Route 66 Diner (Albuquerque)

Destination #4: New Mexico and Colorado

If you’re hungry, check out the Route 66 Diner. This place was fun and super tasty, especially after a hot couple of hours with 5 kids driving us nuts. Running around all morning in the New Mexico desert heat and dealing with a couple of temper tantrums left me with a massive migraine headache.  Normally I am a super healthy eater and I make sure my kids make good choices but sometimes you need to cut loose.  Besides taking my Excedrin Migraine pills, the next course of action was to indulge in what I like to call "Melt Down Cuisine"—french fries, burgers, Cokes ,onion rings  and then I saw one of my all time favorite foods on the menu,  hush puppies and I got an order so everyone could try them..  If you don't know what hush puppies are they are little deep fried balls of thick well seasoned cornmeal batter and I think they are heaven on earth, but the ones at the Route 66 diner were the best I'd ever had. Everyone at the table gave them a try and they were hooked!  After the pills kicked in along with the coke and all the fried food, I started to feel a lot better-though I am not commenting on how my shorts fit the following day.  Actually it all worked out as we did so much walking and sweating in the heat, by the end of the trip it made no difference at all.

This diner is filled with lots of awesome typical diner decor like old road signs, knick knacks, gas station gizmos, you know what I am talking about,  all over the walls and hanging from the ceilings.  Great for conversation starters if your party isn't the talkative type, but that's not our troop.  We went on gabbing about all the activities we'd done that morning finding out what everybody learned and what everyone's favorite place was.  For dessert it was ice cream shakes all around, and they were absolutely fantastic.  I don't think you can leave the Route 66 without a smile on your face so if you're in the Albuquerque area, do check it out!