Balloon Fiesta and Chiles Galore!
What brought us?
We opted for a weekend in New Mexico because Santa Fe is less than a six hour drive from Denver. But really, it was for the Balloon Fiesta. Santa Fe was just an added bonus.
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!
Every year, the largest hot air balloon festival in the world takes place in Albuquerque. Over the course of two weekends, close to a million people will attend to watch the jewel-like balloons rise into the air. Over 500 balloons come each year, and the event is memorable, if a bit chaotic!
For one, the Albuquerque police actually shut down several interstate exits to funnel all cars in as few entry points as possible. There are shuttles, there are front yard parking schemes, there are thousands of people. We went on the final Saturday morning. The festival events were split up into two main parts that morning and we arrived by 5:30 AM to watch it all!
Dawn Patrol/Morning Glow
Starting at 6/6:30 AM, a select group of balloons are inflated, but do not rise. They instead use their burners to illuminate their balloons in the dark desert night. This made them very difficult to photograph, but very fun to look at! After some fun, they eventually are the first to rise into the morning air.
Mass Ascension
This is the reason why we came. Over 500 balloons inflating and rising in a matter of an hour. It is chaos, it is delightful. Because of Albuquerque’s zero-accident history, you can even walk among the balloons, touch them before they rise off the ground, take selfies in front of your favorites. It’s truly delightful!
During a call of “All burn!” at sunrise 
Cynthia Seal looking on
We enjoyed both the balloons, numerous as stars in the sky, and the sheer silliness of some of the balloons. Here are some of our favorites.
Santa Fe
We loved our time in Santa Fe. It really is a city like no other. There’s artisans and art galleries everywhere and New Mexican food is cheap and plentiful.
Meow Wolf
Meow Wolf is hard to describe. I believe it’s technically an art installation, but it’s also part playground and sci-fi puzzle. You start by walking into a supposedly innocuous house, and it just expands and warps from there! We loved going here, and recommend it to anyone with an open mind and a desire for wacky things!
Check out that chair rail! 
“neon-donut” room 
Fairy village in the kids’ closet 
The rib cage was also a xylophone 
Inside the fish tank from the living room
Santa Fe Plaza
The Plaza is a beautiful area surrounded by jewelry stores, galleries, pottery, restaurants, and bars. There are also a lot of Native American artisans that sell their wares directly from the ground. When they need a break, they just through a blanket over the goods and walk away. It’s really interesting! We also caught a “corn dance” by a local Native American youth dance group!
The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
This museum was interesting. Alex and I hadn’t known much about Ms. O’Keeffe, but we enjoyed her paintings and learning about her life as one of the first abstract painters.
The Chiles
New Mexicans are evidently proud of their chiles. Every breakfast you can buy, and several dinners, comes with the option to be smothered in red chile, green chile, or Christmas (both). Chiles were strung together in wreaths, in hanging garlands from their streetlamps, we even tried smoked beer with chiles at the Chile Line Brewery! Essentially, one cannot visit Santa Fe without trying at least a bit of something with chile in it!
The beers were a bit spicy, but good
In Summary
Overall, we had a great time in both the Balloon Fiesta and Santa Fe. It was in such easy reach from Denver, I’m almost sad we didn’t think to visit sooner!
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