For literate jetsetters looking for a shorter flight, Jonathan Miller’s novel, Rattlesnake Wedding comes complete with a travel guide. Readers can follow Dan and Luna on their romantic journeys through New Mexico’s land of enchantment. The book is also available on kindle for the easy flight from the coasts to Albuquerque’s Sunport.
Rattlesnake Wedding offers several possible trysts for an Albuquerque weekend. Dan and Luna have their wedding reception at the Hotel Parq Central’s rooftop Apothecary bar. The bar, a favorite of the film making set shooting on location. The hotel, a renovated hospital, is just blocks away from the Grove restaurant, a place to spot Bryan Cranston of TV’s Breaking Bad. After shopping Nob Hill’s eclectic shops, the jetsetter might try an artisan pizza for a late lunch at Farina where Dan drinks the potent local Marble Brew with a young, hip crowd. Dan and Luna held their engagement dinner at the High Finance restaurant on the Sandia Crest, at the end of the world’s longest aerial tramway. There’s a coupon for a free dessert included in the book.
For more adventurous souls, Dan and Luna took several day trips out of Albuquerque. A nice day loop heads up to Santa Fe, then to Los Alamos with a return on Route 4. The route takes you to the heart of Valles Caldera National Preserve, an unspoiled verdant valley reminiscent of New Zealand’s Lord of the Rings country. Route 4 next takes you through aspen forests to Jemez State Monument with some mysterious Native American ruins that Dan feared might be haunted.
After Route 4 turn onto Route 550, you arrive at the Santa Ana Indian reservation which straddles the Rio Grande River. In addition to a modern casino, Dana and Luna dined at the Corn Maiden restaurant at the Hyatt Tamaya resort. The Corn Maiden, an adobe gem, features nouvelle Native American cuisine with exotic dishes like Sratyi Tsatya and k’uchinak’u.
Jetsetters with a week or more to spend can follow Dan and Luna even deeper into the heart of the west. Las Vegas is a long day’s drive away on Interstate 40, with possible exits at Gallup, Meteor Crater, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest and of course the Grand Canyon. To the southeast along Route 285, Dan and Luna visited Roswell with its UFO museum, and then down to the amazing Carlsbad Caverns. Those who spend their lives in the air might like going a few thousand feet underground for a few hours. Private tours are available.
New Mexico is the land of enchantment of course, but Dan nicknames it the land of entrapment. Once you’re here, you want to stay. Dan and Luna get married in the atrium of Albuquerque’s modern District Court. The atrium has a view out to the 10,000 foot Sandia Mountains. The book has contact info for the courthouse. After you’ve seen the land of enchantment, you might want to have a rattlesnake wedding of your own.
Rattlesnake Wedding, Cool Titles, 2012. Available on amazon on kindle and trade paperback.