It's become a favorite winter destination for many "snowbird" refugees from winter-locked northern states, so why not visit Las Cruces, N.M., for yourself and enjoy some of the scenery and culture of the southcentral part of the state they call the Land of Enchantment.

Las Cruces is south of Albuquerque on Interstate 25, and less than an hour north of El Paso, Texas. In winter, while your neighbors are digging out the driveway and scraping ice off the windshield, the temperature here is usually in the 50s and 60s.

Check out the photo gallery and listen to some of their podcasts, or just click on "Attractions" to see what you can find for entertainment, from browsing in a busy art community to exploring ghost towns and visiting wineries (yes, New Mexico has wineries). If you plan to take your hardware, there are several golf courses in and around Las Cruces. And if the kids are going along, the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum can give them a taste of ranch life.

Just south of the city, the town of Mesillahas some of the flavor of the old Southwest, including the flavors found in its restaurants. When you're ready to go out and about in this part of New Mexico, the tourism promotion organization Old West Country has information on towns including Truth or Consequences (honest, that's its name), Socorro and Silver City, the old mining town in the Pinos Altos Mountains. Take a challenging hike along the Catwalk National Scenic Trail through Whitewater Canyon.