Albuquerque Day #3

Saturday was "wedding day" but the festivities didn't start until nearly 3:00 so Branelle and I headed out to explore Albuquerque a little further.  We drove around a while before ultimately ending up at the International Balloon Museum.   

The International Balloon Museum

Albuquerque is known for ballooning, and the museum is located on the grounds where they host large ballooner festivals.  We thought about taking a ride in one while we were in town, but it seems you have to go VERY early in the morning.  Anyway, the museum was actually quite nice and very interactive, and they only charged us $4 to get in.  Like a lot of theme specific museums, it would probably be very interesting if it's something you're into, but otherwise I wouldn't make a special trip to see it. 

Hanging out in the Double Eagle

The museum was extremely interactive.  They didn't seem to mind you touching anything.

 

After playing around in the museum, we headed back to the base of Sandia Peak and had lunch at The County Line BBQ.  Sadly, this place is no relation to the County Line in Austin which has to be one of the best BBQ places anywhere.  It was OK though, and we were hungry so no complaints….except from Nel that they didn't have Sweet Tea.  What kind of southern BBQ place doesn't have Sweet Tea?

The rest of the day and evening was dedicated to wedding activities.  The ceremony was held in a small chapel on the hotel grounds and was very nice.  The entire affair lasted less than 30 minutes - the way a wedding SHOULD be - and the weather for the entire day could not have been better.  We had a very nice sit-down dinner outside on the courtyard followed by a fun and well attended reception under the New Mexico stars.   

The newlyweds came out to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica - FANTASTIC!

Branelle and I stayed until the music stopped - but even if we had left early we would have heard the music until it stopped since our balcony overlooked the courtyard.  I thought it was a fantastic wedding.  Everything was well thought out but casual and fun.  Everybody seemed to have a great time - some maybe too good a time due to the open bar.  Nel and I met some very nice people and enjoyed chatting with them throughout the evening, with Nel making the occasional trip to the dance floor.

At the end of the evening we felt that Carla hadn't possibly had her picture taken enough, so we made her pose for one more.