Balloon Museum And Balloon Park, New Mexico

Albuquerque may be the ballooning capital of the USA, as this large museum and adjacent ballooning park assert. At least part of the reason is Ben Abruzzo, a pioneering balloonist and local businessman, who has broken several ballooning records, such as being on the team that first crossed the Atlantic by balloon. Abruzzo also developed the Sandia Tramway in Albuquerque, among the longest aerial trams in the world. Abruzzo died in a plane crash in 1985, and his ballooning partner, Maxie Anderson, died two years earlier in a balloon accident. The Balloon Museum was created by a foundation established in their honor by their families. The cavernous museum, which opened in 2005, is most likely the largest ballooning museum in the world. It overlooks a large field where over 100 balloons launch during various annual ballooning festivals.