View from the Innside

Shop Small Saturday--bed & breakfasts are the ultimate small local business

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving when stores--especially the big-box stores and the malls--start having their sales to jump-start the Christmas shopping season. Then there is Cyber Monday, which encourages people to buy things over the internet instead of suffering the madness at the mall. Finally, there is Shop Small Saturday, our favorite of the three, to remind people of local small businesses that need and deserve the support of their communities.

A bed & breakfast is the quintessential small business. We're in your town or neighborhood. We're your friends, neighbors and business associates. While we love selling gift certificates so that you, your friends or family can enjoy a stay at our B&B, we may also offer items that would uniquely fit your shopping lists. Many B&B's sell their house-made jams, pastries, soaps, or even cheeses. Some have their own restaurants for that special-occasion meal. We can offer packages so you can include tours, massages, fishing, hot air ballooning or an experience of a lifetime. Your niece may not need another toaster as a wedding gift, but she and her new husband will always remember the stay at a B&B you gave them as a gift for their wedding night.

Shop small. Shop local. Shop a bed & breakfast.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy

Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic Bed & Breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com

 

Holiday lunch menu for your group event at the Bottger Mansion of Old Town

Bring your group to a holiday high tea at lunch time at the Bottger Mansion of Old Town. Start your event with a warm and savory Tomato-Orange Soup.  Next is the  main course of Leek and Goat Cheese Quiche accompanied by Cranberry-Apple Salad with Spiced Pecans, paired with a splendid hot tea from the New Mexico Tea Company in one of the fine china tea cups from our collection. End your feast with a sample plate of three desserts:  New Orleans Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce, tangy Lemon Bars, and our house Bottger Mansion Chocolate Chip cookies. Everything is made in-house just for your event, and We can accommodate food allergies or dietary restrictions for anyone in your group with advance notice.

The bed & breakfast will be festively decorated for the holidays, and you are welcome to pile your gifts under the tree in our living room for your gift exchange after lunch.

Teas may be reserved in advance for groups of 8 to 16 people.  The cost is $25 per person plus tax. Parking is available in the public parking lot across the street.  Please note that our historic home is not handicap accessible (6 steps up to the front door).

Call 505-243-3639 to schedule this special holiday event for your group.

Kathy

Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic Bed & Breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com

 

pop-up Christmas card from Old Town Albuquerque 2011

Merry Christmas and best wishes from the Bottger Mansion of Old Town Bed & Breakfast. Here's this year's card, a pop-up photo collage of our favorite places around Old Town. (All of the photos were taken by Kathy except the lovely photo of the Sandias with snow, which we found on the web.)

If you'd like to try making your own Old Town pop-up card, click here for the pdf file of the photo page and click here for the instructions. When uncertain, refer to the photo of the finished card.

A healthy and prosperous New Year to all.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
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Christmas lights and luminarias in Albuquerque 2011

Looking for a little holiday activity to get you into the spirit? There's still time to take in some Christmas light displays and activities in Albuquerque. Or, if you're a last-minute kind of person, you can see thousands of luminarias on Christmas Eve. Here's some information on light displays and luminarias (click on the link for more info).

LIGHT DISPLAYS

• Bugg Lights at Menaul School on Fri. and Sat., then Dec 17-Christmas Eve (6-9 pm), free

• River of Lights at BioPark—nightly through Dec. 30 (6-10 pm), admission

• Holiday Light Show and entertainment at Expo New Mexico—through Dec. 24 (Fri, Sat and Sun), admission

If you can't go to any of these, here's a link to a video of a house in Albuquerque with a fabulous light display synchonized to music.

LUMINARIA TOURS

The luminaria bus tours on Christmas Eve are already sold out, but here are some tips:  here's a link to a map of neighborhoods in Albuquerque that usually have a lot of luminarias, not necessarily on the bus tour. And this is a link to the route the city bus tour is taking in 2011, if you'd like to take the same path (use the size bar at the upper left to enlarge the map so you can see the street names and which way to turn).

My tip for viewing luminarias on Christmas Eve:  GO LATE IN THE EVENING. It's a very popular thing to do, and traffic can be extremely  heavy. If there's no wind or rain, the luminaria candles burn until the wee hours of the morning. We went at midnight one year--it was quiet, peaceful and lovely. The traffic is gone and you can park and walk around in the stillness of the night.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy

Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook

 

 

Dec. 10, 2011--Holiday Strings concert at San Felipe Church in Old Town Albuquerque

Enjoy a free concert of the Holiday Strings at San Felipe Church in Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday, December 10, 2011, at 7:00 p.m.

The string quartet features Guillermo Figueroa and Valerie Turner on violin, Cherokee Randolph on viola and David Schepps on cello, and will perform light classical, popular and holiday music. The program will include:

Mozart's String Quartet in B flat, K. 458, The Hunt 
Barber's Adagio for Strings
Schubert's Ave Maria
a selection of popular and holiday classics announced from the stage

San Felipe Church is worth a visit, having undergone recent renovation, and the accoustics are marvelous!

San Felipe Church is located in Old Town, just east of Rio Grande Blvd. and north of Central Avenue. Seating is limited and will begin at approximately 6:30 after the Saturday evening Mass.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy

Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook

 

happy holidays from the reindeer people

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy and Steve

Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com

 

Halloween humor

Last week I drove downtown to meet my husband for lunch at Farina Pizza on Central Avenue.  I had to park on a side street by the Edward Buxton Cristy house on Walter Street. 

This sign was out in front of a house just down the street.

Cute!  On one hand, I wish I had thought of it.  On the other, I wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea:  "you'll never check out."

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy

Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic Bed & Breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com

 

Holiday Stroll--Old Town Albuquerque--December 3, 2010

Albuquerque's biggest Christmas party, the 13th Annual Old Town Holiday Stroll, will take place on Friday, December 3, 2010.  Old Town is located just north of Central Avenue between 19th Street and Rio Grande Boulevard NW.  Old Town will be aglow with the light of thousands of luminarias from dusk throughout the evening.

Enjoy the entertainment from noon to 9:00 p.m. with dancers, singers and performers.  At 6:00 p.m., the Albuquerque Fire Department Color Guard will raise the flag, accompanied by the National Anthem.  The giant Christmas tree lighting ceremony begins at 6:15 at Plaza Don Luis on Romero Street NW, just west of San Felipe Church. 

The children's Santa Claus parade takes place after the tree lighting ceremony, and Santa Claus will be in residence during the evening to hear children's wishes.

Parking is very limited.  Taking a city bus or RapidRide bus to Old Town is highly recommended.  Handicap parking and access is available.

If you're from out of town, stay at the Bottger Mansion of Old Town bed & breakfast. We have reserved parking spaces, and you'll be able to walk to all the Holiday Stroll festivities.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy

Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic Bed & Breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com

 

farolitos vs. luminarias vs. luminaries

This controversy is ripe for discussion this time every year:  in New Mexico, we use candles set in sand in paper bags as Christmas decorations.  Are they farolitos or luminarias?  Even within the state, people can't agree.  It seems like from Albuquerque south, we call them luminarias while north of here they call them farolitos (literally, "little fires").  We're of the luminaria persuasion.  After all, another tradition is a series of little bonfires along the road to "light the way for the Christ child."  We think that those would be farolitos, right?

But you know what really annoys me?  The new Febreze flameless "luminaries."  Aw, come on!  A "luminary" is a person, not a candle in a paper bag.  Life is hard enough already--every time I try to type "luminaria," my spell checker automatically converts it to "luminary" and then I have to change it back again.  Then Febreze comes out with this new concept and can't get the word right. 

I looked it up in the Merriam Webster online dictionary:  "luminary:  a person of prominence or brilliant achievement."  (Use in a sentence:  "The dinner for the mayor was attended by many local luminaries.")

On the other hand, a luminaria is "a traditional Mexican Christmas lantern consisting of a candle set in sand inside a paper bag."

But what's really funny is that the Google ad just above the definition on both of these words was for "traditional luminaries.  Use at parties, weddings, holidays.  Wonderful on patios, RV's, walkways."  This was for www.FlicLuminaries.com. They didn't get it right, either.

Whether one believes they're called farolitos or luminarias, Febreze is putting a whole new spin on the deal.

Old Town Holiday Stroll--join the party!

The Old Town Holiday Stroll is the largest Christmas party in Albuquerque.  Join us tomorrow, Friday, December 4th, from about 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 

Activities kick off around 5:45 with the blessing of the giant Christmas tree at Plaza Don Luis on Romero Street in Old Town.  The Albuquerque Fire Department performs the colors ceremony at the gazebo, along with the national anthem. 

Our new Mayor, Richard Berry, will be giving a short address, then turning the festivities over to Santa Claus, who will lead a children's parade around the Plaza.  Santa will take his seat at the south end of San Felipe Street to hear children's Christmas wishes for the rest of the evening. 

Old Town will be filled with songs, music, luminarias, shopping, food and entertainment of all kinds throughout the evening.

A word of advice--take the bus or park a significant distance away and be prepared to walk to Old Town, because about 10,000 people attend this event every year.  Parking spaces are pretty much all taken by mid- to late afternoon, and traffic can back up around Old Town for the entire evening.

It's a real community event, with friends and neighbors meeting and greeting all evening.  If you need a party with lots of lights, music and food to get you in the Christmas mood, the Old Town Holiday Stroll is the place to get it.