thePULSEBallooning is Like No Other Outdoor Experience
By Brian Goslow
There are very few good reasons we can give you as to why you’d want to get up at 4:30 in the morning. Very few. And if you’re not awaiting news that you’ve won an Academy, even fewer. But we have found one. How about the opportunity to soar above your neighbors and friends in a hot air balloon?
“We get people up at an ungodly hour before sunrise,” says Dick Varney, owner and pilot of North Brookfield-based Aerial Adventures. That’s not to see if you’re tough enough ~ it’s to make sure there’s as little breeze as possible before the sun starts warming up the land and creating winds that could send you to Neverland.
Each flight is different. “We tell people we’ll get them from Point A to Point B and that as long as you don’t mind where Point B is you’ll love ballooning,” Varney says. His biggest balloon can fit up to a dozen people, although Varney prefers only 8 -10, as he “…likes people to have a little room.” A regular-sized balloon holds four or five people.
A hot air balloon trip is an once-in-a-lifetime, unlike no other gift to give to your parents, friends, or even spouse to celebrate a wedding anniversary or birthday. Aerial Adventures’ rides cost $195 per passenger; most flights take place on the weekends. And while Varney’s never had anyone get married in the air, he’s had a couple of proposals as well as a few post-vow rides where the newlyweds flew into the sunset after the ceremony.
Aerial Adventure’s season runs from May through September, although unseasonably warm temperatures sometimes leave room for memorable October foliage season flights. “The ones we get are just spectacular,” Varney says.
Throughout the flight, a chase vehicle, usually driven by wife (and company boss) Ellen, trails the balloon. “I tell people I’m one of the few lucky fellows where the wife chases the husband,” Varney jokes. After an hour or so, it’s time to return to earth, where Ellen rushes to set up a checkered tablecloth topped with champagne, wine (or juice for the non-drinkers) and cheese to greet them.
“We typically land in fields, parking lots, or backyards,” explains Varney, adding that after the celebratory toast, it’s off to a local restaurant for a breakfast ~ but not before taking care of one last detail. “We have several farmers who look forward to seeing us,” Varney says. “A typical tradition for ballooners is we always leave a bottle of champagne with the landowner afterwards.”
Mario DiStefano’s Bella Via Balloon Company flies year-round ~ weather permitting ~ from a number of Grafton locations. “Although we get fewer flights in the winter, when we get them, they’re the most spectacular ~ it’s more
comfortable, they last longer, and the visibility’s better.”
Days with less than six mile per hour surface winds are perfect for flying. “Distance is not the point ~ you can travel a lot up and down,” DiStefano says. “It’s a mile climb. We always look for gentle winds.”
Bella Via currently flies on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Friday afternoons, and weekends and holidays, but plans on adding a second pilot so it can begin daily flights by mid-June. Individual trips cost $225 and it’s $200 each for groups of two or more with kids under 12 flying for half-price.
Above the clouds, we’re all kids. “Ballooning awakens the child-like quality of wonder in all of us,” DiStefano says. “It’s something very deep. Maybe when you were a kid and even still as a grown-up, when you’re lying on the lawn or at the beach, you look up and you say, ‘I wonder what it would be like to walk on a cloud.’ And in effect, that’s what the balloon does.”
Aerial Adventures
(508-867-2006 or aerialadventuresusa.com)
Bella Via Balloon Company
(508-853-6101 or bellaviaballoon.com)
Skywords Unlimited Aerial Adventures
(508-852-3980)
