Courtyards allow the sparkling sunshine to light up the decor at La Posta in La Mesilla. Porter’s Restaurant & Smokehouse is a barbecue and salad bar bargain in Farmington, NM. They went all White Christmas at the North Pole with it. A Christmas tree made of spent hand-blown Patron Tequila bottles and palms at the gorgeous Double Eagle, a glitzy high-end steakhouse. The Double Eagle is in La Mesilla, and most of its decor doesn’t involve empty liquor bottles at all. A mixture of religious and irreverent around the hearth at La Posta, a favorite and sprawling eatery in La Mesilla, S. of Las Cruces. Josefina’s Old Gate Cafe, La Mesilla, NM: Christmas Decor on historic adobe fence and gate La Fonda has an outsized reputation for Mexican food in tiny Artesia, NM. Private home, La Mesilla, NM. Basilica of San Albino, in La Mesilla. Natural garland and ‘ristras’ of dried chiles. Ristra is from an Old Spanish word for rope. La Posta Restaurant, in La Mesilla, has a creche with tropical animals and a magical realism feel to it. Decorative costumes from Chihuahua, Mexico at Our Lady of Guadalupe’s celebration, Hatch, NM Silver City, NM Storefront. More on the irreverent side is the Christmas decor of downtown Cloudcroft, NM.
But What About the Luminarias/Farolitos?? Aren’t they New Mexico Christmas Decor?

How right you are!! These paper-and-candle lanterns are one of the most distinctive types of New Mexico Christmas decorations. I will be in Santa Fe on Christmas Eve, walking perhaps the most well-known route for Farolitas, as they’re called in northern New Mexico. Art Gallery central, Canyon Road, will undoubtedly smell like piñon wood bonfires and I’m sure will be glowing in many ways. For pics you won’t see anyplace else, follow my Instagram story at travelingbetweenmeals. I’ll sprinkle in a little history, art and food as well!
Luminarias at a Silver City art walk.