Howdy, Gophers!
This might be a good place for me to give you some tips on visiting Las Cruces, NM. I had a client here a while back, so I have made a few trips back and forth. I'll try to share what info I have.
Dinner at Chope's is a New Mexico tradition. It's several miles south of Las Cruces in a little town called La Mesa, and is the very definition of hole-in-the wall:
To get to Chope's, you take a nice drive down the back road that is Highway 28 through the pecan orchards until you come across a little town and find a patch of dirt to park in. It may not be the best Mexican food you've had, but it's a great overall experience.
Mexican food in New Mexico is a bit different from the Tex-Mex found elsewhere in the United States. There's one question you will be asked almost every time: Red or Green. The correct answer for you gringos is to ask which is hotter. This can differ from place to place, so you must gauge your response accordingly.
If you're a fan of Breaking Bad, there is a chain in Las Cruces called Gardunos. This is not the same location as the filming, but it is the restaurant where Walt and Skylar sat down with Hank and Marie in the latest episode. My Brother's Place is another good Mexican joint that I remember, and I think there is a place called Si Senor that was pretty good. Too many margaritas makes this a bit fuzzy.
One of my absolute favorite things about Las Cruces is a place on Roadrunner called Caliche's Frozen Custard. They have really good custards, drinks, and other frozen treats.
My go-to hotel in Las Cruces was always Meson de Mesilla. It's much less expensive than you would expect, and has some of the best dining in town. If it's not too late to switch your reservation over here, it might be worth a look. A couple of downsides are that the doors let a little bit of noise from the hallway through (but it's a quiet clientele), and each room does not have its own ironing board (but you're going to a football game).
In Mesilla, just down the road from the hotel, is an old town square with Double Eagle Restaurant, probably the nicest place to eat in town. There is a chocolate shop around there, and a bunch of trinket type places all surrounding an old church and a courtyard.
I've always been partial to the Cattle Baron chain. They have a good, robust salad bar and have never let me down for a meal.
Out and about in Las Cruces, you're mainly going to have crafty, arts, wine, Native American, and outdoor type of attractions. It's not a football-lover's dream town, but it may make the wife happy to take her to some galleries or a winery. There's a downtown mall (not an indoor shopping mall, but more like a farmer's market) that they try to promote. It's not worth it unless you want to bring some knick knacks back to your grandkids. The indoor mall is even less interesting.
Distances can be deceiving in New Mexico. It looks like Carlsbad is only two towns over, but it's an almost four hour drive. White Sands isn't too far away, and El Paso is just under an hour's drive. I think El Paso gets a bit of a bad rap sometimes. It's a pretty safe big city, and it's very different culturally than what you might be used to. For Texas / Mexican culture, I would be more inclined to suggest San Antonio, but El Paso's much closer. Don't go to Mexico, especially not Juarez. You'll be able to see Mexico from the interstate. As a football fan, check out the Sun Bowl - a football stadium built into the side of the mountain. There's Scenic Drive that takes you to an overlook point of downtown El Paso and Juarez that's pretty cool.
Speaking of El Paso, if you want to see something weird, fire up Google Maps and take a look at the city. To the east, just past the city limits is a whole huge unincorporated city almost as big as El Paso itself. Now turn on satellite view.
Las Cruces has great sunsets that are never the same twice. The mountains will change colors with the setting sun, and is really pretty. Lots of retirees live here, and it's a much bigger place than you would think. It's very spread out, but there are about 210,000 people in the general area.
