Several years ago, we flew into Philadelphia in February to see the annual flower show in the convention center. It extended over three blocks with 2nd story crossovers of the streets. It is the nation's largest and longest-running horticultural event. In 2021 it was moved outdoors in June, and it is again scheduled to be outdoors this year because of the continuing pandemic. We were greeted with a flurry of snow, but the weather cleared the next day.

We had toured Independence Hall and some of the historical sites on previous tours so on this trip we limited ourselves to three art museums and some of the downtown buildings. Not that many of the 18th Century buildings remain in the Central City from the period in which Philadelphia was the largest city in the Colonies.

With a metropolitan area population of more than six million people sprawled over 134 square miles, the area is the largest in the southeast. Famous for its super-busy airport, the HQ of CNN, the HQ of Coca-Cola, and its four professional sports teams, the city itself is only about 460,000 people. Their baseball team, the Braves won the World Series in 2021. It hosts the Carter Presidential Library among its attractions that include the Fox Theater, the High Art Museum, and several attractions in the former location of the 1996 Olympics Park.

Carter Library © John Suddath

Fox Theatre © John Suddath

Balloons lift off for a race across the Rio Grande Valley © John Suddath

New Orleans has Mardi Gras, Rio de Janeiro has Carnivale, and Washington, DC has the Folk Life Festival. Albuquerque’s annual event, The Balloon Fiesta^®, also draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from all across the world. The festival is festive without being too boisterous, and it is very family friendly for children and adults alike. We didn’t observe a lot of internal security, but we saw no drunks or unruly behavior that is common to some of these other large festivals. It is held the 1st week in October and lasts 10 days and has been going on since 1972. Because of the spectacular opportunities for color and action, it is particularly attractive to photographers. That year was a “good” year with 500+ balloons and more than 800,000 visitors that provide a $100-million boost to the local economy. The previous year had more bad weather that reduced turnout, and the prior year had one fatality that put a damper on things.