looks like i'm heading to alamosa in a couple weeks for work.

any good places to eat?

anything cool to check out whilst i'm down there?

i'll be driving down and will have a hotel room.

TIA.

Not too familiar with Alamosa, only been there a few times.  What route are you driving down?  Might have some good ideas for stops along the way.

Visit the sand dunes.  Check out the UFO watchtower while you're at it.

And alligator farm if you have time.

If you like hiking, check out Zapatista Falls close to the Sand Dunes. It’s a waterfall in a cave and will be frozen this time of year. It’s really cool to see, but be aware the road leading to the trailhead is bumpy.

I ate at the San Luis Valley Brewing company a few years ago, it was decent.

If you are willing to travel on a weekend, check out either Pagosa Springs hot springs or Mt Princeton hot springs near Buena Vista. Love those places.

Watch for speed traps, especially where the speed limit suddenly changes.

The coolest thing I ever saw in the San Luis Valley:

I was driving across the SLV one day, middle of nowhere, heading for New Mexico.  I hit a small town called Manassa so I slowed down.  A bell went off in my head, but I didn't connect the dots until I was in town and saw a town park on the south side of the road.  There was a large painting of an old timey boxer on a big concrete wall at the back of the park--Manassa was of course the birthplace of Jack Dempsey.  I stopped and hung out in the park for an hour.  There was/is a small museum for Dempsey there, and an artesian spring water fountain running 24/7.  I thought it was great, a little bit of what Colorado once was.

The SLV is a strange place (and the largest alpine valley in the world).  I once reserved a campsite at the dunes for three days.  The incessant winds blew my camp down three times in an afternoon.  I got weird vibes from the place, wound up leaving after one day (I figured the winds and ever shifting dunes must have one heckuva static charge).  Hippie Central is just north of the dunes at Crestone.  Blanca Peak, badass 14er just to the SSE, was considered one of the four corners of the world by the Navajo (badass view from Fort Garland,).  Big mojo down there--old school Mexican Catholics from the land grant days, stations of the cross, black helicopters, UFOs, cattle mutilations, religious/mystical shrines, all that jazz.  The place is worth a link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Luis_Valley

Great Sand Dunes.  No skeeters this time of year.
There's a state park south of it too.
Fort Garland (at Garland).

Never ate in Alamosa.  I always drive through the place.