This family owned fireworks retailer is one of the friendliest and knowledgeable places to visit…read more Our family discovered them last 4th of July and came back to visit for Halloween. We will be back again for New Year's! Although we drive from the west side of ABQ, the prices and service make it worth it. They hallways have great deals and excellent packages. Most of their larger fireworks have Q codes you can scan to get a demo before you buy!

They do not provide a working restroom for employees. If you need the restroom they will make you…read morewalk to a gas station. Expensive prices go somewhere else!

Downtown Santa Fe is known for it's many art galleries. There are a LOT of them. We are talking…read morereal art galleries. That translates into $$$$$ expensive stuff. Basically if your pockets are deep enough to spend $5,000 for a small decorative item, you will have no trouble finding things to buy. But, for the average working person, you will find lots of things to like, but not much that you can afford, at least at the "real" art galleries. Then there are other stores where they just buy from big wholesalers and sell the cheap stuff for the people with not so deep pockets. There are also a fair amount of womens clothing stores, jewelry stores, rug stores, and the local street vendors selling their handmade items. The street vendors have lots and lots of earrings, bracelets, necklaces etc. Not all the street vendors take credit cards. Some do, some don't. Cash always works of course. And yes, you can bargain a bit on the price if you are so inclined. Downtown Santa Fe is an easy city to walk. They do allow auto traffic on the streets, many of which are one way. It's not laid out in a grid pattern exactly, but getting around is easy enough. You can park where there are meters or in a few designated lots. The meters are .25 for every 15 minutes and only take coins or cash cards. I think the maximum time you can get on the meter is 3 hours. Parking enforcement checks until 6pm Monday through Saturday. Sundays and holidays you can park for free and not feed the meters. Like any big city, there are sketchy looking/acting people that like to hang around the main square. Even more so at night it seems. So be aware of where you are walking and pay attention to your surroundings. There are local Bed & Breakfasts and Inns located right in the main downtown area or just a block or so away. So it is easy to simply park at the inn/hotel and walk to where you want to go. But Santa Fe is at a high elevation, so keep that in mind if you are choosing to walk, especially any uphill areas. Again, there are lots and lots of galleries. They are not all located at street level. Some are up on the second floors, some are down in the lower levels, and some are off the beaten path. The ones on Canyon Road alone would take you most of one day or more to go through. And they all seem to close around 5pm, even on weekends. So don't expect to see it all if you only have a day or two. You just won't have the time or energy. If you heading to Santa Fe from the Salida Colorado area, be aware, that for whatever ridiculous reason, the speed limit drops to 55 once you cross into New Mexico on the main highways heading to Santa Fe. You won't see a 65 mph zone again until you hit the Santa Fe area. In other words, a long time! Also make sure you have enough gas and used a rest area before crossing into New Mexico. Because there is really nothing as far as full service towns for a good 90 miles or more. You will pass through a number of very small and not terribly appealing NM towns on the way to Santa Fe from the Salida Colorado area. So it's best to take care of those basic things before crossing the border. Santa Fe is at a high elevation. And for those of us living at much lower elevations, it is easy to get out of breath simply walking up a flight of stairs or walking uphill along the streets the art galleries are on. Drink plenty of bottled water and stay hydrated. If you find yourself with a persistent dull headache once you have been here a bit, try drinking more water. Your skin and lips will be dry at this elevation as well, so bring lip balm, moisturizer and sunblock. A good hat and sunglasses will help too. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, Many of them actually have chefs. So you can definitely drop some big dollars on dinner for two. If you are on a budget, it pays to ask some locals where the more moderately priced places are. Hope this helps for anyone paying a first visit to Santa Fe.

Meh. For the conference, it was fine. The coffee is blah and the pastries are OK. Though evidently…read morethe banquet dinner was fabulous last night. We did have some very large things that needed to be moved, which was pretty much a disaster the first day as staff just stared at or micromanaged one of our crew while he tried to move them himself. On leaving however, one of the staff was ultra-accommodating and got (the five of us that had gathered to assist him) a dolly and even helped us move them to the loading dock, which he made available to us. Signage and organization of the two concurrent conferences were not even slightly great... and the bathrooms constantly needed cleaning. The garage is convenient, and now they take cards, so that is also more convenient.

Great staff good products and even hooked me up with my adult snap pops so I could prank my friends…read moreand girlfriends!!!

Best place in the state to get awesome fireworks at a fair price.I always wait for them and go the…read morefirst day they open

Bathrooms were super clean and I ended up walking out with a beautiful new necklace. It's a fun…read moreplace to walk around if you have been driving for 24 hours straight like us!

I travel to 40 a lot, and this is the first time I have stopped at Bowlin's. From the outside, this…read moreplace doesn't look too impressive and small. Once you get inside. Oh boy! Was I wrong. They have some really cool stuff that other road stop sites do not have plus they have a Dairy Queen. Anyway, the staff is very friendly and one guy in particular by the name of Ron who helped me out tremendously. He had a wealth of knowledge regarding pretty much everything in the store, especially fireworks. You know, it seems like customer service these days is almost nonexistent, but this place proved me wrong again. Gas station and Restrooms were clean. this will be one of my stops from here out when I come through town.

Great inventory and selection. Prices are fantastic and the fireworks are some of the best around.read more

Very nice and knowledgeable owners. I needed specific product for training dogs and they had this…read moreand recommended an even better product of the same type. Even though it was a small sale they took the time to find them in the back and let me try one outside. Their friendly service was much appreciated.

Years ago, I had a friend who had this event on her priority list. This is a thrilling annual…read moreevent and, if you can survive the truly hellish attempts at parking, I think this is a must-see spectacle. It's the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade but with fire and the most chaotic up-close experience possible. I don't know it all seems to work without mayhem but it does. It's a viscerally invigorating time. If you arrive asleep, you will leave astounded by the blazing profusion of colors and flames and quiet ascension of balloons reaching into the sky. In other words, unlike that famous parade, you are in the mix and a part of it all. It's a whirlwind of the human spirit. The morning session is the ascent of the balloons. The silent takeoffs into the blue sky are like bubbles in boiling water and so serenely soothing to watch. The evening session are the balloons posing brightly at ground level all lit up from inside by the flames that keep them inflated. They are gigantic night lights adorning the large field. The fiesta has a large contingent of food stalls from the proverbial funnel cakes to Japanese ramen. There are souvenirs for sale and music to be heard. Families make this an annual tradition and I understand. People visit from around the world. My friend and I lost touch too long ago but I hope she made it here. She would have loved it.

This event has been on my travel bucket list for years, and we finally made it happen in 2025! We…read morewere incredibly lucky with the weather since our visit was short, from late Thursday night to Sunday. We dedicated Friday morning to the Balloon Fiesta, and aside from the drone show being canceled, everything went perfectly. Getting there was easy using the Park & Ride from Coronado Mall. You do have to wake up early since the buses start running at 4 a.m., and we arrived about 25 minutes later. Once there, we found plenty of carnival and fair-style food. Some highlights were the green chili cheese curds, Frito pie, and an Indian food vendor serving delicious chicken marsala burritos. We walked around while waiting for Dawn Patrol, and by 7 a.m., the sky was alive with color. The first to launch were the Rainbow Riders which are massive balloons carrying over 20 passengers each. Soon after, the sky filled with hundreds of vibrant balloons, including the fun "special shapes" from the rodeo lineup. Everywhere we looked, there was something new to admire, there are over 500 balloons in total! We also learned about Albuquerque's unique wind pattern known as the Albuquerque Box, which allows pilots to take off, fly south, and then, by changing altitude, catch a return wind that brings them back to the launch site. It's the only place in the world where this phenomenon happens, making it ideal for hot air ballooning. Seeing the Balloon Fiesta in person was absolutely magical, it is a breathtaking experience that everyone should witness at least once.