Teach You How to Fly

I am blessed to have some of the greatest best friends. Yes, I have more than one. I guess that's a blessing in itself because some people don't even have one. When one of my best friends decided she was going to come visit me in May, I knew I wanted to plan something fun and exciting for us to do. Enter:

The Trapeze School New York, Washington, DC

I came across the website for Trapeze School New York (TSNY) randomly one day and always stored it in the back of my head as something I wanted to try one day. So when my bestie, my groo (my girl boo - a word we made up), Faar told me she was coming for a visit, I asked her what she thought about taking a flying trapeze class. I love Faar because her answer was, "It sounds scary, but I would do it." I responded, "Yay, because I am scared too, but I've always wanted to do it and I figured it would be perfect for us to try together." And that we did.

More after the jump

TSNY is located near the Navy Yard in DC. So before we went to our flying trapeze class, we went to Sunday Brunch at Mrs. K's Toll House with Faar's cousin. 

Sidenote: Have you been to Mrs. K's for brunch? If not, you have to go. Check out the menu here.

After a yummy brunch and much conversation, we change and head over to the Navy Yard area. The Flying Trapeze class is taught by 3 instructors with no more than 10 students. The class is 2 hours long and you definitely get your monies worth. ($55 a class on the weekends) One of the instructors assists us with our safety belts and begins to explain everything we would be doing that day. Its A LOT of information. I think we both were afraid that we wouldn't remember everything, but one of our instructors said, "Don't worry, we will go over everything again." I ask him, "So is it scary?" He answers, "Yes it is." I respond, "you aren't supposed to say that. You are supposed to lie to us." He says, "No, I'm going to be honest with  you. Its going to be scary. The first scary thing is climb up the ladder 23 feet."

And he wasn't lying. I let Faar go first because I was super scared and honestly wanted to run back to my car and just forget the whole idea of flying trapeze. LOL

I can't remember what material the instructor told us the ladder was made of, but it shook the whole time we climbed up it. At the top of platform, you are greeted by another instructor. He secures safely lines to your belt and instructs you to stand on the edge of the platform. Easy, until they tell you to reach for the bar with your waist pointed out. SCARY moment #2.

Then they tell you to release your left hand from the post you are holding and put that on the bar as well. SUPER SCARY MOMENT!

Instructor 2 says, "Ready!" which is your queue to bend your knees. 

"Hep!" means JUMP. Scary moment #4!

I honestly didn't know what to expect on my first swing. I definitely did not expect the 8 pound bar that I held onto to feel so heavy. In my head I kept telling myself, "OMG, this bar is so heavy I don't know if I can hold on" and "Keep holding on. You can't let go."  

The instructor on the ground yells instructions to you to put your legs up on the bar and then let go your hands from the bar. This was my favorite part.

Then you raise yourself back to the bar, release your legs and then drop to the net. AWESOME!

Check out the videos we took during class.

My 2nd jump where I did NOT listen to the instructor and forgot to lift my legs on the bar.

And Faar's 2nd jump below:

Taking the Flying Trapeze class was one of the most terrifying, yet exciting things I have done to date. I was so happy to experience it with my groo. The fear, the laughs, the pain. OH the pain. We were super sore the for a few days after the class. My poor body. LOL

So if you are feeling adventurous or just want something new, I encourage you to visit the TSNY site here and sign up for a class. I definitely plan on going again. Faar and I were even talking about getting some of our friends together and meeting in New York to take another class. Should be terrifying. I mean FUN!