How was your week? My week was great! This past week was my Birthday! I woke up to a beautiful bouquet of roses, ate breakfast, and was out the door for my birthday adventure. Did I mention this was a surprise? I had no idea what we were doing, but my friend told me what the dress attire was, what time we had to leave to make it there on time, and to plan to be away for the whole day.
We started out heading north from Virginia Beach. I was thinking maybe we would go to the Wineries in Williamsburg, even though we did that recently, that’s always fun. Well that wasn’t it. I thought, maybe we would be going somewhere in Richmond, but soon we got into the other lane and stopped heading towards Richmond. We started following signs to Charlottesville. Hmm what is in Charlottesville I wondered? The anticipation was killing me. I had a few ideas in my head, but I didn't think that the weather was nice enough for what I was thinking it might be, even though it was a beautiful fall day with the sun shining. I will find out soon enough I told myself.
We arrived at a beautiful bed and breakfast resort and he says this is where we are meeting our group but we are a little early. So we walked around the property and passed some time. I still wasn’t sure what it was. We walked into the main entrance to wait for our group and the concierge asked if she could help us. My friend says no we are just waiting for Rick. She says, oh your waiting on the hot air balloon ride, that’ll be fun! I said ok I guess we are, thinking way to ruin the surprise! So needless to say once I found this out, I was super excited! I have never been up in one.
We met our pilot and then got in the truck to go to where he was going to launch the balloon off. When we arrive at the location and I see the basket in the back of his truck and a bag. I kept thinking there is no way that huge balloon fits in the bag. Well it did. We were even able to help the pilot inflate the balloon. This thing was enormous. I have never been up close to a hot air balloon so I didn’t really know what to expect, so it was pretty cool. The one thing we both thought there would be was a door to get into the basket, but there wasn’t. We just had to climb in.
Once we were up in the air, it was very peaceful. We had a great view of Charlottesville and the Blue Ridge mountains. Good thing we are not scared of heights. We got all the way up to about 2,000 feet and by then the cars did look like little match box cars. It was a perfect day for a Balloon ride. It wasn’t as cold while we were up there as I thought it would be either with the hot air continuing to blow up into the balloon. We were up in the air for approximately an hour or so and then it was soon time to land. There were several fields in the area, so our pilot says it all depends with the wind where we actually land. There was another man that was following our balloon in his truck from the road. He and our pilot each had a radio to communicate to each other and to tell him which direction we were heading towards. We landed safely with the truck there waiting to pick us up. It was another process to deflate the balloon and get it back in that bag that never looked like it fit in there to begin with, but it did.
After we were done we were both starving and wanted to find some place for dinner. I had an idea of where I wanted to go but wasn’t sure if they had one in Charlottesville. I quickly looked up their locations, and there was one. Score! We made reservations for Melting Pot. When we arrived we had to wait a few minutes for our table so we had a drink at the bar. Soon the hostess came to take us to our table. You would have thought we had made these reservations weeks ago with a special request. We went up a few stairs to this one and only corner booth that had a birthday card on the table. I asked him if he asked for this and he said no. It would have been romantic if it was a couple’s date. There was even a curtain the server said we could have closed for privacy, but of course we were just friends and giggled at this set up. We had an excellent 3 course meal and we even left with chocolate covered strawberries for my birthday. It was a great birthday with even better company! -L
We are linking up wit Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap!
PS: Don't forget about joining us for the Holiday Card Swap. You only have till Thursday to sign up.
We are linking up wit Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap!
PS: Don't forget about joining us for the Holiday Card Swap. You only have till Thursday to sign up.
Happy belated Birthday, Lacey! Sounds like you sure had an epic day - the balloon ride looked beautiful! And dinner at the Melting Pot, yum. That place is on my list to try, whenever I'm in a city where they have one.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shelley. Melting Pot is delicious. But definitely for a special occasion.
DeleteHappy Birthday! What an amazing celebration! How do you top a balloon ride?
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday ! what a great surprise !
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen. It was!
DeleteHappy Birthday! Sounds like a great surprise. I love the Melting Pot and the balloon ride sounds like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa. It was quite the surprise!
DeleteHappy Birthday Lacey! What a wonderful surprise and great way to celebrate!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was perfect!
DeleteWhat a freaking fun birthday!!! You are so brave to go up in a hot air balloon. Were you nervous at all? I know you're a flight attendant but this is totally different... right? Paul has been to Charlottesville and said how awesome. Monticello is. He wants to take me on a tour of that! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
ReplyDeleteIt was so fun. Luckily I am not scared of heights, but I wouldn't suggest it for someone that is.
DeleteHappy Birthday! I went to UVA, but I never took a hot air balloon ride. I love the melting pot - what a great way to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Lacey! It sounds like the perfect way to celebrate. A hot air balloon ride is on my bucket list. It looks like it was such a pretty day for that adventure too. The picture of the blue sky with the balloon's shadow is fantastic. My husband loves fondue. But, we don't have a Melting Pot around here. Thanks for linking!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! What an amazing, memorable day! I've never been up in a hot air balloon, but your day looks lovely :) I'm a huge sucker for fondue, but I always eat way too much!!
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday! What a wild day! Melting Pot is great - I took my mom there for Mother's Day once and it was a hit. I may be too scared to go in a hot air balloon. haha Have another great week!
ReplyDeleteWow, what an absolutely amazing day and friend!! Happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, Lacey ...what a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday! I've never taken a hot air balloon ride but my children have and they loved it! I can only imagine what incredible views the blue ridge mountains provided from below. Happy belated birthday!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday! I could not do a hot air balloon. I'm not afraid of heights, but I like my feet on solid ground.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday!! So fun to go on a hot air balloon ride! I've never done it but it sounds fun. The Melting pot is such a great place!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool birthday surprise!! Looks like you had a gorgeous day for it. I've never done one and would love to!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday! Riding in a hot air balloon sounds amazing, what a unique experience!
ReplyDeleteI still have never tried the Melting Pot but hear good things!
Happy birthday! What a nice surprise!
ReplyDelete