Great Escapes: Great Escape: Hot Air Balloon

Derry is typical New England, from antiques and American flags to a white-steeple church.

What's not typical is the pride and joy of the High 5 hot air balloon team.

Fully inflated, New England's biggest hot air balloon is seven stories tall, and appropriately named ‘smile high’ for the large smiley face gracing the balloon’s side.

"We've got a great day," Tony Sica of High 5 ballooning said. "Skies are clearing as we speak, we have light winds on the ground and some wind up above to move."

"OK guys one question before we leave and that is would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon? What other question could we have right?" Sica said.

The crew waves as we lift off, and it's not long before we reach our top elevation, 1,300 feet above the southern New Hampshire woods.

"Its exhilarating, the views are fantastic, the panoramic everywhere you look. There are rays from the sun coming through the clouds. An extreme experience," Jean Peloquin, who was celebrating his anniversary with a loved one, said.

Sky-high scenery may be a splurge at $200 a pop, but on a special occasion.

"It's our first anniversary. I met this wonderful man in my early 50s and we're going to spend the rest of our lives together. It's a great way to spend an anniversary," Lorna Peloquin said.

We go from touching the treetops to sailing over serene waters. Time flies as we do and, too soon, we touch down in a Salem backyard.

"Right in the middle of the neighborhood, it was pretty funny," Onlooker Bill Scanlon said.

"So I ran out in my PJ’s and bathrobe and watched you come down it was fun," onlooker Donna Chedekel said.

Fun! We finish with a traditional champagne toast.

"The winds have welcomed you with softness. The sun has blessed you with his warm hands. You have flown so high and so well that god has joined you in your laughter and set you back gently into the loving hands of mother earth. Salu...cheers guys," Sica said.

Boston to Derry and back, just 80 miles.

High 5 Ballooning
4 Joseph Street
Derry, NH 03038
603.893.9643

(Copyright 2005 by WHDHTV 7News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)