by The vacation we had booked for 2020 that got canceled thanks to the pandemic was a trip to New Mexico, which included a hot air balloon ride in Albuquerque. ABQ is considered a premiere destination to take a flight. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time this time around (and thank goodness I didn’t try to squeeze it in, since my flight from NJ back to NM was delayed, delayed, delayed, and I would have gotten no sleep if we’d booked an early morning balloon ride), so we had to settle for the Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum for now.
The museum is “dedicated to the worldwide history, science, and art of all types of ballooning and lighter-than-air flight.” It’s quite large (59,000 square feet!), with lots of exhibits and balloons on display.
You could spend many hours here if your interests ran deep enough. Its grounds are where the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is held, and I’d love to come someday and see the skies over Albuquerque full of colorful balloons (such as in the cover photo, which is a picture of a video on display in the museum). It’s the world’s most photographed event.
The museum is named for Ben Abruzzo and Maxie Anderson, two balloonists from Albuquerque who established several ballooning firsts.
Together they crewed the Double Eagle II balloon, which, in 1978, was the first gas balloon to complete a transatlantic flight.
Both pushed the ballooning envelope, as it were, each dying in separate ballooning accidents (in 1985 and 1983, respectively).
The museum opened in 2005.
