New Mexico: Pistachioland

We spent half a day exploring White Sands National Park before it was time to head to Carlsbad, NM.  On our way there, we drove past a huge sign for Pistachioland.  There was no question.  Of course we had to stop by.  

I mean, they had a giant pistachio statue out front:

Pistachioland consists of McGinn's Country Store, a pistachio farm, and a winery.  McGinn's was essentially a giant souvenir shop with lot of pistachio goodies.  The fun part was walking around sampling all the flavored pistachios, from green chili to habanero limon.  They also had other kinds of nuts as well as various sweets.  

We didn't buy anything from the store, but we did check out the ice cream parlor.  Due to the pandemic, the parlor was reduced to just a take out window.  

Pistachioland serves exclusively Blue Bell Ice Cream.  There were many flavors, but of course we had to get pistachio ($3.50 per cup):

We also got the white chocolate pistachio cookie ($1):

Definitely not a chewy cookie by any means, so if that's what you like, maybe this isn't for you.  The white chocolate was quite sweet, but the pistachios served as a nice counterbalance.  

I saw that they had pistachio smoothies ($3.99) on the menu:

I got one out of sheer curiosity.  It was much icier than I expected.  I think I was picturing a creamy pistachio shake that tasted more like ice cream.  Instead the drink was literally pistachios blended with ice.  Very, very nutty and not very dessert-like. 

I ended up tossing it after a few sips.

Pistachioland is a family-friendly place to stop for some souvenirs, some laughs, and some photo ops.  They also offer tours of their farm every hour on the hour for $3 per person (free for kids five and under).  If we'd had more time, I wouldn't have minded checking it out.

But alas, our next adventure awaited and away to Carlsbad we went.

Pistachioland

7320 Hwy 54 70 

Alamogordo, NM 88310 

(800) 368-3081

https://pistachioland.com/