A Taste of Tuesday Night in Las Cruces

Every Tuesday night Tucker and I have a date night.  As you know we live in community and often are busy doing things with housemates, other BSC volunteers or work.  Because of this we have decided to have one night each week that is just the two of us.  We have had a really fun time hunting out fun yet cheap places to go, eat, and enjoy.  Here are some of our favorites.

Getting Pho at Pho Saigon
Surprisingly there is this great Vietnamese restaurant right around the corner from our house.  The waiter is awesome and very chatty.  Last time we were in there it was raining really hard (one of the 5 times a year) and he was telling us stories of being hit by lighting in Arizona.  At least that is what I think he was saying - wasn't quite sure I understood it all but he is super friendly and makes you want to come back.  The Pho is amazing!

$3 Movie Theater
There is a three dollar movie theater that plays mostly bad movies that have already come out on DVD.  It has all of the great accommodations like sticky floors that never get washed, heavy smoke filled screen curtains, squeaky chairs with broken springs, and the smell of stale popcorn.  It is great!  Tuesday nights all movies are only a dollar - our favorite night.

Dollar scoop night 
Tuesday nights Baskin Robbins has $1 a scoop night.  I guess business in Las Cruces is slow on Tuesdays because we seem to find Tuesday night deals all over.  For two dollars and we get movie and ice cream.  How can you beat that?

"A" Mountain


So "A" mountain, which is really named Tortuga Mountain, sits at the edge of town overlooking the city.  It is marked with a large painted "A" which is for the Aggies - the New Mexico State University mascot.  It isn't huge but large enought to have four or five trails which you can take  to the top and see the city.  We have  enjoyed biking out to the base of the mountain (about six miles out) and then hiking to the top to see the sunset.  Except for the trail up the face of the mountain, the trails aren't marked very well so we have done a lot of "off trailing it" which has been an adventure.  I am continuously paranoid we are going to run into a rattler and I do NOT look forward to this!

Local Theater
There are quite a few local theaters in town all of which are $10 and under!  I have yet to drag Tucker out with me but went and saw The Importance of Being Ernest at the black box theater this weekend.  I was thoroughly impressed by both the performance and the  theater.  Next weekend we are going to try out Steel Magnolias which is being performed at the community theater.  It will be interesting to see how the two  theaters compare.


Pro Ranch Market
So Las Cruces is blessed with a Pro Ranch Market and if you have lived in a region on the border you probably are familiar with this taste of Mexico.  Ranch market is a chain grocery/market store that caters to a Mexican/Mexican American community.  It started in California and has spread east along the boarder. 
It really is both a grocery store and market!  It has an enormous produce section as well as a food court, agua fresca bar, tortilleria, bulk spice section etc.  It is almost like the borders version of a Wegmans.  Shopping there is a cultural experience and it has quickly become our favorite grocery store!

So this being said they have a great cheap food area.  Our favorites are their 5 for $5 tacos or $1 gorditas.  Gorditas are an awesome creation of fried cornmeal pockets filled with meat, chili, cheese avocados etc.

Gordita - YUM!

Local Mexican
As you can imagine there are so many delicious and affordable Mexican restaurants in the area.  We try to find a new one each time we go out so that when we get visitors we will have chosen a favorite!  So far Chili con Carne and Carne adovada are my favorite meals.

Carne Adovada - you eat it with tortillas, avocado and veggies!