Thanks mainly to it's geographic location in the center of the Finger Lakes Region of New York, Seneca Lake is often lovingly referred to as "The Middle Finger".
The town of Watkins Glen (pop. 1829) is situated at the very southern tip of Seneca Lake as is known for the NASCAR racetrack located just outside of town.
But we're not here for any NASCAR race, we're not here for a race at all. We're interested in much slower moving objects, like our new found passion for Hot Air Balloons.
As luck would have it, there is a brand new festival this weekend in Watkins Glen, it's billed as the 1st Annual Finger Lakes Hot Air Balloon and Music Festival. What a great pairing, hot air balloons and live outdoor music.
The music is mostly comprised of local and regional talent, with one exception.
Jason Michael Carroll will be taking the stage as the headliner on Saturday night from 8:30PM until 10:00PM. He has toured with such performers as Brooks & Dunn, Trace Adkins, and Alan Jackson. He was a featured part of Carrie Underwood and Martina McBride’s 2008 tour.
I must admit that I'd never heard of him, but he did have 5 Top 40 songs on Billboard's Hot Country Songs list between 2006 and 2010. He is still recording new music, but hasn't achieved the success he did with his earlier music.
Another very important aspect of the festival is their offering of RV camping on the property. I should mention the event takes place on the back lawn of the Castel Grisch Winery.
Even though the camping gate opened on Thursday afternoon, when we arrived on Friday morning there were still several "prime locations" available. We were told to camp anywhere we want "as long as it was along the perimeter of the field".
We were all set up on our camping spot for the weekend festival before 11:00AM. With the regular parking lots not opening until 1:00PM, and the "Official Festival Opening" (i.e. the singing of the National Anthem) not until 2:00PM, we had several hours to relax and enjoy some lunch before approaching the entry gate.
At the conclusion of the National Anthem the six bands scheduled for today began playing their 1-hour long sets. With two separate stages the music was near continous as they alternated back and forth between stages.
We placed our lawn chairs right up front between the stages and when the hot air balloons began popping up into the sky behind us we simply left our chairs to "save our place" and went on a walk to see the balloons.
HOT AIR BALLOONS
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For $25 the yellow balloon was giving "tethered" balloon rides 100' up into the air.
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At around 2:30PM the second balloon rose up into the air.
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The RE/MAX balloon is piloted by the father of the pilot who gave us our ride last Friday.
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Shortly after 5:00PM the $300 45-minute rides started lifting up from the field.
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Once the first round of balloons had left the field the second round began inflating.
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Someone purchased a $1000 private flight from the RE/MAX balloonas we could only see 3 people in the basket as it flew over our heads.
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Soon there was nearly a dozen balloons in the air...
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...including this one that was made to look like a tuxedo.
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Then something odd looking popped up from behind the large white tent.It was a balloon with a baby dinosaur hatching from inside it.
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Soon there were other shaped ballons in the air including a 100' tall purple/pink dragon.|
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By 7:15PM it was dark enough that when the balloons lit their burners to heat the air and keep them upright they would appear to flicker with light.
By 8:00PM it was getting chilly and we were still wearing our daytime outfits, which consisted of shorts and short sleeved shirts, so we called it a night and returned to THE POD.
We didn't miss any of the music however, which continued on until 10:30PM, because all we had to do was open a window and listen. The stage area and our campsite are only separated by 150-yards and a narrow stand of trees, which do little to baffle the amplified sound.
I'm sure they're hoping for a larger crowd, seeing as how it's Saturday and their main musical entertainment is on stage tonight at 8:30PM.
Tricia got up early and "snuck" into the launch field where the balloons take off from. She was hoping to take a few photos of the balloons up in the air this morning, but due to poor weather all flights were cancelled.
Even this far north in southern New York state we are feeling the outer rain bands of what was once Hurricane Helene, which is currently a tropical depression (≤38 MPH winds) whose center is located all the way down in Kentucky somewhere.
SATURDAY EARLY AFTERNOON MUSIC
PLUS
A CLASSIC/CUSTOM CAR/TRUCK SHOW
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First up on stage after the National Anthem was this talented solo female artist, Jenna Buck.
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After watching a few more artist's performances we headed over to the car/truck show.On the left a pink Cadillac and a $500,000 Rolls Royce.
On the right a trio of 1970s Ford Panteras with a 1974 Pontiac Trans Am.
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I really enjoyed the older Ford pickup truck.
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This custom pickup is owned by someone out here in the campground.
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This older Dodge pickup was really unique looking.
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This convertible Chevy Corvair was in perfect condition.
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Tricia was surprised that both the Corvair's engine and spare tire was in the "rear" trunk.
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These were the last three to arrive. A Pontiac Firebird, a Plymouth Cuda and a Chevy II.
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Even with the lousy weather the crowd was definitely larger than yesterday.
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After watching the Brother Floyd Band we headed back to the comfort of THE POD.We were both soaking wet and we could hear the music just fine from the campsite.
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There have been moments of no rain this morning, but as soon as you would finally decide to chance dropping the hood of your raincoat, it would start first with a misty/foggy kind of rain and then break out into a full on rain shower.
Between 1PM and 5PM we listened to the music from the dry interior of THE POD.
Around 5PM we heard over the loudspeaker, in between music sets, that the balloons were once again "flying". She took that to mean they were "taking off" for the evening balloon rides. When she arrived at the launch field she sadly found out they were only doing the "tethered" rides, the only difference was, this time there were three balloons instead of just one offering the $25 experience.
Tricia watched the balloons for just over an hour before she returned to the chairs we left in front of the stage. Early that morning, before the National Anthem, we were able to watch the Claudia Hoyser Band go through their sound check. They played one complete song during the sound check and will be on stage later tonight. They are basically the "opening act" for the headliner, Jason Michael Carroll, who takes the stage at 8:30PM to finish off the night.
removed his hat and proceeded to pour the rest over his head.
As far as his music, I enjoyed listening to his songs, even though I couldn't sing along like some of the others. He has a way of singing "to" the crowd and not "at" them, if that makes sense.
I must admit that my first impression of him didn't go well. This morning while it was raining the gates were 30-minutes late in opening because he has a clause in his "contract to perform" that states he gets to hold a "private" sound check the day of the show. No audience can be present!
The two 30-something year old event promoters were at the gate to explain why we weren't allowed to enter on time.
It wasn't that there was trouble with the equipment, the "star" had arrived later than was expected and everything got off to a late start. We could "hear" him outside the gate, we just couldn't "see" him. That didn't sit well with anyone waiting to get in, myself included.
I guess you could say we got off on the wrong foot!
Later that night when he took the stage I had "almost" forgotten about how the morning started.
He came out on stage and thanked the crowd for waiting around to see him, considering all the rain that had occured throughout the day. He then made light of the people who left early who were now stuck in the mud out in the parking lot. He said he didn't hold that fact against them, merely asking the crowd where they'd rather be.
After a few songs he mentioned that he was told there was a "Birthday Girl" out in the audience, who happened to be down front and off to the side of the stage. Then, after several unsuccessful attempts to find out her name, proceeded to sing Happy Birthday to her.
Could it have all been part of his act? Sure, I guess so, but it didn't feel like it at the time.
Just like pouring the water over his own head to commiserate with the rain soaked crowd. Could it just be an act? Judging by the surprised look on the band members faces, I didn't think so.
Act or not, it had completely erased the sour taste from this morning.
Between songs he shared stories about himself and alluded to the fact that alcoholism was part of his earlier life. He was only in his late-20s when he achieved the height of his career. These two points alone could be part of the reason for his short lived success.
THE FINAL TAKE:
Humble and relatable = 👍👍 (2 from me) - Singing talent = 👍👍 (again 2 from me) and
most importantly his Entertainment Factor = 👍👍👍👍 (that's 2 from me plus 2 from Tricia)
JASON MICHAEL CARROLL has by far the most polished act we've seen at the entire festival.
If we've learned one thing, it's that as each day progresses the quality of the music increases. With that in mind we've decided to stay dry and listen to the music from inside of THE POD and not venture out into the concert field until sometime after 4:00PM today.
That happens to coincide with what time the hot air balloons are scheduled to start their "tethered" rides for the day.
It's noontime as I write this post and over half of the RVers that were here camping for the weekend have left, leaving just 11 RVs in the camping field. Most of the ones who have left were also the ones who arrived after we did on Friday morning?
There are currently 50+ cars in the parking area, hopefully they will continue to trickle in as the day continues.
As a 1st time event, I hope the promoters don't become discouraged and not make at least several more attempts to gain popularity. I'm sure this event wasn't "profitable" this time around, but I would still consider it a "successful" endeavor.
The youngish promoters were willing to share that 62% of the prepurchased festival tickets were purchased from "out-of-state". That's not too surprising considering the Pennsylvainia border is only 35-miles south of here and quite of few of the musical acts are from there too.
They have plenty of support from the local business owners regarding sponsorships and maybe next year they will gain more support from the local community in regards to ticket sales. Let's at least hope so!
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