Annual Nashoba Valley Winery Trip

This last Sunday we made our annual fall trip to the Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton, Massachusetts, to take in one of their fall festivals. Maura has been every year since she was born and Jennifer and I have been making the trip even longer. The trip is one of the highlights of our year and we’ll likely continue it in years to come. In addition to producing some very enjoyable wines, Nashoba Valley offers apple picking in their orchard and a microbrewery that makes some very good beer. While its alcoholic products are for adults only Nashoba’s orchards and their festival events are family friendly and Maura enjoys our annual excursions there as much as her parents do.


This year our weather was bright and warm, the very best of fall weather in New England. We could sit outside and enjoy the day without bundling up. We haven’t always had such great weather for our visits. On the day of Maura’s first festival at Nashoba it was a raw cold day, New England fall weather at its almost worst. She was only two months old, a tiny baby. I wore her in a front carrier zipped up under my coat to keep her warm. Another year there had been so much rain that the field used as a parking lot turned into a swamp. Our car sank to the axles in the mud and we had to call a tow truck to pull us out. The driver stayed to pull out the dozens of other cars that needed his services.


This year we met a group of our friends for the Brews and Bluegrass Festival. The festival featured beer from the microbrewery on tap and music provided by bluegrass band Southern Rail, all outdoors in the winery’s picnic area. Between sets we enjoyed spending time with our friends while Maura and their children ran around and rolled down a grassy slope, getting dizzy and covered in grass stains.


For a treat at the end of the day we had fresh caramel apples. Maura’s treat got the better of her. When she was done with it she’d lost a tooth and covered herself in caramel. Of course, the tooth had been loose already. It got wrapped up to go under her pillow for the tooth fairy.



On our way home we took the scenic route, heading back toward Boston on route 117 through Stowe, Sudbury and Lincoln. Our route took us by the Walden Pond Reservation and through woodlands and farmlands. The bright sunshine lit the brilliant colors of the autumn trees along the way. We stopped at a farm stand for fresh pressed cider, a great ending to our beautiful day.