35th Annual BalloonFest : Statesville, NC

I made an idol comment about a hot air balloon ride one day,
which initiated a search to find places near us that offered balloon rides.



What I stumbled upon in the process was far better than what I initially expected.
I came across the 35th annual BalloonFest taking place here in North Carolina!



Imagine my excitement once I realized that it was only an 1 hr and 45 min away from Boone.



We didn't get there until after noon, but we made it with enough
time to settle in before the mass ascension took place.
It was more like a sporadic ascension, although still exciting.



I never did make arrangements to go for a private balloon ride,
mostly due to the $200 per head charge - maybe another day?!
For now, I will settle for walking amongst the behemoth balloons.



At a whopping 5' 3", it's not hard to dwarf me,
but I felt so minuscule standing next to those grand mammoths.



I watched as pilots and passengers were man-handled while trying to take off.
Not everyone made it in the air that day. But when they did, cheers & applause followed.
I loved being a part of these little celebrations, it was quite exhilarating.



Another thrilling part of the festivities were the food vendors.
We had so many options in front of us, it was hard to choose what to go with.
What do you do when that happens eh?!?! Sample everything!


~Cheesecake dipped in Chocolate~
~Deep Fried Snicker~


~Meat on a Stick~

As wonderful as all that yummy food was,
the truly magical didn't really take place until the sun went down.



By then, the balloons were returning to the valley to put on a special twilight show.



The roaring flames were as loud as the oohs and aahs as the valley began to glow....
you could hear the "ALL BURN" announcement followed
by everyone lighting up the night in unison.



It was a wondrous sight.



And like that the fire fizzled, it was time to go back home.
We had a great time.....

Posted in Wordful Wednesday