7:45 I’m awake, I need coffee. What do I wear for this? Yoga pants and a t-shirt … sure, sounds good. Everyone in my house is still asleep, um bye guys!

9:00 Arrive at Michael J. Smith Airfield, Beaufort. Oh gosh, I hope I’m in the right place. Why have I never been down here before? Oh, there’s a sign for hang gliding; that was easy.

9:02 I walked through the office to a picnic table under a shaded tree. My first thought … are all these people hang gliding today? Answer: YES! Even that 11-year-old: YES! Second thought these people are so cool, laid back, excited, and not even a little scared. This is the perfect scenario for my nerves. They’ve been sky diving too? YES!

Ok, I’ve got this.

9:18 A voice comes over the walkie that sits at the end of the picnic table. “Hey, is anyone there? If so, pick up the pink walkie with the seashell” We reply, “Yes, there are people here, over.” Moments later we meet James, a super high-spirited guy from Chattanooga, TN. We go over paperwork, sign waivers, get basic information about the flight as well as receive our US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Assn., Student / Affiliate Membership.

9:25 Golf cart escort with James to the center of the field where to gear up for the flight. I get to go first? Oh my gosh, I’m so excited at this point.

9:28 Gearing up and introductions from Richard and Chris. Chris is the pilot of the Bailey-Moyes Dragonfly aircraft. This thing is so basic-looking compared to planes I’ve seen before. It has an open cockpit and looked like it had pretty basic controls and this will pull the North Wing Freedom 220 hang glider up to 2,000 feet and let us go.

Richard, oh sweet kind Richard. He is amazing. This guy’s job is to allow people to experience a bird’s eye view of Beaufort and Beyond. Amazing, where do I sign up?

9:33 You ready, Mimi? Let’s GO!

9:34 -9:43 My flight lasted 10 minutes. I moved my head the entire time. I wanted to absorb as much as I could, knowing that it would be over way too soon. I’ve always known that I was lucky to be born and raised in this area but when you see it from the air, it’s like art. I could see almost to Emerald Isle, thanks to the clouds that had lifted for better visibility, Fort Macon, Beaufort Waterfront, Shackleford Banks – all were in a second’s view of one another. The wind and air temperature were about 10-15 degrees cooler, it felt amazing! Once we reached 2000 feet, Chris released us.

In that moment, I was jarred. I’m really soaring. It was just me, Richard, and some metal and canvas. I was surprisingly ok with this fact. A moment later Richard asked, “Do you want to steer?” Um, yeah! He tells me to place my hands on both sides and pull my weight forward gently. This motion takes us slowly and steadily down. My next instruction is to shift and pull my weight to the left to steer us left then right slightly to even us out.

I did it! I flew that darn thing! Richard gives me kudos for staying calm, he said that was the hardest part, getting people to remain calm. Thanks, Richard. You were a great coach.

As we got closer to the ground, I was completely overwhelmed with emotion. Everything about this experience was positive. Every single encounter was positive. I just went hang gliding! Oh gosh, I’m going to have to do this again! And with that thought, Richard brought us safely and perfectly to the earth.

The first thing I did was lay on the ground, just lay there. The contrast between the two feelings was the ultimate high. Parting from Richard, I insisted we hug. We both laughed and he wished me good luck on my blog. My response was “don’t get too excited, I’m not much of a writer” His reply was better “Well I’m not much of a pilot” Touché, sir, touché.

For more information about hang gliding with Richard & Chris check out the website.