Like Bubba Watson likes to say, you need to live your best life on and off the course. Dude’s right, sometimes you need to play without your clubs. A perfect day in North Carolina kicked off at the Foothills Regional Airport, 8 miles northeast of downtown Morganton. This is the launch pad of Thermal Valley Aerosports , a family-run outfitter offering thrilling aero-towed tandem hang gliding experience where you’ll feel like Superman to rank newbies like the Slinging Birdies crew.
Flights start at $159 for 1500 feet on up to $385 for a mile high glide. So what’s it like to get pulled behind a Dragonfly, an ultra light and ultra maneuverable Australian bush plane? Well it’s a lot like waterskiing in the sky and then when they cut the tow cord when you reach the assigned altitude that’s when this human kite flight gets dialed up to the next level as you catch the thermals and float down to terraferma while pulling off every aerobatic maneuver in the book if you’re so inclined! See if you can catch the Dragonfly pilot pull off a few gnarly moves after cutting us loose. Next we feasted at JD’s Smokehouse is a Burke County BBQ institution, drawing commuting diners as far as adjacent states for their fall of the bone ribs, pulled pork, brisket and a smorgasbord of Southern sides—I can vouch for the cobbler and the red slaw and admit to stealing a couple envious glances at a neighbor’s sweet potato crunch. Then it was off to Sidtracked Brewery. Their 5 Barrel system chugs and choos over a dozen whistle-wetting beers like Cross-tie Brown, Light Rail Blond and Thomas the Dank Engine New England IPA. Did some locomotive artwork ogling and brushed up on my Lantern Signals while sampling a flight of delicious brews. They’ve also got the pub sports: ping-pong in the back and there’s darts to fling too. As it started to get dark we sauntered over to Cawtaba Brewing Co. to knock back a couple White Zombie’s and catch a cover band.
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