St Louis Balloon Glow

After living in St. Louis for eight years I finally made it to the balloon glow in Forest Park. I hope my description in words can explain how beautiful the scene was. 

Just an FYI about Forest Park; Forest Park, officially opened to the public on June 24, 1876, is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. At 1,293 acres, it is approximately 500 acres larger than Central Park in New York. 

Cassie and I went downtown around 5:00 and the park was filling up quickly. Masses of people were gathered on lawn chairs and blankets. Many people had large and impressive looking picnics. I saw one picnic that had a mini table set up with a white table cloth accented with a floral centerpiece. Impressive! The actual glow didn't start til dusk so we walked around among the booths and food vendors. The mood was one of genuine excitement. 

Cassie and I played cards on our blanket; first a fizzled out game of WAR which moved quickly into a game of SKIPBO. Next to us was a woman with her two children. She too was a first timer and when she came running back to tell her two kids that the balloons were up and looked incredible, Cassie and I made our way to the circular display of  balloons.

 The sounds of the hissing balloons, the heat surrounding us,  the live music playing and the feeling of standing beneath giants was just incredible! It took my eyes upward to the sky. I looked over at Cassie and saw that she was as affected as I was. It was like walking into another world. The feeling of being covered by the bright colored silks and the heat of the open flames felt safe and reassuring. Every so often a loud air-horn would sound and all the balloons burner flames would light up the skies. It was just so beautiful; almost magical.

One man spoke to us of his son's balloon that he takes all over the world. He seemed to me to be a proud papa and gave us a card that showed a picture of his son's balloon and name, " Cheaper than a Wife". On the outside of the great aircraft, about midway up the balloon were the words, " THANKS DAD".

At one point Cassie, like a true professional, took my camera and laid down in the middle of the balloons to get a great shot. The black and white picture here is one she took and I love it!

As we began the push to get back to our blanket I realized in a small sense just how many people were there. Richelle and Alison were trying to meet us there and when they got to one of the park's many entrances, she was told that the park was closed and that there was no parking anywhere available. Just at the edge of the balloon display a crowd gathered to listen to a group of bag-pipers playing AMAZING GRACE. For me, the sound of the bag pipes, are so soothing. So many people were surrounding them as their distinct sound moved through the air. We finally got back to our blanket and picked up our belongings and headed back to the car. Then I remembered that just as I had arrived in the park my gas indicator had sounded that I was on LOW. I looked around at how many people were leaving and felt a little unsure of what I would do in such a mass of cars and people if I ran out of gas. Jon and Shane were unreachable at a father/son campout and my dad does NOT do crowds. I remained calm as we jumped in the car to get out in front of as many cars as possible. I asked Cassie to say a prayer that we would be able to make it to a gas station. It took us about an hour to travel the two miles to the entrance of the highway. There I stayed at a steady and slow pace. When we finally arrived at a gas station that I felt was safe I pumped into my 15 gallon tank, 14.973 gallons. A prayer answered, no doubt.

I will go back every year from now on. It is something that I love about St. Louis. The offering of so many worthwhile activities for virtually no cost is abundant in this town. Cassie and I stated over and over again that this will be a continued tradition for the both of us.  Being with her on our first encounter to the St. Louis Balloon glow was a memory I will always treasure.