Things to Do in Monroe

At Gentle Breeze Hot Air Balloon Co., a team of commercially rated, FAA-certified pilots whisk passengers skyward on journeys over southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. One-hour flights take off from Warren County Airport and travel as high as to 2,000 feet, where visitors can take in panoramic views and snap pictures. Retrieval crews track each trek from the ground and transport guests back to their meeting location.

Along with standard flights, Gentle Breeze’s team hosts specialties such as private couples flights followed by champagne toasts, Hummer or Escalade limo rides to launch sites, and voyages over Cincinnati and Dayton’s metro areas. The captains also lead balloon rides over passengers’ houses and the homes of their enemies, and enliven soirees with brief sightseeing rides that reach 100 feet.

BlastZone Paintball's 20 acres of outdoor playfields incorporate the area's dense trees and open fields. Across six wooded courses, fallen branches, trails, and leaves set the stage for stealthy play, and a speedball field fosters quicker games. As colorful barrages fly, BlastZone's safety equipment absorbs the shots and protects the body from welts or hail damage. Away from the paint-covered battlefield, certified techs man an on-site gear shop. A free-to-use grill cooks up visitors' brought-from-home eats, which they can nibble at a covered picnic area.

Kristi's Tumbling and Trampoline has cultivated stage performers, 81 Junior Olympic National Champions, and two national champions since opening its doors in 1994. The instructors, many of whom boast competitive backgrounds and multiple awards, help all levels of students build both physical skills and self-esteem. Beginning at two years old with parent and tot classes, they take little ones through courses that teach everything from basic tumbling to how to flip with the grace and beauty of a rainbow-sprinkle pancake. Kristi's Tumbling and Trampoline's facilities form a safe-haven for students to practice their skills with multiple trampolines that help them reach the sky and a nine-foot-deep foam pit that lets fledgling gymnasts show no fear. After making the journey from beginner to gymnast, students can join competitive teams and showcase their abilities to appreciative fans.

Zoom Multisport Racing encourages triathlon and duathlon racing in the Midwest with events that welcome athletes ranging from average to elite. Its signature race series is the Zoom Triathlon & Duathlon Championship Series, which hosts three races spread across the summertime. During each event, competitors swim through 1,000 yards of open water in Caesar Creek Lake (or run 2 miles for the duathlon), bike through 18 miles of Warren County, and run across 4 miles of dirt and concrete pathways in Caesar Creek State Park. Since each race is identical, athletes can track their progress by the change in time it takes to complete each race and number of hot dogs they can consume afterward without going cross-eyed. Zoom Multisport also teams up with Trimble Triathlon Multisport Coaching Services to offer the Couch to Competition training plan, designed to help chisel beginning muscles into Grecian works of art.

Sculpted through a quaint, quiet 300-acre plot, Greentree Golf Club garnishes the hills of Warren County with nine holes that yield a tranquil golfing experience. Jodi Kinney, one of just six female golf-course architects in the nation, designed the course in 1999 and made it approachable for golfers of all skill levels by incorporating four sets of tees. To score anywhere near the par of 36, players must steer their shots down tunnels of bluegrass fairways cleaved between the outstretched limbs of towering trees. After reaching the bent-grass greens, players can putt confidently knowing they avoided the quicksand bunkers. On the scenic layout, players may encounter deer frolicking in the pastures or counting mulligans on their antlers.

Course at a Glance:

• Nine-hole, par 36 course
• Total length of 3,403 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 36.5 from the back tees
• Course slope of 135 from the back tees
• Four sets of tees per hole
• Scorecard