

7. Attend Viva El Paso!

8. El Paso Tramway

9. Visit the Franklin Mountains

10. Attend a game at the Sun Bowl



11. White Sands

12. Water Sports? Try Elephant Butte

13. Go Batty at Carlsbad Caverns

14. Snow Skiing in Ruidoso

15. Into conspiracies, and believe in UFO's? Visit Roswell, New Mexico , or Marfa ;)

16. Visit Old Mesilla , try lunch at La Posta

Enjoy your trip to the Sun City ;)

Go to the Sun Bowl.

Done:

1. Visit the Missions

4. Sunland Race Track and Casino Before "Casino" was added to the name!

5. Visit Ciudad Juarez , don't want to drive, you can always take the trolley All the time, even driven! You really DO need to eat some tacos from a street vendor, or at least visit El Taco Tote.

7. Attend Viva El Paso!

8. El Paso Tramway Before they closed it an re-opened it!

9. Visit the Franklin Mountains

10. Attend a game at the Sun Bowl In costume! Been in all levels of the press box, both locker rooms (pre-Durham Center), even the boiler room.



11. White Sands

13. Go Batty at Carlsbad Caverns

14. Snow Skiing in Ruidoso Not skiing, though.

15. Into conspiracies, and believe in UFO's? Visit Roswell, New Mexico , or Marfa ;)

16. Visit Old Mesilla , try lunch at La Posta Take the back roads from ELP!

Enjoy your trip to the Sun City ;)[/QUOTE]

Here is my score:

1. Visit the Missions

Nope

2. Mt. Cristo Rey

Nope

3. Hueco Tanks

Nope

4. Sunland Race Track and Casino

Does going to State Line BBQ count ?

5. Visit Ciudad Juarez , don't want to drive, you can always take the trolley

Yep -- Trolly & Walk

6. Eat at Chico's Tacos

Yep

7. Attend Viva El Paso!

Nope

8. El Paso Tramway

Nope

9. Visit the Franklin Mountains

Yep

10. Attend a game at the Sun Bowl

Yep



11. White Sands

Yep

12. Water Sports? Try Elephant Butte

Nope

13. Go Batty at Carlsbad Caverns

Nope

14. Snow Skiing in Ruidoso

Nope

15. Into conspiracies, and believe in UFO's? Visit Roswell, New Mexico , or Marfa ;)

Nope (well I can't remember going)

16. Visit Old Mesilla , try lunch at La Posta

Yep -- Old Masilla

Nope -- La Posta

Always do :)

So I have a option to either spend 2 days in El Paso or overnight and fly out in the AM and overnight in Houston. Which one should I go for?

Not sure, but right now we have very nice weather.

If you are going to spend the night, you could go for dinner at Jaxon's on Airway, which is close to the airport

At one time or another have done most, and was surprised not to see the two approaches to Cd. Juarez, downtown and the Chamizal.

From the old days, I recall....

La Paloma on the East side...The best "Gorditas" in captivity.

...and even longer ago, "Shangri-La" in old downtown Juarez, better than any Chinese restaurant in the US at that point in time.

Was Jaxon's the place noted for green chiles atop steak? ...And overall, the BBQ at State Line is overrated compared to the Grand Holy Sanctuaries of the Art.

BBQ reaches its ultimate expression in some of the small towns in the Brazos and Colorado Bottoms, where the sausage is still crafted by acolytes with deep accents and great grandfathers from Bohemia and Moravia. The sort of places where the beef was reverently laid upon the pit yesterday - Transubstantiation is both doctrinal and slow - and then served upon sterling patens of butcher paper (and where sauce, if not an afterthought, is from drippings and never sodden with sugar or sugared components).
Then there are the Knights Templar and Hospitallers of St. John, nestled snug in their fortress, Coopers at Llano, upstream if not upscale.

Two other El Paso "musts":

1. Go to one of the outlets and buy an expensive (but discounted) pair of boots.

2. Return to the outlet the next day to return your boots after staring at the pair you bought while back at the hotel and muttering to yourself, "When the f**k am I ever gonna wear these back in New York?"