Trip Home from the Star Hill Inn Search

The final stretch of road leading back to NM-518 looked pretty desolate (kansas wheat fields?). I can't tell you how disappointed I was that the Inn no longer exists. It is such an incredible concept: an astronomy resort. I guess for now, anyone who wants to comfortably sleep under the stars will have to travel to Iceland. I read that they have a hotel that has Igloo type cabins with the bed directly under a clear plexiglass dome. That way you have ringside seats to the aurora borealis at about $2,000 a night. Evidently it is good luck for a Japanese child to be conceived under the aurora borealis on New Years eve, so there is an incredible demand for rooms at this hotel, at least once a year. Perhaps we can check into off-season rates??

Search for Star Hill Inn

After an hour of driving on the dirt packed one lane road, I finally meet another driver. Pulling over to the side to give him room to pass, I take the opportunity to ask him about the Inn and find that it closed down a year ago. He doesn't know any of the details of why and where it was located. When I passed these crumbling down cabins I wondered if it could be the past location of the Inn.
If anyone reading this blog knows any other information about the Inn I would love to hear from you. In all of the information on the internet nothing indicated that the Inn was no longer in business. The only additonal information that I have is that the manager was Phil Mahon and I may try to track him down for details on their closing. Hopefully it was just a move to another location!!

Search for Star Hill Inn

At the intersection of A-2 and A-3 I travel a few minutes onward and come across this weathered cemetary. It is the only thing other than ranches in this desolate area.

Search for Star Hill Inn

After driving for almost an hour I realize that I've seen nothing but Ranches along the way.

Searching for the Star Hill Inn

The address listed for the Inn is Sapello, New Mexico but several miles before you reach Sapello you turn left onto the gravel/dirt path otherwise known as A-3/A-3 and head toward the mountains.

Storrie Lake Naer Las Vegas, NM

Mapquest directions to the Star Hill Inn takes you through Las Vegas for a right turn onto Seventh Ave. Heading north, 7th Avenue becomes NM-518. Less then 20 minutes from Las Vegas, you pass Storrie Lake where the locals swim, camp, fish, and go boating.

Requiem for Star Hill Inn in Sapello, NM

Can you mourn a place that you have never visited? After my search for Star Hill Inn, I would say "definitely, yes."
One of my tour books listed Star Hill Inn as a recommended place to stay if you are visiting Las Vegas, New Mexico. What intrigued me was the description of it as "an astronomy resort," something I have never heard before.
Further digging on the almost 10 internet sites described it as a collection of 7 rustic cabins, complete with kitchens and fireplaces, located about 20 minutes away from Las Vegas. It was located in an isolated spot, far away from any lights so that you have an incredibly clear view of the night sky. Also, the Inn had an actual observatory and telescope bought from the Mount Evans observatory in Colorado when they upgraded.
So, in additon to the $80-$100 per night for your cabin, you could also pay $100 per hour for seeing objects 6-7 billion light years away. This means that you could look at crators on the moon and they would look like continents.

Val Kilmer Update

You may remember that earlier in this blog I was slightly obsessed with trying to find Val Kilmer's ranch, located in Pecos New Mexico. His ranch of 6,oo0 acres has recently gone on the market for $33 million and there is a website that shows this picture as well as several others showing the inside of the house, the property and several views of the Pecos River. You can reach it on
http://www.luxist.com/photos/val-kilmers-pecos-river-ranch/1499146/
The latest news on Val is that he still plans to run for governor of New Mexico in 2010. Also, the local paper continues to run letters to the editor about negative comments that he made about veterans.
With this update I shall respectfully leave Mr Kilmer in peace.....

Day Trip to Las Vegas, NM

A gorgeous Sunday found me taking the top off the car, gathering together my "Betty Ford Outpatient" sun visor, sunglasses, maps, and a bottle of high test Dr. Pepper, to make the hour drive from Santa Fe to Las Vegas, NM. It's a great city to meander and gawk. When you go, don't miss the details in the wide array of architectural styles. It's like a treasure hunt.

Railroad District in Las Vegas, NM

East of Grand Ave is the railroad area with both the new and old train stations. Here everything is quiet and almost empty. The houses and stores (like the one in the photo) are untouched by renovation, just waiting for the right person to come along.

Oddities in Las vegas, NM

Around every corner there seems to be quaint architectural oddities among the huge brick standard homes and Victorian mansions.

Exploring the Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas, NM

The building is huge and walking through the many passageways is like stepping back into the Victorian Age. The rooms have been restored to look just as they did in the late 1800s.

Best Food in Las Vegas, NM

I highly recommend eating at the Plaza Hotel. If you are on time, eat at the Landmark Grill, or if you run late like I do, eat at Byron T's Saloon, named after Byron T. Mills, a former manager of the hotel. His ghost continues to haunt the saloon named after him. In the photo, with one of the saloon's customers, is Angie, who works there. Talk to Angie about her interesting background including earning her Master's degree in Spain and traveling all over Europe on EurRail.

Art Nouveau Gone Wild: Las Vegas, NM

This is a glass shop and the local elementary school. Even in the hodge podge of architectural styles in Las Vegas, these seemed unusual. They are either Art Nouveau gone wild or someone in town had a great deal on turquoise paint.

East Coast Beauty: Las Vegas, NM

Deosn't this house look like it was stolen from Semmes Ave. in Richmond, Virginia?

7th Street Treasures: Las Vegas, NM

If you have only a short time to explore , the drive north of Grand Ave on 7th street is a goldmine of architectural styles.

Searching for History: Las Vegas,NM

The town is immensely proud of its 900+ houses in the Historic Register, but actually locating them is another issue. Signs like this one are sprinkled throughout town and each points to 2-3 homes, but there is no master list or city map that I could find. The closest I came to a map was a xerox of a xerox that the kind folks at the Plaza Hotel gave me. An internet search for the houses gave me almost 10 pages of homes and areas. With my xerox xerox map and huge list, it still took an hour to even narrow down parts of the city to visit.

Las Vega, NM; Architectural Mecca

Driving into town, I was struck by the incredible variety of architectural styles, from the pueblo revival of Santa Fe to east coast Victorian, and almost every other style you can imagine. In fact, over 900 homes in this small city of 14, 565 people are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. (www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/nm/san+miguel/state.html)

Las Vegas, NM Beginnings

With the arrival of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad an even wider variety of people and architectural syles was brought to the town. "The arrival of the railroad on July 4, 1879 brought with it businesses and people both repectable and dubious. Murderers, robbers, thieves, gamblers, gunmen, swindlers, vagrants, and tramps poured in, transforming the eastern side of the settlement into a virtually lawless brawl. Among the notorious characters were such legends of the old as Doc Holliday..., Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Wyatt Earp.
Historian Ralph Emerson Twitchell once claimed, 'Without exception there was no town which harbored a more disreputable gang of desperados and outlaws than did Las Vegas.' " ( from wikipedia)
No wonder it is such a great place for movie making....

Las Vegas, NM Beginnings

The town actually started with 29 families building their homes around this central plaza. In 1835 it was established as a land grant of 140 acres to each of these families. The town was originally called Nuestra Senora de Los Delores de Las Vegas Grandes, (Our Lady of the Sorrows of the Great Meadows.) As a majot trading post on the Santa Fe trail, it became a prosperous Spanish town.

Las Vegas, NM as Movie Set

If you saw the academy award winning film, "No Country for Old Men," you have visited Las Vegas. The film was shot entirely there.
Movie making started in the early 1900s with many silent films, including all of the Tom Mix cowboy movies. He actually had a studio built in the town for his films. The list of films made since then is extensive, but a few of my favorites include, "Wild Hogs," "Wyatt Earp," "The Longest Yard," "The Astronaut Farmer," "North Country," and "Easy Rider."

Welcome to Movies-R-Us (Las Vegas, NM)!

Since the early 1900s, Hollywood has realized that Las Vegas, New Mexico is the ideal place to make movies. If you need any type of architecture or setting in the time period from 1600s to today, Las Vegas is your movie set. Most importantly the houses are real, not just movie sets.