Things To Do In Bedford

For eight years, the husband-and-wife team at Carousel Winery has cultivated the vines of their family farm into a collection of award-winning wines. On Saturday, August 6, Marion and Sue Wilson will throw a party at Carousel's six-acre winery to celebrate its continued success as attendees sample flights of reds and whites, try out descriptors such as "oaky" and "four," bite on BBQ ribs and chicken, and show off complimentary Carousel glasses. Throughout the afternoon, enjoy a variety of events and prizes devoted to the number eight, such as a Crazy Eights card tournament with an $88.88 gift certificate prize and eight door-prize drawings for $8.88 gift certificates. From 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., the sultry voice of Charlene Blay leads her four-piece jazz ensemble, The 2nd Editions through 5/8 time signatures and various deconstructions of the Scooby Doo theme song.

The artists at Wine and Canvas awaken their students’ inner Rembrandts and Van Goghs with classes that pair a featured painting with specialty cocktails and wines. The mobile studio’s monthly calendar includes themed classes in which instructors expound on the nuances of painting Parisian street lamps, Japanese flowers, or Venetian cityscapes. The master painters—many of them local artists—provide step-by-step instructions while students mimic each stroke and periodically dip their brushes into glasses filled with crimson cabernet. Each of the studio’s various drink-friendly venues boasts a specialty libation selected to incite creativity or conversations with fellow painters. When the artistic frenzy concludes, students return home with a finished masterpiece large enough to conceal any wall safe or mirror portal.

Tony Jacobs, the head instructor at Spear Tip Tactics, doesn’t sweat under pressure, and he doesn’t want his students to either. Using his advanced and diverse training across disciplines such as fighting, surviving, numerous weapons, tactical driving, rotary insertion and extractions, and active shooter/terrorist, he leads courses that could one day save a student’s life. Courses range from survival skills such as water purification, fire-building, and trapping and snares to hand-to-hand combat, knife use and knife fighting, and tactical tracking.

Paradise Rental Boats carefully curates fleets of Yamaha, Bayliner, and Sun Tracker boats, so that sun-kissed riders can jet across the sparkling waters of Indiana’s Lake Monroe and Georgia’s Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona at their leisure. The company's vessels range from party barges and yachts—which hold groups of up to 26—to the smaller, two-person WaveRunner, whose highly responsive steering suits drivers trying to chase down and catch their fish dinner. Onboard radios and CD players let mariners groove to their favorite tunes, and the company also rents optional accessories for water sports, such as wakeboards, water skis, and artificial bait for licensed fishermen.

High above a lush vineyard, the morning sky brims with creatures of flight: an eagle, a large bumblebee, a pigeon that forgot how to land. These were just some of the sights Airbus Balloon Rides' owner Andy Richardson imagined would greet his future down-gazing passengers. He first fell in love with the roar of a hot air balloon's flame just before entering the second grade, and that passion has driven his dreams ever since. Ten years after buying his first balloon at age 14, Andy now commands a fleet of rainbow-colored balloons that come in standard and specialty shapes. These colorful vessels set the elevated stage for individual flights and tethered rides helmed by Andy and his talented team. Flights lift off at sunrise, in the afternoon, and at sunset, when the low sun paints an orange-red glow over water, fields, and reindeer still stuck on rooftops.

Back on land, Airbus Balloon Rides also educates visitors on hot air balloon creation inside their balloon factory, which welcomes tours. At the end of each tour, the guides lead guests in a champagne or mimosa toast with accompanying hors d'oeuvres, celebrating their skyfaring adventures together.

The artists at Wine and Canvas awaken their students’ inner Rembrandts and Van Goghs with classes that pair a featured painting with specialty cocktails and wines. The mobile studio’s monthly calendar includes themed classes in which instructors expound on the nuances of painting Parisian street lamps, Japanese flowers, or Venetian cityscapes. The master painters—many of them local artists—provide step-by-step instructions while students mimic each stroke and periodically dip their brushes into glasses filled with crimson cabernet. Each of the studio’s various drink-friendly venues boasts a specialty libation selected to incite creativity or conversations with fellow painters. When the artistic frenzy concludes, students return home with a finished masterpiece large enough to conceal any wall safe or mirror portal.