Out of This World Fun in Roswell, New Mexico

When our family planned this summer’s vacation trip out west, we quickly settled on New Mexico, as it was a place the kids had never been, and it offered a range of activities—from hiking and national monuments to urban retreats, like Albuquerque and Santa Fe. After studying the map for a while, I suggested that we take a side trip to a famous—or perhaps infamous—small town with a big reputation: Roswell.

Mention Roswell to almost anyone and their response will probably involve UFOs. The city in southeastern New Mexico is a long, lonely drive from most anywhere and boasts not quite 50,000 residents.

Its claim to fame is the 1947 crash of what some believe was a UFO, but that the government insists was a weather balloon. Conspiracy theorists have had a field day with the story for more than seven decades now.

MORE Destination & Tourism

These American Cities Spend the Most, Least on Alcohol

How to Experience Iguazu Falls, Brazil with Kids

Swimming With the Sharks in Fiji

Because we were traveling with our kids, ages 11 and 17, I thought the side trip would be a fun, if somewhat a cheeseball adventure. And my partner, who’s always up for anything new, agreed that it would be an interesting addition to our trip.

What we found was more delightful than I would have guessed. Roswell isn’t a big city, but it is a regional center and has a nice collection of stores, restaurants and services, and we were quite comfortable there.

I hadn’t stayed in a Comfort Suites in several years, and I was pleasantly surprised by the location in Roswell where we stayed. We were also amused by the six-foot-tall glowing green alien “enter” sign that welcomed us to the property, located on North Main Street, convenient to almost everything in town.

The property had a fresh, modern and clean feel to it, and our updated room comfortably held the four of us. The kids enjoyed the large indoor pool, and the free hot breakfast was just what we needed in the morning to get us moving.

As it turned out, the alien sign was the first of many we’d see. In fact, we had a blast pointing out the aliens all over town at businesses large and small—Roswell has truly embraced its alien vibe in a proud and cheeky style. There’s an alien McDonalds, complete with a huge flying saucer-shaped play area. Drive by Domino’s Pizza and there’s an alien in front, holding a Domino’s flag.

There are tiny aliens standing next to the bench at the Best Western’s porte-cochere. All the street lamps have black oval alien eyes on them. Murals on brick walls downtown depict alien scenes. And the list goes on and on.

One of the downtown’s highlights is the International UFO Museum and Research Center, which charges a small admission and is worth the price. The displays are basic, but they exhaustively depict the events and aftermath of the 1947 incident in a breathless fashion.

For the UFO fanatic, this place is nirvana. For the skeptic, it’s a fun place to look at the pictures, displays and creepy recreations of alien bodies and autopsies. Displays also go into other incidents, famous photographs of UFOs and descriptions of ancient peoples’ potential connections to extraterrestrials.

Our kids were highly amused by a light/laser/smoke show that happened every thirty minutes, which illuminated a group of four aliens standing under a silver saucer that spun wildly. If nothing else, come for the well-stocked gift shop, with everything alien you could ever want.

About a dozen miles southeast of town, the intriguingly named Bottomless Lakes State Park is a great outdoor getaway. The lakes—actually sinkholes filled with water—are a lovely green-blue color and refreshing places to take a dip in the hot summertime weather.

Visitors can swim, fish, boat or rent stand-up paddleboard equipment here. If you’re not in the mood to get wet, you can hike or ride horses in the park—or watch for the many birds that roost here. There’s also camping and biking trails available at the park.

We were blown away by the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, which is housed in an unassuming warehouse-type building a few blocks away from Main Street. The variety and quality of works is excellent, and the museum has a long-standing artist-in-residence program that has paid dividends (and actually predates the museum building itself). Admission is free and you can easily spend an hour or more here wandering the bright galleries.

Maybe it was all the alien fun wearing off on us, but I got the urge to check out the night sky in Roswell. The Roswell Astronomy Club meets on many Saturday evenings for public star parties, where club members bring their telescopes and share the views with visitors.

The club meets at the McDonald’s near Sam’s Club on the north end of town a half hour before sunset, and then caravans to the night’s dark sky site, generally north of the city. Check the club’s Facebook page for details.

We missed the group on our trip but ventured to one of the club’s normal viewing spots a dozen miles north and parked the car for a half hour, gawking at the stunning expanse of summertime Milky Way that stretched above our heads like a glowing cloud. I’m not sure if anyone was out there looking back—but if they ever do decide to give us a visit, Roswell might be a lovely, welcoming place for them to start.