Well, we made it! What a thrilling place to see. It was an amazing trip for sure.
Cloudcroft Village is really something else. You have all these cute little shops. My youngest insisted on going to see the Tree-Rific Toys & Candy shop, that had a Fill-A-Bear & Friends Factory station in it. Which is where she ended up spending her money... The little ones where $20 and the larger ones were $27. They had a variety of models and other interesting toys. There were also candies of all kinds! We also stopped in at the Burro Street Bakery for some sweet treats. I really loved the Cream Cheese Danish. My husband and son both had the Bearclaw, but thought it was on the dry side. I'm thinking that may have been because it was getting closer to closing and also wasn't filled with cream. My other son had brownies (he was given 2 since it was close to closing) and he absolutely loved them! One daughter devoured her Apple Danish, while the other dug in to her Cinnamon Roll so fast, she made a mess of herself with it. I'd say they were all decently priced too. It was fun to eat and walk around the boardwalk. Honestly, you can probably walk everything in about 2 hours. And that is only if you are stopping to shop around too. If you were to just walk one end to the other, maybe 15 minutes?
For dinner, we chose Dave's Cafe. It is inside one of the boardwalk locations. They have burgers and sandwiches mostly, but they offer other items too. I chose the Cordon Bleu Sandwich, which was superb. It came with kettle cooked chips. And was incredibly filling. I didn't hear any complaints from the rest of the table as we ate.And even though it is almost February, there was still so much snow everywhere! We thought that with 40 degree weather, much of it would have melted. We were so wrong... But that was just more fun for us.
As soon as we unloaded everything into the Airbnb, we were delighted to watch a family of deer come by and watch us, watching them through the windows. We also got to see a herd of horses wandering around. Before the sun had even set in town, we could gaze up at the full moon above. And the amount of stars definitely puts the town views we have had to shame.
We learned a couple things too. First off, don't buy grocery items at the Allsup's convenience store if you can help it. There are Walmarts at Ruidoso Village (about an hour north) or Alamogordo (about 30 minutes west). The prices are what you'd expect for a gas station - high. However, if you are in a bind, they do have a decent grocery selection and even meats to buy. This was helpful for us to get something for the kids to have the next day as we can't be eating out the whole time we are here. There is also the Family Dollar where you have more of a selection.
There are things that we saw and didn't expect. Like a ski area where you can go sledding too. They have built a park near the school area where kids can let loose and play. This is definitely a tourist-type stop. Unless you are visiting to say you have been there, the only real reasons I would say to go are for the hiking trails and for the camping experiences.
Osha Trail wasn't as clearly marked as we had hoped and thought. So we went for maybe 2 hours before turning around and walking back the way we came. Parking for the trailhead was also full so many times when we went by. But it was worth the wait, because the views were fantastic! Like seeing the Trestle Bridge from above. We did go to the Trestle Bridge observation point after our hike. It has information on the history and was fun to take pictures in front of. I do recommend this for one of your stops if you go.
What do you think? Is this a place you'd want to visit? If so, what is the draw for you??
