Deciding whether to take a driving tour of Rocky Mountain National Park or attend the Estes Park Wine Festival was an easy choice: we went with the wine. And we’re so glad we did. The ninth annual event, held in beautiful Bond Park, was an absolute joy. The weather was ideal. Bond Park, located in front of the Town Hall, proved to be a great showcase for a downtown festival.

Representatives from twenty-two wineries and four meaderies were on hand to offer tastes of their varietals. Dozens of other vendors were also there, hawking microgreens, candles, jewelry, natural skincare products, furniture, pillows, hats, cookies, nuts, bonzai, artwork–it was sensational.

For lunch, we had a phenomenal High Country Cheesesteak sandwich and crispy tater tots at the Yes Chef! food trailer. The beef was perfectly cooked, the sauce was exceptionally tasty, and the amoroso roll held it all together in perfect harmony.

Festival entertainers included Alexa Kilgore, an acoustic musician based in Denver, and Reminisce, a music duo from Windsor who played mellow rock classics of the 70s and 80s.

Unfortunately, we failed to prepare ourselves for sun exposure, and we paid the price for our stupidity later in the evening.

A few lessons we learned along the way are worth sharing:

1. Mead may be the world’s oldest fermented drink, but it doesn’t compare to venerable old vino.
2. Flavored beef jerky is entirely over-rated–stick with the unadorned original.
3. Speaking of over-rated, don’t stay up late or even get up early to see the Perseid Meteor Shower.