Hello from New England

Well, first it is just Elephant Butte (no 's). It is a small place populated with mostly retired people, and consisting largely of a few restaurants, a couple motels, and a lot of places to store your boat or RV. It sits above and around Elephant Butte Lake, on the borders of Elephant Butte Lake State Park. The lake is the largest lake in New Mexico, 47 miles long. It is all named for Elephant Butte - a Butte which still sticks out of the lake and is shaped quite like an elephant.. You can probably find some photos of it online, or I'll take a few for you later.

I'd say in most places it is about one mile from Truth or Consequences to Elephant Butte. Depending on where you are in T or C. And BTW - locals will always call it T or C. T or C is a cool little town that was built around the natural hot mineral springs occuring here on the Rio Grande. I'll see if I can get my hands on a map that will show you the area in detail. Meanwhile, I have some Squidoo lenses about the area here:
http://www.squidoo.com/sierra_county_NM/
http://www.squidoo.com/hatch_chile/

I live 25 miles east of T or C, and about 10 miles from Spaceport America. All the talk in T or C and EB right now is about the Spaceport, the Motorsports Complex, and the WalMart - all things that are supposed to get built and operational in the next year or so.

You can also read the Herald, our newspaper, on line with Adobe.
http://www.heraldpub.com/

The nearest "big" city is Las Cruces, NM (second largest city in NM) which is about 75 miles south. If you want a WalMart you either have to go to Las Cruces, Socorro (50 miles North) or Demming.

And you definately cannot write about the area without mentioning Arrey and Darrey, small towns in the area. The highway sign as you approach them reads:
Darry 10 miles
Arrey 7 miles

Or something like that (milage may vary - LOL) yes - Derry Arrey.

The folks in Arrey say it "Arr - AY" long second A - Like the Very Large Array, but we all know why ;)

It is a very interesting area. I'd love to help however I can - scout out places for her to live - even help with some description of the way over here - we drove over from Oklahoma last year - a couple of times. :P

Have fun!

Summer

P.S. Oh yeah, you know that Butte is pronounced "b - long u - t" like beaut - y (but believe me, plenty of us here call it Elephant But like...but...)

Thank you so much for all this! You are awesome and have confirmed that this is exactly the town I was looking for to have my MC travel too (horribly constructed sentence that, sorry). Having local insight just helps to make it all more real for me I love that I can have locals talking about the construction of a new Wal-Mart while there's sitting at the counter of a diner and it's big news. I was pronouncing it right, just adding an 's where I shouldn't have. I can definitely work with the mispronunciation too. I have a supporting character who would be perfect to make the Elephant's Butt joke. I'll spend some time looking at the paper a bit later. I need to get a few hundred words written before bed and it's getting late here on the East Coast. I'll probably be coming back here with questions, but I want to thank you for all the info. you've already provided. It is greatly appreciated!

Jess

P.S. Darrey Arrey made me laugh like a seven year old!

I'm not much help in the way of Elephant Butte or T or C, but if your MC travels up north to Socorro I can help out since that's where I went to college.Yeah, wal-marts are a big deal in this state, so if your MC is in a town without one then they travel for it. lol. I remember before Socorro had one, we'd drive the 45 miles to belen.

good luck!.

I always call it Elephant Butt. But that's because I have the sense of humor of a seven year old too. We drove out there for our honeymoon and stayed over night in Elephant Butte and we were supposed to meet some friends but we couldn't find them, or their tents, and then we got stuck in the sand on one of the beaches (just don't even ask) and couldn't move at all. We ended up sleeping in the car. :)

AJ

hhhh - aj our first night at EB Lake was spent in a tent in the sand. It rained. I looked out and noted the lake was rising...to the laughter of the people all around us in tents, we moved ours to higher ground. About 3 am I heard noise and looked out to see them all moving THIER tents ...out of the water...to higher ground. :P And that sand - we about got stuck, too. *shaking head* We've lived here a year now and have only been back to the lake a couple of times during the day - LOL.

ghost - I forgot all about the McMansions. There are some enormously rich people living in the hills around EB in huge McMansions with lake views. I say living - most of them only come down for vacations. And don't forget that Ted Turner also has the Armendaris Ranch a few miles east (not far from where I really live) - there is a website about the Armendaris - he is reintroducing endangered species and raising buffalo.

I have so much to say, I don't know where to begin. Right now, I'm in a motel room in TorC (as Truth or Consequences is known to locals), because I spend a lot of my weekends sailing on Elephant Butte Lake.

For an interesting trivia point, if you use a credit card in Elephant Butte, the receipt cuts off the last letter, so it does show up as Elephant Butt on your receipt and on the credit card bill.

It's an odd part of the world. There's a really big VA hospital and also a veterans' retierment home, so you get a lot of flag-waving patriots. However, part of the reason for being of the town of Truth or Consequences is its healing hot springs, so you also get a lot of new-age artsy peace-loving types. And the town is in the middle of ranching country, so there are a lot of red-meat conservatives. Oh, yes, and there is also the new spaceport, being built southeast of town, as an economic development project -- eventually people who have a whole lot of money will be able to take a trip to suborbital space and back down, and for considerably less money, family members of someone who has died can get some of that person's ashes into space.

Economically, Sierra County counts as "depressed"; however, there is a new golf course retirement community in Elephant Butte that is attempting to reverse that trend, with nice condos and other homes designed to appeal to the retiree who has money but who wants to go someplace less expensive than Arizona.

And, importantly in the minds of low-income locals, there's a new Wal Mart Supercenter under construction. When it is finished, there won't be a need to drive 70 miles down the road to Las Cruces to get cheap stuff at a cheap price.

i loved finding and reading this topic! it warms the cockles of my heart to see the responses to the original question. what fun!

what i remember is that TorC was renamed after the game show, so i looked it up in wikipedia:
"Originally called "Hot Springs", it took the name of a popular radio program in 1950, when Truth or Consequences host Ralph Edwards announced that he would do the program from the first town that renamed itself after the show. Ralph Edwards came to the town during the first weekend of May for the next fifty years."

just a fun factoid ;)

good luck, have fun!!!!

moz

You guys are fantastic! Thank you so much for all this information. I feel like I can do the area justice now when I write about it instead of floundering and making it up as I go along. The artsy type community is perfect because the character who's traveling to Elephant Butte/T or C always wanted to be a painter (instead he got an economics degree and then worked in the insurance industry for a while) and the woman he's looking for was a sculptor and incredibly creative. If anyone has more to add I'd love to hear it.

Jess

Hi everyone, it's me again. I have another question. If someone were visiting Elephant Butte, where would they stay? Would they stay in T or C or in Elephant Butte? I'd like to be specific so hotel/motel names and descriptions (i.e. seedy place that rents by the hour or nice place or middle of the road with a great buffet breakfast) would be great. Also, what are some of the restaurants in the area? Thanks again you guys are fantastic!

Jess

Your protagonist would be right at home in the artsy community of Tor C. Lots of them are "retired" young from careers as commercial artists or other things they did just to make money. They settle in Tor C, often open a gallery, and fail with great aplomb. So, you'll want to know that the first Saturday of every month they have "Gallery Hop"- where all the galleries and other little shops that sell some art (all local artists and crafts people of course) stay open until late and offer goodies, meet the artist, used to have wine but some spoil sport reported it and suddenly they couldn't do that without a liquor license so bye bye to the wine. Collectively they are known as "typical T or C dropouts" - LOL.

There are two motels in EB. One is the very nice, upscale Elephant Butte Inn, which also has what seems to be a nice club/bar that hosts different occassions. The other seems a bit more seedy, but not a dive or anything. I can't recall the name right off - I'll have to drive by the next time I head to town. If I can get the battery in my camera to survive a few minutes, I'll get you some pix.

I'd think your artsy protagonist would be drawn to the kitschy remodeled motor lodges from the 1920s in the Hot Springs district downtown. The one I work at, Firewater Lodge, was originally built in the1920s. It has been remodeled by the owner, also a local craftsman, who hand crafts all the furniture for each room. We have five and each of them is different. Art by local artists hang on all the walls and the dining room (its a B&B) is also a gallery full of art (we open for Gallery Hop, yes). You can see quite a few photos of the lodge at the website; http://www.firewaterlodge.com/
There is also Riverbend, which is a former hostel but now run commercially. However, the Hot Springs lodges are a bit pricy - they usually come with unlimited soaking in the springs and run from $50 to $100 a night. Cheaper motels can be found up Date St. Ah - here we go - I thought the Haven had a website but instead found this:
http://www.truthorconsequencesnm.net/members_motel_apart.htm

I'm at a friend's house and can't download the photos the hubby took the other day (my camera won't talk to his computer) of some of the interesting buildings in T or C. Soon as I get them online somewhere (sigh) I'll let you know :D

WB

Oh yeah - restaurants. I'm pretty sure the Ivory Tusk in EB has food - can't say much more than that. In EB I have only eaten at Big Food Express. They suffer from an identity crises, serving Thai, Indian, and Chinese food as well as some american dishes. A family seems to own it, are trying to sell it (have been for several years I gather) and are ever so clearly totally burnt out. I've never seen the place with more than ten people in it. It is a cute little place though, with a courtyard so you can eat outside if you like.

In town - Cuchillo's Cafe serves fantastic Mexican food with blue corn tortillas, and of course, only the famous Hatch peppers from down the road. Lunch for two under $10 is their claim to fame. Happy Belly Deli is currently closed, but slated to reopen. Sort of a yuppie/hippie/new ager place with sandwiches, bagels, soup, some vegetarian dishes. The White Coyote is totally vegetarian. Delicious. Lunch only I think (as is Happy Belly). Those are my favorite places :D

Denny's is up on Date St. if you'd like a dose of food poisoning. Los Arcos, also up on Date by the highway I am told makes the best steak in town by a carnivorous friend. Pacific Grill serves seafood - again, recommended by a friend but I haven't been there. (I'm vegetarian) The usual Sonic, McDonalds. Also A & B Drive In - a little local drive in that specializes in grease - LOL - but they do make a pretty decent Mexican enchilada platter according to my hubby. Big-A Burger is a little local owned burger joint, and they do have a vege-burger.

Two grocery stores - IGA on Date smells bad and is disliked by almost everyone I know. Bullocks is small, crowded, locally owned, carries an amazing assortment of "health food" and vegetarian specialties for a small town grocery and pretty much the favorite here. Three health food stores. Yeah - health freaks here :D It's the hot springs.

Hope this helps.

WB

Lodging:

The Charles Motel in the hot springs district in T or C is one of my favorites. In Novembers past, my husband and I would rent room #5 every weekend. He would go sailing or working committee boat duty for regattas on the lake, while I sat in the room with my laptop and build up wordcount. The manager there was always fascinated with my NaNo projects and hugely supportive, and it worked out great. The rooms all have at least kitchenettes, so there's the ability to prepare food and have refreshing beverages in the fridge. And since the Charles is also a bathhouse, a hot mineral soak in a huge, old-fashioned tile-lined tub is included in the price of the room.

On the lower budget side is the Ace Lodge, out north on Date Street -- the town's closest lodging to the high school football stadium, as we realized last weekend when the Hot Springs Tigers won the district championship and there were fireworks going off when the game ended. It's newly "remodeled" (fresh coat of paint, a few new air conditioners and light fixtures) but not exactly fancy. The big draw now is that there's free wireless Internet, so I can report my word counts in a timely manner.

Food:

I agree with the previous post that for vegetarian fare, the White Coyote can't be beat -- it does breakfast as well as lunch. The quiches and frittatas are awesome. The Happy Belly was always good, too -- I hope it reopens soon.

For carnivores, Los Arcos (adjacent to the Ace Lodge) is great. This may be an artsy community, but it's in the middle of ranching country, and folks in Sierra County really know how to do beef. During happy hour (5 to 7 p.m.) the sirloin is a great bargain. If money is no object, my favorite is the prime rib -- the best I've ever had anywhere.

Also good for meat is La Cocina, which is officially a Mexican restaurant, but which ages and custom cuts its own beef. it has an interesting definition of a "sirloin salad" -- an 8-ounce sirloin, sharing a plate with a large pile of salad greens and veggies. It's the ultimate lo-carb meal.

In Elephant Butte, a good low-budget place is Casa Taco. The menu is limited and a bit on the greasy side, but the prices are right. It's run by a guy who's also a big shot in the local bass fishing scene, and he makes the place available to the sailing club for skippers' meetings, too.

Another place in EB for carnivores is Hodges Corner. Think about the most down-home comfort food you can imagine, and then make it even more savory. Roast beef, chicken-fried steak, and most importantly the most sinfully delicious fried chicken are staples on the menu. Yep, this is another of those places that knows how to do beef. You also can find all of the side dishes -- mashed potatoes (home made, not instant), green beans simmered up with bacon rinds, sweet corn, soft rolls.

If you head to the south end of the lake, you will find the Dam Site restaurant and bar. It was originally a WPA project in the 1930s, and the building has character. The food is reasonable, but nothing to write home about. The bar used to be one of the most hopping places in Sierra County, frequented by bikers and with an often rowdy weekend crowd. But it's under new ownership, and there's now a two-drink limit. The Dam Site also offers cabins for rent (more WPA buildings) and rooms in a bed-and-breakfast (the original administration building from when the dam was built in 1916, remodeled a couple of years ago).

That looks like a fun little hotel. My in-laws used to own this hotel in Utah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Roberts and I would love to get them to use that experience to open a smaller hotel just like Fire Water Lodge. I just think that would be so fun.

AJ

I've got a few things that may help if you want to have a bunch of crazy teenagers thoughts. We get to see a bit differently than most adults.

First off, you can't go through Elephant Butte without knowing about the catfish in the water. Though I believe it's a myth, people say there are catfish that are huge there. Teenagers like to say it when we're throwing out siblings out of our boats. They say they eat people, but I'm sure it's fake, might be slightly interesting to see how your character takes to it.

Second, you really should avoid drinking the water. It tends to get people who haven't lived there sick. The first time I went down there (It was about five years ago for the entire summer) I got so horribly sick.

Well, I can't help you more than that because I think everyone else has taken care of that for you.

Good luck!

What a neat little place - which such history. What a shame it was torn down. I love these old hotels - the Comfort Inn they are not - but then that's the whole charm of it. Firewater is great. :D We have so many regulars who come once a year,or on their anniversaries and BDs, or one artist comes for a month on retreat in the winter, etc. I love working there. I'd love to have a place of my own - except I currently live 25 miles out of town on a huge ranch, with chickens, horses, goats...and I'd hate to give that up,too.

Hey CA - if you're still in T or C, would you like to get together for coffee or something?

WB

I know it was sad. When Mike and I first got married his father mentioned that he had grown up in the hotel and they ate dinner in the dining room every night. I was trying to encourage the family to buy the hotel back but they said that the new owners had let it go to pot and they couldn't afford to fix it. I guess no one could. But it is sad. I hate it when old buildings are torn down. But it actually wasn't small. It was huge. Over a hundred rooms. But that picture is before some of the expansions that the Anderson's did.

I lived out in Melrose, a town of about 749 on the Eastern New Mexico/West Texas border up near Clovis and I loved it there. I was really sad to have to move up to Albuquerque. I'm just a small town girl at heart.

We went the other way - Tulsa to T or C :D and actually - not even in town but on a big ranch 25 miles out. We love it :D

Thank you again everyone. I can't wait for my MC to drive into Elephant Butte in search of the woman who he thinks is his true love (I have yet to decide whether or not she is. I'll know when I get to that part). I think she'll be a waitress at one of the restaurants, probably the vegetarian one (White Coyote was it?), who sculpts on the side. I'm not sure what hotel/motel he'll check into yet, I have to think about it a bit more. I really appreciate all your help. I don't think I could do this story justice without all of your help.

Jess

I used to live in Tulsa. And in Claremore too.

I just wanted say a big THANK YOU to all you wonderful folks before the month was over. Without you I couldn't have my MC meet the woman he'd traveled across the country for at the gallery hop which is the perfect setting, I couldn't have dreamed up something better. I couldn't have had him have breakfast at the White Coyote or dinner at Cuchillo's Cafe where he had a fantastic conversation with the bartender named Joe. You guys truly are the best. I appreciate the time and thought you put into your responses to this poor clueless writer from Connecticut. Someday I hope to visit T or C and Elephant Butte in person.

Jess

New Mexico is another world that's for sure. I've lived a lot of places and a lot of those places are like each other but I've never been to another place like this. I'm glad you used us in a story. :)

One minor quibble ... the Cuchillo Cafe (so named because it was originally in the nearby village of Cuchillo) doesn't even have a beer and wine license, let alone a liquor license, but, hey, this is NaNo, and who knows ... maybe someday the place will expand and include liquor service.

But glad we all could be of help.

The Cuchillo Cafe may not have a liquor license (I can always change the conversation to be with a waiter/waitress later), but they do have the "green chili cheese tamale platter" according to their menu online which is five words instead of just plain tacos which is only one word. ;)

Thanks though for the info on the liquor license. I may consider changing the conversation during editing. Having it happen with a bartender isn't vital to the story, my MC just needs to have it with a local.