Friday Favorites: Hot Air Balloons

If you have known me since college days (or maybe before), you may remember that I love hot air balloons. I have moved past wanting to collect everything with hot air balloon images/motifs and have been up in a tethered balloon, but I still have a dream of being able to go on a hot air balloon flight someday.

When I was in East Tennessee last weekend, I was looking for something to do on Saturday evening and saw online that there was a balloon festival happening about an hour south of Knoxville. After much debate in my head, I decided to go on a solo adventure and go find the balloons.

Hiwassee College is down I-75, out in the middle of nowhere, but thankfully my Google Maps chick got me there. I was directed to park in a large field and there were lots of people around. As I walked over to where the festival was set up, I saw two balloons. That's right, only two! I tried to not be too disappointed, but my sense of adventure was deflating (pun intended, if my son ever reads this).

I got in line for some "fair food" and almost decided to leave, but after I overheard another woman say that there would be six or seven balloons, I thought it would be worth hanging around. I got my food, including a fried snickers bar (when in Rome . . . or Hiwassee), and sat down in my chair to people-watch until the sun went down.

Once the sun set and the other balloons were inflated, the real show began. I moved my chair to get a better vantage point, although with it being such a small show, there wasn't a bad place to sit and watch and get some pictures.

I have been to some much larger balloon festivals, but these balloons were so pretty and I had fun taking pictures and getting out of my comfort zone a little. I'm glad that I stuck it out on my little adventure.