Burque, Duke City, ABQ

A most lovely day playing tourist in what feels like our second home, Albuquerque. Spent the morning at the Balloon Museum, which had a ton of really fun interactive exhibits.
We built a balloon,
wove a basket to go under a balloon, flew a balloon via simulator,

and used a flight simulator.
You do not want to ride in a plane with either of us. Crash, crash, crash. But Lisa got almost a perfect score on the balloon simulator, for your future reference. They also had a great gift shop where we could pick up a few goodies for those who are being so kind in watching our house ;-)

Then it was off to the Nob Hill neighborhood, which I'd read was the hip place for restaurants and locally owned shops. Had a scrumptious lunch at a surprisingly delightful brasserie. Lisa had a trout/artichoke dish and I had the most wonderful cassoulet. Then we strolled the shops and found a few must-have items for the house, including one thing that I have been regretting not getting last October in Durango, CO. (It was even unavailable via the internet!) Lo and behold, I found it on Route 66, aka Central Avenue, on Nob Hill.

Then we toodled back up the road toward Bernalillo, stopping at the Gruet winery. We had heard a Splendid Table podcast about their unusually good sparkling wines, so we had to stop. (We have a May celebration to buy this for ;-)

Turns out the sparklers weren't as good as the Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs that they use to make the sparkling wine. So, we purchased a few of those, including some to give as gifts back home.