A Hang Glide preparing to take off

I’m the adventurous type but I don’t think I’ve ever done anything as exhilarating as flying through the sky  on a tandem hang glide.   Just outside Chattanooga, in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, is the largest hang gliding school in the country, aptly called Lookout Mountain Hang Gliding.  The mountains supply a majestic backdrop as you swoop over treetops and float through the sky.  Despite how scary it sounds, hang gliding really felt like catching a ride on a big old kite and I never felt an ounce of fear.

After watching a 20-minute training video and signing various liability forms, I was strapped into a hang glide with my gregarious instructor Eric.  We were pulled through a field by a small plain and quickly breezed through the air.  Gazing at mountains and soaring like a bird is the most intoxicating experience imaginable. We flew to 2,000 feet for about 20 minutes.  The only regret I ever felt during the flight were that grass stains covered my knees as we landed.  Grab another essential Tennessee experience and stay at the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel.  The lobby of the hotel is the original train station and you can elect to sleep in  an actual Victorian train car.

Photo courtesy of Rosalind Cummings-Yeates