Dallas Skydive Center, Caddo Mills

While it's not uncommon to share stories around a campfire, there's something special about the ones told at Dallas Skydive Center's fire pit. For one, most of them feature the storyteller's exploits 13,500 feet above the earth's surface. The fire pit is part of Dallas Skydive Center's 651-acre open landing area, which doubles as a campground where people hang out before and after their jumps.

The massive landing area and campground aren't the only things that set the center apart. It has also attracted an expert staff—all double-certified, multi-rated; pilots, parachute riggers, AFF instructors, base jumpers and examiners—hand selected by chief instructor Jimmy Mendonca, who has more than 12,000 dives under his parachute harness. Plus, it assuages some of the fears felt by first-time divers by employing the same tandem harnesses used by U.S. Special Forces and by never showing Hitchcock's The Birds. Skydivers just need to worry about what face they'll make during their mid-dive photo op.