Things to Do in Newark

Sportations connects amateur adrenaline jockeys to certified professional adventurers, drawing from a nationwide network of aeronauts and speed demons to introduce habitual pedestrians to the wonders of skydiving, ballooning, hang gliding, and stock-car racing. Thrill seekers can zipline across a forest canopy, hollering like Tarzan or taunting nearby birds until they agree to race. Helicopter tours ferry patrons skyward over landmarks and cityscapes, whereas paragliding adventures get up close and personal with blue skies and clouds. For most sports, Sportations accommodates groups of any size, from physics classes empirically proving gravity's existence to solo ballooning supervillains declaring dominion over all they see.

The 8th Annual Harvest Festival will showcase the 2010 vintage grapen goodness of eight distinct wineries along the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail. With barbecues, hayrides, and free license to use words such as oaky, robust, and foozy, the festival is bound to please cork-poppers of all philosophies. Tickle ear hammers with live music on the 26th and 3rd at Black Walnut Winery or at Chaddsford Winery, which is also hosting a festival wine sale. The Kreutz Creek Vineyards are having their second-annual Grape Stomping Competition on the 25th and 2nd, and Stargazers Vineyard is holding a blending workshop (additional $5 fee).

CBS Baltimore lauds Robin Hood Paintball as one of the best paintball arenas near the city, but the year-round, 10-acre facility is actually eight arenas in one. Here, players clad in protective gear race around the airball field's bobbing inflatables, duck behind the wood-spool field's namesake spools or wrap their opponents in giant piles of unused thread. Elsewhere, they sneak through the tall trees and verdant brush of three wooded fields or storm the arena's towering castle. Thorough safety orientations prepare each player before they enter the facility, where referees keep watchful eyes over every game to ensure everyone's safety and compliance with the rules.

Right where the mouth of the Susquehanna River yawns into Chesapeake Bay lies the protected, uncrowded waters of Havre de Grace harbor. BaySail's instructors take advantage of these opportune conditions, operating a sailing school that's accredited by the American Sailing Association. Upholding training standards that have won the ASA's School of the Year award, they lead sailing classes ranging from introductory lessons to certification courses in coastal cruising and bareboat chartering. In addition to lending its fleet for lessons, BaySail's team rents its vessels—from a Capri 22 to a Hunter 460—to members. The sailboats also glide out on chartered cruises, taking guests to nearby destinations such as Inner Harbor and the Sassafras River, where sassafras trees come to spawn every winter.

The air over New Jersey Motorsports Park pulses with the roar of engines, a siren's call to professional and amateur racers and the crowds that cheer them on. From spring through late fall, the track’s major events entice fans young and old and range from open-wheel racing to karting. With little to no experience, amateur drivers can arrive and drive with the track's F1 karting program, which sends similarly skilled drivers careening around the bends of a 1.1-mile track that features six different configurations and 11 prime spots to throw a well-aimed koopa shell at the competition.

The track's educational program molds amateurs into masters by giving them access to world-class instructors with years of experience driving with their feet. Between lessons or races, drivers can fuel up at an onsite snack bar, or take the postrace edge off at the pub.

Affiliates of the American Sailing Association, the instructors at Chesapeake Sailing School strive to keep the Chesapeake's seafaring heritage alive through classes spanning one-day sailing courses to five-day live-aboard cruises. The training fleet ranges from 22-foot boats for basic and intermediate instruction to 38-foot vessels for advanced cruise training. The school's team also assists students obtain their ASA certifications in preparation for careers as Popeye impersonators.

Beyond instruction facilities, Chesapeake Sailing School houses The Tiller Club, which grants members privileges such as unlimited daily use of the school's Tanzer 22 ships. The school’s team also coordinates charter excursions to give vacationers a from-the-water view of the Inner Harbor, St. Michael's the Archangel Church, and the bay's abundant wildlife.