Each year in mid-September Forest Park, the huge park near our house, hosts a Hot Air Balloon race. The night prior to they have a "Balloon Glow" where all the participating balloons are inflated in the middle of a field with festival type booths and activities all around. It's a free family event, and draws quite a crowd. Ryan has worked EVERY SINGLE YEAR he's been here and has never been able to go to this event, but has seen it from the hospital several times. This year he was able to make it to this event but not the next day, the actual "take off". It was amazing to see all of the hot air balloons up close and lit up at night. Owen was not a huge fan because they kept having to turn on the fire to keep the balloons inflated, which as you can imagine is quite scary for a little guy. But it was an amazing site to see.
The Energizer bunny is the "hare" and all the other balloons chase it during the race.
Hot Air Balloon Race Day
I found out from someone who knows more about this race than I that it is not really a "race" in the traditional sense of the word--speed based, but rather accuracy based. The Energizer bunny lifts off first and sets the course based on the way the wind is blowing. Then everyone else takes off and "chases" the bunny. The goal of the race is to land as close to the bunny as possible, not necessarily as fast as possible.
On the day of the race the festival is set up again and many families bring picnics out and sit in the shade until they begin to release the balloons. It was so cool to watch these huge balloons float off into the sky.
This one is my favorite! It was so pretty at night!
2 comments:
So sad we missed it! I love St. Louis for stuff like this!
Oh wow. It must mean its getting to be fall in STL soon.
Miss you!
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