You’ll see Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spas’s owner Chuck Baraw at the helm of the official Stoweflake balloon this year at the 31st Annual Stoweflake Hot Air Balloon Festival July 7–9 in Stowe, Vt. The three-day event includes plenty of food, beer and wine, plus a spa tent for chair massages and facials. Kids can enjoy crafts, games, face painting and other activities. There’s live music on Friday and Saturday beginning at 5 p.m. both nights, with a sunset launch of participating balloons around 7 p.m. On Sunday, a sunrise launch will take place around 6:30 a.m. Gates open on Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m.

Make a weekend of it with a stay at the historic property, which offers 120 luxurious rooms and suites, plus family-friendly townhouses. There are two dining venues on site, plus meeting space and The Spa at Stoweflake. Spa facilities include 30 soothing treatment rooms, private men’s and women’s sanctuary lounges, the AquaSolarium, mineral water soaking pools and tumbling waterfalls. Stroll the 10,000-square-foot mediation garden or wander the seven-circuit Zen Labyrinth. Or choose from among the 150 treatments, which feature Ayurvedic therapies, sound balancing sessions, Eastern bodywork and European-style water kurs with body treatments and water time. The Thalasso Kur includes a spinach and horsetail exfoliation, an application of nettle and algae, a mineral bath and a fragrant herbal massage.