Yesterday I went to the Chesapeake Crab & Beer Festival with a group of friends!
It was sunny (maybe partly cloudy), temperature in the 80s, and a nice breeze– PERFECT weather for an outdoor festival. It was right on the National Harbor! What a COOL area! Very touristy, but so cute!
The VIP ticket got All-you-care-to-eat crabs and all-you-care-to-drink alcohol from 5-9pm (there was also an 11am-3pm session). Pretty sweet deal. About half of our group got that ticket, while the other half opted for the all-you-care-to-drink only ticket.
Personally, I am not a beer fan. Why? Because I don’t like Fizz. Fizz? Yes, fizz. bubbles, carbonation. Personal preference, I just don’t like it.
SO, I was pleased to see that the festival’s website advertised wine & spirits as well! Overall there ended up being a grand total of 3 non-beer alcohol options:
1) Skinny Girl Cocktails
2) Hornitos Tequila
3) Barefoot Wines
The first thing I tried were the Skinny Girl Cocktails!
There were 4 different kinds. Pina Colada, Cosmo, Margarita, and White Peach Margarita. Overall, all of them were on the sweet-side. And honestly, to me this whole “Skinny Girl” thing is primarily a marketing ploy. Maybe some of the drinks have fewer calories than their real cocktail counterparts, but they usually then have a lower alcohol content too. Alas, they are pretty tasty, and are not fizzy, so I was satisfied. The downside at this festival was that they only would serve you a tiny”taste” at a time, so I couldn’t get a drink and enjoy it with the crabs. I sampled each of them, taking the last sample with me to get crabs.
The Crabs were faaaantastic! You could get 1/2 dozen at a time, as well as old bay, vinegar, butter, coleslaw, potato chips, and corn on the cob.
So messy, but so perfect!!
After one round of crabs, I went to try some wine. Barefoot Wines was there with a few different kinds:
I know, the picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea!
Throughout the festival, I tried the Moscato and and one of the reds that they had (not sure which one). Both were pleasant tasting wines.
After that, it was time for more crabs! Afterall, this was a crab festival!
^^ This is how NOT to eat crabs. ^^
Towards the end of the festival, we decided to just taste the Hornitos Tequila–
THIS bottle, right here, was the end of the last bottle!! I guess it was popular!
There was live music throughout the duration of the festival too! My favorite? The 8 Ohms Band! I’ve heard them before and like their music. It’s fun and great for festivals and events!
At this point, it was almost 9 o’clock (the end of the festival)…
I took it upon myself to gather up the empty mugs..
As we were leaving, fireworks started going off! Apparently there are fireworks every weekend there!! We weren’t in the perfect spot when we they started, so we watched them in the reflection of a building..
Still, it was a cool wrap-up to the evening!
Overall, the festival was AWESOME! It was advertised as a crab & beer festival, and the crabs were perfect and there was a lot of beer! Next time, I’d recommend they make it so people can get a serving-size (as opposed to a sample size) of the non-beer beverages so that it’s possible to enjoy them while eating the crabs. Another logistical complication for our group was that the area we sat in to eat the crabs was reserved for all-you-can-eat-crabs ticket-holders ONLY, so our friends who just got the all-you-can-drink ticket couldn’t sit with us. That was weird. Next time, I would just make it open seating. Oh and lastly, it would be GREAT if they could run a shuttle bus to and from the King Street metro stop and the harbor. Some of us got a hotel room to stay overnight so that we wouldn’t have to worry about driving back, but really, what other option is there? Just saying, in a location that is only accessible by car, a method of transportation that supports not drinking and driving would be a nice addition!
I’ll certainly be back next year! The crabs were deeelish!
Did anyone else go to the festival? What was your favorite part?!
The Fetching Foodie 