New Mexico

New Mexico's high desert landscape and adobe architecture give it a look unlike anywhere else in the country.

Santa Fe, the oldest state capital in the U.S., has built an entire identity around art galleries and Southwestern cuisine, most notably its green chile, which shows up on nearly every menu. Albuquerque hosts one of the largest hot air balloon festivals in the world every October. Carlsbad Caverns, in the south, has one of the largest cave chambers in North America.

Green chile versus red chile is a genuine, ongoing local debate.