Hot Air Balloon Museum

 If you have followed the blog for a bit you know that I am an airplane nut.  I can sit there and watch them all day and an air show is tops. Lori’s love of flight is more limited to hot air balloons, not that she would every fly in one, though we have taken a tethered ride. This shared love of lighter than air flight has caused two things to be on our bucket lists.  One (and the biggie) is the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and the other is the Lake Havasu Balloon Festival in Arizona.
So while we were visiting a childhood friend (yes I had both!) who lives near Albuquerque we had to checkout where the balloon festival was held – sort of advanced scouting for our winter 2020 tour.  Once we found the balloon field we stumbled into the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum.  This turned out to be way more interesting than I planned on! The Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum is a museum dedicated to the worldwide history, science, and art of all types of ballooning and lighter-than-air flight. It is situated just outside the grounds used for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the world's largest yearly balloon fiesta, and is named for Ben Abruzzo and Maxie Anderson, two Albuquerque natives who established several ballooning firsts, such as crossing oceans and continents. Opened on October 1, 2005, it is owned by the city of Albuquerque and is a collaborative project of the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation and the City of Albuquerque's Cultural Services Division. It is a 59,000-square-foot  facility with class rooms, conference rooms, and many exhibits on the history of ballooning, including items from famous balloonists such as Ed Yost, Joseph Kittinger, and Ben Abruzzo.  

Exhibits in the museum include:

Arctic Air which tells the dramatic story of a first-ever attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon. The 1897 expedition used the best and most innovative technology of the time, and was intended to achieve the goal eluded by all other expeditions. Journals of the three crew members, as well as photographs taken on the journey, tell a detailed story of this all-but-forgotten chapter of the Age of Exploration.

Inside The Weather Lab, museum you will encounter the sun, wind, clouds, precipitation and storms. Along the way, you will learn about the inextricable relationship between weather and humanity, and efforts through technology to better understand and forecast weather conditions. The immersive and interactive exhibition includes weather pods, artifacts, interactive touchscreens, videos, images, and text panels presented within a one-of-a-kind space, created solely for the Balloon Museum by the University of New Mexico's School of Architecture and Planning. The Weather Lab also highlights two weather conditions that are important to Albuquerque, but for very different reasons: The famous "Albuquerque Box" and fire weather. Pay attention in this exhibit – the information will come in handy later

As you would expect there is an exhibit documenting the timeline of lighter than air flight. There is also an extensive exhibit of Felix Baumgartner’s record breaking skydive from a lighter than air balloon.

For fans of experiential film viewing, Tim Anderson 4-D Theater will engage audiences in visual, aural, and physical sensations as they watch ballooning and other flight and science-related short films.  Admission to theater screenings is included with entry to the museum (except as otherwise promoted for a special event)

Just outside the 4-D theater is a balloon flight simulator.  You are tasked to takeoff and then land on a designated target.  I hope you paid attention to the weather exhibit – that information will come in handy here.  I got to try it three times during my visit and hit 97 for a high score.  I could have hung out in this thing all day!!!!!

Admission is $6 with $2 off on the standard deductions. Also there is free admission Sundays from 9 AM - 1 PM and the first Friday of the month (except for October).