Things to Do in Maryland: Triple Creek and the Chesapeake Wine and Balloon Festival

I love wine.
I love balloons.
I love the great state of Maryland.

The best of these things came together the weekend of August 3-5 in Cordova, MD for the Triple Creek Winery's Chesapeake Wine and Balloon Festival. I had seen the ads for this particular wine festival last summer, but due to my "condition" ( I was super preggo), I obviously couldn't attend. This year when it passed my timeline I jumped on it. The festival spans 3 days, taking place on a vineyard and farm just outside of Easton, MD. (Anyone who lives in the DC area know you gotta drive through it to get to Ocean City.) We decided to go Saturday after the Big Latch On events in DC, meeting up with my sister and her boo once on site. Two things we learned early for this particular festival- LEAVE EARLY and LEAVE EARLY- you have to account for the car traffic and people traffic. Triple Creek is on the Eastern Shore and every Marylander knows Bay Bridge traffic is gross. And since schools now start post Labor Day, there's still a lot of vacationing families on the road all hours of the day. Upon getting checked in, we were handed complimentary tasting glasses and shown the direction to the tasting tent. We passed by the many food and craft vendors, a grounded hot air balloon you could walk through and play in, and one of the two performance stages. Once we arrived at the tasting tent, it was a madhouse because everyone was rushing to get their drink tickets honored. Maryland has this funky law making it technically illegal to offer multiple wine tastings after 6 p.m., but the festival went until 9, so many people (us included) thought we could show up at 4 or 5 pm and be gucci. Nope. I recommend being on site no later than 4, 3 p.m. would be most optimal. So now of course we're in line and baby girl is hot, hungry and restless. Bonus mom points for figuring out how to nurse in a carrier and prevent a infant nuclear meltdown. After what felt like an eternity in hell, but was truthfully maybe an hour we made it to the tasting table. It was also after 6 pm, so the "sommelier" offered to give us full pours, and then we could just taste each others. To the coordinators: Consider a second tasting tent, or place the tent in the very center so access can be had from all sides and speed the process along. I've been to tastings at several Maryland wineries now and never endured lines like those (its a turn off to patrons, we're here for one thing essentially). On the tasting menu that day was a blackberry, tropical fruit, Vidal Blanc, full bodied red blend, Chardonnay, and I believe a Merlot. Ended up buying four of the flavors. Caught up with sissy and boo and set out to find a spot to sit and cool off before looking for food.

Sunset with Daddy

Balloon Glow

The cool part about this particular festival were the hot air balloons, making this festival a little more family oriented than some others. Apparently some people were able to charter private balloon flights, but for the regular folk there were tethered rides available on a first- com- first serve availability for $20 or so. There were live bands playing most of the afternoon , while you sipped your Maryland wine and ate food from one of the 15 or more vendors selling everything from basic carnival fare to barbecue to crabs. There were tons of other vendors there as well, selling crafts, art, clothing, Avon, you name it. There was also a play area for kids, including a tractor "train" that rode around for a small fee. Once dusk settled in,  the balloon operators performed a "balloon glow", where they would gas the balloons, similar to lighting a lantern. It was really pretty to watch. Having never really seen a hot air balloon up close, it was pretty neat to see how things worked (and kinda scary if they don't). I would attend this one again, especially if they fix some of the logistical issues, but first let me list some must-have items for this wine festival (or really any festival, but especially this one):

Wine Festival Checklist

1. Tent/ Canopy/ Sun shelter. (it was extremely hot and this festival was in a wide open field, the heat was pretty brutal. Likewise, these events tend to be rain or shine, so the same items would be handy in case of rain)
2. Lawn/ camp chairs. (bonus if they have canopies)
3. Outdoor blankets. (nice if you plan to bring kids or want clean floor seating)
4. Money. Cash AND Credit (The winery took cards, as did many of the vendors, but some did not so bring both just in case. Don't want to deny yourself that delicious funnel cake)
5. Corkscrew. (Because, duh.)
6. Water. (They did sell this, but why not bring your own if its allowed, plus its Maryland in August and you'll be drinking all day)
7. A designated driver, or mandatory cut- off time. (Because you should drink responsibly and not fly off the Bay 'Bridge)
8. Wine tote. (Now this is for fun, but if you are like us and bought like 6 bottles to take home, you'll want something nice to withstand the trip. Use any spare pockets to hold your new wine glasses.
9. Sneakers. (Parking is in another cleared field, and the brush was pretty high/ rough. My feet did not escape unscathed. Also, rain or shine. Plan accordingly.)

Check out some Maryland wineries/ vineyards/ wine trails here. Maryland has quite an extensive wine industry with some pretty tasty offerings. For my local DMV peeps, there are FOUR right in our backyard in Southern PG county- check out Romano, Gemeny, Janemark, and Robin Hill Farm. 

Happy Drinking, and as always, Be Responsible. 

-xo