Last year, the Fab Five and I went to the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, the oldest free hot air balloon event in the country, for the first time, and while it was hot outside, it was a lot of fun. But after all these years of living in St. Louis, I still hadn’t made it to the balloon glow, which is held the night before the race. Last night, even though I was tired after a long week, I decided I needed to take the train down to Forest Park and check it out, and thankfully, the girls wanted to go with me (these things just aren’t that much fun when you’re by yourself!). We had a lot of fun walking around, checking out all the balloons, and talking to some of the pilots about what flying a hot air balloon is like. We also got what I think is the best possible view…we arrived just before sunset, so we got to see all of the balloons in the waning daylight, and then watched as they lit up as darkness fell.

This is a great event, and while it normally takes place in a different part of Forest Park, I think this location on Art Hill, where the balloon light can reflect off the water in the Grand Basin, is superb!