Paddle Your Glass Off: Kayaking to Chatham Vineyards on the Chesapeake

The tide nudges the bow, not unkindly but insistently, as if the Chesapeake itself is clearing a path. Morning light glances off a marsh reed and the world shrinks to the rhythm of paddle strokes and the hiss of gull wings. You leave the Bayford Wharf with two people in a tandem, a guide who knows the angles of Church Creek, and the promise of a vineyard at the end of a 45-minute glide: Chatham Vineyards, where the tasting room pours local Church Creek Merlot and a cheese tray waits. This is part outdoor motion, part easy indulgence—what the guides here call ‘Paddle and Pour.’ If you want to thumb the map between a classic Eastern Shore day trip and something slightly less ordinary, this is it. Book the trip and you’ll be following a line of water that has shaped people, commerce, and taste on this coast for centuries. The route hugs tidal marshes and oyster beds, threading between channels that the water remembers longer than any map does. Geologically, the Eastern Shore is the edge of the Delmarva Peninsula, a sandwich of marsh, farmland, and gentle shorelines carved by rising tides and centuries of sediment. The result is a place that feels made for small craft. Culturally, the experience layers coastal life—watermen tending oyster cages, saltgrass communities, and agricultural plots that transition into vines—over the genteel ritual of a vineyard visit. The paddling is straightforward: roughly 45 minutes each way through Church Creek, a sheltered estuarine arm of the Chesapeake. Guides point out osprey nests and the subtle signs of aquaculture—buoys, cages, the wake of a working skiff—while explaining how restoration work and local stewardship are changing the Bay’s fortunes. On shore, Chatham Vineyards occupies farmland that’s a short walk from the water, where a shaded tasting space opens onto rows of vines and a view that reads as postcard calm. You’ll be offered a tasting that centers on Church Creek Merlot; small plates and a shared bottle for every two paddlers are part of the draw. The contrast is worth noting: the Atlantic-adjacent tang of a day spent on saltwater, followed by the cultivated hush of a vineyard. It’s an accessible, social trip—families and first-time paddlers are welcome, and the operation supplies kayaks, PFDs, and guidance. The whole experience runs about three hours from launch to return, making it an easy addition to a long weekend on the Eastern Shore or a day escape from Hampton Roads. Practicalities matter here: water shoes and a drybag are not indulgences, they’re common sense, and timing your paddle to avoid mid-day heat or the worst of the summer bugs will make the day feel effortless. Guides emphasize safe, low-impact shoreline landings and the soft etiquette of vineyard visits. If you’ve wondered whether you can mix an active morning with a slow, sensory afternoon, the answer is yes—gracefully. For photographers, the combination of marsh textures and vineyard rows offers a range of frames: low-slung reeds in golden light, a silhouette of paddlers against a wide sky, and close-ups of a glass catching the sun. For wildlife lovers, the paddling portion is a live field guide—ospreys quartering overhead, great blue herons poised like statues, and the occasional dart of a terrapin through quiet water. Locals will tell you the Bay is still working its way back—oyster restoration projects and seafood management have become part of this region’s identity—and participating in small-stake, low-impact adventures like this is a way to experience the place while supporting local businesses that depend on a healthy bay. If you go: book a morning or late-afternoon slot for cooler temperatures and better light; bring a layer for the return trip because wind can pick up; respect the vineyard’s tasting rules; tip your guide if they’ve looked after your party; and remember that this is a day designed to be gentle, sociable, and memorable. Want to dive deeper? The company’s reservation page lays out scheduling and booking options for the Paddle and Pour trip and is the quickest path from curiosity to a confirmed seat in a kayak. Whether you come for the motion of paddling or for the slow pleasure of a glass beside a row of vines, the trip stitches together two distinct Chesapeake moods into one tidy afternoon: salt, sky, and a little red wine to toast the tide.