Welcome to Las Vegas… New Mexico!

An hour east of Santa Fe, it’s the county seat of San Miguel County, with a population of 13,166.

Looking for a day trip locale other than Taos, Las Vegas seemed a good bet due to its downtown Plaza with its share of beautiful, historic buildings…

…but not as many as the tourism brochures would have you believe. As with most of New Mexico, there’s a considerable amount of adobe.

Some of the abode buildings are more aesthetically pleasing than others, particularly when flanked with turquoise paint.

Still, the leafy Plaza is pleasant, if not as bustling as Santa Fe’s (on a cloudy Monday afternoon, anyway.)

We explored beyond the Plaza a bit into this residential neighborhood…

…and directly behind the Plaza Hotel (seen in the first two pix above), I spotted this whimsical van for a local business.

Fortunately, one only had to look towards Bridge Street east of the Plaza to find some small town, Main Street charm.

I mean, would you rather have a boring ol’ Family Dollar in your small town or this vintage beauty (no matter how dilapidated the front signage?)

Erected when the railroad first came through in 1879, Stern and Nahm is one of the oldest buildings in town.

Opened as the Mutual Theater in 1912, the Kiva sadly closed in 2013.

Fortunately, there’s the Indigo Theatre across the street, currently playing Oppenheimer as of this post’s date.

A vibrant-looking cafe is always a good sign of activity in a small town, though as I was taking pix, an elderly local came up to me and asked, “What brought you to Las Vegas? There’s nothing going on here!”

I would argue these pix are evidence of signs of life; it’s too bad the ultra-cool, stuck-in-time El Rialto was closed on Mondays.

Quintessential New Mexico for sure.

Paper Trail, a book and gift store is another vital sign. I was instantly drawn to this color-coded display.

Ominous storm clouds surrounded Las Vegas during our visit but thankfully only produced a smattering of raindrops. Despite not much going on there, the town exhibited ample personality.