Stateville Balloon Rally

Arriving back

Last weekend, John and I attended the 37^th annual Statesville Balloon Rally. While the day started off horrible, the end result was worth it.

The rally originally began in October 1974 as a week long celebration for both hot air balloon enthusiast and spectators. The rally was started by Balloon Works, a local hot air balloon company. In 1978 the rally moved to nearby Love Valley, where Balloon Works was located. In 1982 Balloon Works, the Statesville Chamber of Commerce, and several other business worked together to bring the rally to the Statesville Airport in order to accommodate the  increasing thousands of spectators who have been attending the event. From 1996 to 2006, the event was held at the fairgrounds located in nearby Troutman. The event once again returned to the airport after expansions to the airport were completed. And for some point it was held in the summer. When we first attended in 2005, it was held in June. The following year when it returned to its present location at the airport, it was once again held in the latter part of October. The rally is the second oldest in the country, just behind the Albuquerque Balloon Fest.

Our plan was to arrive in time for the mass ascension, go grab dinner, and come back for the balloon glow. The mass ascension was set for 4 pm. Ok, so about 75 minutes to get there and we needed to allow time for parking and time to find a place to sit. So we left out a bit before 2 pm. We arrived at our exit which would lead us to the airport at 3:30. According to our GPS system we had less than 5 miles to go. That would give us plenty of time to make it to the airport. Or so we thought.

It would take 90 more minute to inch towards the parking lot. We missed the mass ascension. By the time we arrived on the road where the airport was located, we started seeing the balloons coming in. We were taking pictures from the car window. In order to get pictures of the number of balloons now coming in, I finally had to jump out of the car and let John and go on and park. I snapped away picture after picture of the balloons arrived back to the airport.

Lots to shop for

So far, I had missed the mass accession and came close to missing the fly back in. I didn’t exactly get the pictures I was hoping for. After snapping away I made my way to the parking lot and headed toward the area where the volunteer said she was directing everyone. 30 minutes later I am still trying to locate the hubby (in my haste to take pictures, I forgot my phone). I finally see cars going into another parking lot and finally found my missing spouse.

We made our way to the field following the crowd. I am wondering where the balloons are going to be since when I was running around taking pictures, the balloons were going in the opposite direction. We find the volunteer tent and find out the balloons will begin the night glow in about an hour. Our plan was to locate the restrooms, grab some drinks, and then do a bit of shopping. We locate the maybe dozen porta potties on the field and have another wait. A 30 minute wait. The balloons are already arriving and getting ready for the night time glow. Since there are lines for everything so were afraid if we get in any other lines we will miss the glow as well. The do have plenty of vendors for shopping and offering food. They also have a wine festival since we have a number of wineries in the region.

We head towards the infield where the balloons are getting ready for the evenings big event. We scope out an area to sit up our tripod for the Pentax camera. I leave that to John while I go around taking pictures. As each balloon goes up they start their beautiful glow. When all the balloons are ready they start their glow. A big round of big cheers and yells arise from the crowd who are certainly enjoying the presentation. The infield temporary looks like the neon strip of Vegas. It is truly stunning what a little fire can do. It will take your breath away. All of a sudden all the aggravation of getting to this moment disappeared and I cheered and hollered along with the thousands of others here this night.

Beautiful!!

The event is held every year at the later part of October. Just make sure you allow plenty of time to get here. You can click on the link below for more information. It is an event that shouldn’t be missed.

http://www.carolinaballoonfest.com/

Getting ready to go up.

Welcome to my blog!

Durham Bulls

SC State Capitol Bldg.

Intro.

Hi! And welcome to my blog. Thanks for joining me. I thought with my first blog I would start out by telling you about me, my blog, and what to expect. I hope you will keep reading.

I am a native Carolinian, technically! OK I was born in and spent several years in England. But I was a military brat and my parents are native North Carolinians, so I consider myself one. I am proud to be a G.R.I.T.S. (girl raised in the south) and proud of my heritage. My family dates to this area for about 200 years. Other than a few years when I lived in NY (I was in college), I have lived my life in North or South Carolina.

I have a passion for travel. I have been traveling since I was 6 months old. I am lucky enough to live in such an amazing and beautiful state and I have a lovely neighbor in SC (and it is about an hour away) so we often take local weekend trips. If were not taking trips, then our weekends are spent exploring restaurants, events, and places. We love seeking out new places and revisiting old friends.

So I love sharing my home state and my lovely neighbor that make up the Carolinas. We have so much here to enjoy. We have these centuries’ old cities that still look the same as when they were first developed, where one of the most enjoyable things is just walking down the street and marvel at historic old homes. Many of these homes can be visited during annual tour of homes found through out the year. While many others now serve as B&B’s.

Our mountains provide year round beauty. In the spring the forests are alive with scrumptious wildflowers. Summer brings its own beauty and relief from the sweltering summer temperatures in other parts of the Carolinas. The fall is when the mountains really shine. People come from all over to watch as the natural spectacle that happens every year when the leafs change color and celebrate their last hurrah before winter moves in. Winter in the mountains is the place for outdoor lovers. Ski slops are filled with those who love the fun snow delivers. If skiing ain’t quite your thing, then try intertubing,. No skills required. Nature’s lovers should know there around 500 waterfalls in the Carolinas. Most of theses stunners can be visited with little or no effort required.

The coastal cities of the Carolinas are amongst our most beautiful and oldest cities in the states. Our original state capitals were here (New Bern and Charleston). Today they are sun and fun capitals offering miles of sandy beaches for sun lovers and golf fans flock by droves to enjoy some of the best courses in the country. Here you will find some amazing seafood.

In the middle of the state you will find charming small towns and modern metropolises. Our small towns often remind visitors of  The Andy Griffith Show. Our large cities are full of sky scrapers reaching for the Carolina Blue sky. They offer up endless entertainment and dining options.

Speaking of food, foodies will love us. You can enjoy some down home county cooking featuring recipes that have been passed down for generations and Nuevo southern cuisine. There are many top chefs and renowned restaurants. And then there is our BBQ here in NC. We have the best BBQ you will ever taste. In NC pork rules over beef. We have two distinct BBQ styles though both start out by cooking the meat over fire pit for hours. Eastern or Lexington style is a vinegar based sauce while Western is a sweet tomato based often sweetened with molasses. Lexington NC (the BBQ capital) even has a celebration every October. Love vino? We have plenty of that too. We have several hundred wineries including the largest in the country on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC. We even have our own wine country in the NC piedmont.

NC waterfall

I hope you enjoy my blog and enjoy finding out the places that I love. Whether you are new to our state, just visiting, or have been here a while..I hope you will find something new to enjoy. Please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.