Socorro, New Mexico; Where Hope Goes To Die

I recently got back from vacation in New Mexico. All the usual suspects,




plus, finally, the Balloon Fiesta.



Check out the fireworks afterwards...



Looking at these you might be tempted to say, "Wow Bird, what a lovely vacation." Yes indeed, it was so close to being a lovely vacation but then I had the audacity to mock Socorro and, more specifically, The Hammel Museum.

I had a blog all started about the Museum with the above title. See, the Hammel Museum, "started as a beer garden and, in the intervening century, became successively a brewery, an ice plant, a soda bottling plant, and finally ended as an active industry still making ice." It was named after the Hammel's who's great grandfather was Jacob Hammel an immigrant from Munich, Bavaria. He arrived in 1848 with his friend Eberhard Anheuser who wanted Hammel to start a brewery with him in St. Louis. Hammel said no and started his own brewing company which he called the Illinois Brewery. Hammel was somewhat successful and in the late 1880's moved to Socorro and brought his business with him. His pal Eberhard did pretty well too; his brewery is still up and running. You may have heard of it...Anheuser-Busch.

So Hammel is pretty much a tool for not listening to his pal Eberhard and that was the point I was going to make. You know, stuff like, "Nice work Socorro. Way to honor the boneheaded decision of Hammel there." Before I got a chance though, the swift hand of fate made its own move. It didnt take the form of a burning bush, or a booming voice from the sky but rather as a 10 cent screw and a two bit fuse.

Needless to say, dont fuck with Socorro.