February 15, 2020
Belen, New Mexico, was settled in 1740 and incorporated as a city in 1918. Its proximity to the geographic center of New Mexico earned the city the nickname “Hub City” and Belen became a centralized transportation hub including access to rail, interstate highways and air travel.
As a main stop on the AT&SF railroad, Belen was home to one of the many Harvey Houses throughout the country. Many of the Harvey Houses were torn down or lost to fires or floods, but the city of Belen made effort to restore their Harvey House and reopen it as a museum.
Before I headed to Harvey House, I had to stop for lunch. I made my first stop on the Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail at Circle T Drive In.
After making the hour drive (with an unplanned pit stop in the Isleta pueblo for gas,) I pulled in to Circle T Drive In at 12:15 or so. They offer their burgers in three sizes: quarter pound, third pound and half pound. I ordered the quarter pound variety, add cheese and green chile, a small order of fries and a large Coke. The total was $12.
The walls of the restaurant are wood paneled and decorated with an eclectic mish-mash of various pieces of art, including drawings, painting, newspaper clippings, neon signs and metal art, among others. Perched in the middle of the dining room is a World War II era scooter.
The burger was served on a paper plate and the small fries were served in a typical small paper fry bag spilled out over the paper plate. The large Coke was a 44 oz and barely fit into the cup holder in my car afterwards.
The burger wasn’t bad. The chile added flavor without being hot. The fries were weird in that they were crispy on the outside but mushy (instead of just soft) on the inside, but they were salted perfectly, and you sure get a lot of them for a small order.
I topped off my drink on the way out and drove around the corner to the Harvey House Museum on 1st St. in Belen’s Historic Railroad district. The entrance to the museum was a little tricky to find but I managed.
There’s no fee to tour the museum. Instead donations are requested. I happily dropped a five in the collection box and signed the guest book just inside the door before being greeted by a lovely older woman of German or Austrian descent named Heide. She asked if I wanted a tour, and I gladly accepted. As we wandered the building, I realized they were in the process of taking down their Christmas decorations.
On February 15.
Heide was chock full of interesting information and was a pleasure to talk with. She left me to my own devices by the time we made it to the stairway up to the second level, which I toured solo. The halls of the upstairs were lined with a thorough history of the city of Belen, including information about the bank, church and merchant district, in addition to a plethora of pinatas artifacts from the life and times of the historic citizens of Belen.
There were a couple of exhibits that were closed or still in the process of being curated, but overall was pleased with the exhibits that were there. I look forward to returning when they’re completed, and when the Christmas decorations are down.
It was nice traveling south of Alan’s house for a change. Even passing through Los Lunas was a first for me.
Be sure to head over to my Photo Diary for more pictures of my trip to Belen!
Stay tuned for plans for next weekend!
-Phil