Ride a Hot Air Balloon in Beacon

  |  June 19, 2014
hot air balloon

Acrophobics, beware: Hot air ballooning will be mentioned liberally in this post. Consider that your trigger warning. Meanwhile, while for the rest of you risk-takers and view-lovers, considering take a hot air balloon ride during your next visit upstate. Blue Sky Balloons, located in Beacon, will take you up, up, and away to get a balloon’s eye view of the Hudson Valley. One ticket will run you about $225 or $575 for a private two-person trip, so this might be more like one of those bucket list experiences than a regular event.

The website will give you all of the specifics about the ride, but a few things to keep in mind: Balloon rides are sensitive to weather, so rides are scheduled at either just prior to sunrise or sunset. Rides get cancelled if the weather isn’t right, but don’t worry; you’ll get your money back. You should definitely tell Blue Sky if you have a physical disability, and sorry, pregnant ladies. They can’t let you fly.

Blue Sky has a perfect track record. They’ve been flying hot air balloons for 40 years, incident-free. That’s comforting. Read more about the pilot here. This seems like a great way to leaf-peep in the fall (October is their busiest month, so book ahead). Slightly less terrifying than sky-diving, perhaps? Have any of our readers done this and taken some good pictures? Join the Upstater Flickr pool and upload some shots. We’d love to see them!

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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