In honor of the upcoming Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, we thought it'd be appropriate to do a post on our visit to the festival. I grew up going to the hot air balloon festival as part of the Provo Freedom Festival pretty much every 4th of July. We would wake up with the sun (it seemed like) and make our way down to the big field behind the Provo hospital and watch the balloons fill up and lift off and then go get breakfast. It was such a fun tradition and one that I looked forward to every year. So when we moved to New Mexico, it was pretty much a given that we would attend the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Albuquerque is home to clear blue skies, calm winds, and mild temperatures year round, which makes it the perfect place for hot-air ballooning. It is also home to more resident balloonists than any other state (over 300) which makes it the perfect setting for the world's largest balloon festival. Hot air ballooning is such a big thing in the state of New Mexico, that even our small town, Alamogordo, has it's own balloon park. In fact, a few weeks before the big festival, White Sands National Monument holds an invitational for a few of the country's most skilled pilots to come down for a weekend and launch over the white sand dunes of the national monument in the morning and hold a night glow at the balloon park in the evening. Suffice it to say, we were primed and ready to make the trip up to Albuquerque to witness the "big leagues". Where We AteOur first stop for dinner was the 66 Diner. A gas station and service garage turned into a 50s diner, this restaurant is...in one word....legit. From the booths, the vintage signs, the servers uniforms, the hopscotch game in the middle of the floor, to the burgers and AMAZING milkshakes...Everything about this place transports you back in time. It's an experience as well as a meal and it does not disappoint on any account. Our next meal was breakfast, which we actually had at the balloon park while we were waiting for the balloons to go up! Green chile breakfast burritos...you can never have enough green chile when in New Mexico. I'm not even sure if there was a booth name or if there was just a sign for breakfast burritos, haha, but seeing how early you have to get up to get into the park, grabbing breakfast once you're there is highly recommended. Where We StayedThe Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta takes place in the beginning of October every year. Being the world's largest, it attracts hundreds of thousands of people. The year we went it was estimated that nearly 888,000 people were in attendance. This is a significant amount of people (understatement!) being that the population of Albuquerque is around 580,000. All this to say, wherever you stay, it is imperative to get reservations EARLY!! We were lucky enough to get a room at Kirtland AFB. Military installations only release rooms for booking about 2 months in advance. So I actually called to see when rooms would be released for the dates we wanted to be there and was able to call back the day they were actually released to secure our booking. It worked out very well for us as we were able to get to the park early and come back for naps afterwards. However, we did have some friends that took advantage of the RV campsites at the park and if we were to go back, I think that would be a really fun way to go! What We DidOur primary reason for going to Albuquerque was to attend the Balloon Fiesta. However, we did have little kids (3 years old and 6 months old) so we went for a little variety, too. Our first night, we stopped at the Albuquerque Bio-Park and walked around the aquarium and gardens. Both were a hit for our 3 year old, though, as much as I love aquariums, I think the gardens were my favorite! The next morning, we woke up super early so as to leave the hotel and get to the park at 6:00AM. The traffic wasn't as bad as we thought it would be and the parking directed us to a lower lot where we could walk to a shuttle that took us to the launch field entrance or we could walk there on our own. With our kids being content in the stroller, we walked in on our own and we didn't feel inconvenienced. Launch is tentatively scheduled for 7:00AM but definitely dependent on weather. The day we went, the first balloon went up around 7:40, but just watching all the crew and pilots prepping was so fun to watch that we didn't really notice the delay. The rest of our time was spent wandering the 78 acre launch field, taking in all of the different shapes and colors of the 500+ hot air balloons. This event is the largest annual international event held in the US. It is also the most photographed event on the planet, so I'm just gonna put these here.... We definitely had to have family nap time after the event, but getting up early to witness such an amazing event was definitely worth it! The next morning, we were on our way back home and it just added to the experience to be able to see everything from a distance... If you ever have the chance to attend the Balloon Fiesta, GO!! If you've ever been, tell us in the comments about your experience! If you're planning to go, tell us what you're most looking forward too! Also, poll time...are you more drawn to the colorful standard shaped balloons, or are you fascinated by the unique shapes? We're having a small debate over here ;) Make sure to pin for future reference and follow us on Instagram for more of our day to day adventures. Until next time, get out and enjoy where you live!
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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