For the first time since before we were married, my husband and I have decided to take a vacation. We’ve managed to save up a little extra cash; our son, now almost three and almost potty-trained, is the most portable yet; and for once the doting grandparents will have to wait. But where to go?
At first I suggest camping, but my husband balks. Too much work, he complains, and not enough structure. He wants someone else to do the cooking and cleaning, and he wants activities that will keep both us and our little guy happy. “And it all has to be in one place,” he insists. “Once we get there, I’m not getting back in the car.”
An all-inclusive resort, then? As a former backpacking-Eurorailing-hostelling kind of a traveler, the thought of wasting my precious few vacation days and dollars at some over-hyped, commercialized, herd-mentality resort is hard to swallow. I browse the web and am appalled at what I see: crowded beach affairs with in-your-face décor, overly-chlorinated pools, and a fee for every little thing. I want our vacation to be a time when we can get closer to the real—even though I’m not sure what I mean by that. I dream of a rustic retreat where we can take our time and poke around in nature. I want to go somewhere beautiful, do creative things together, and be outside as much as possible.
I start searching the web for alternatives and hit Google over and over again with search terms like “wilderness lodge” or “rustic family resort.” I find some beautiful places, like Earthshine in the Smoky mountains, where families can hike, play in the creek, help out at the farm, and try their hands about pioneer crafts, but the prices blow me out of the water. For the money we had saved up, we could stay there two days—not much of a vacation.
And then, finally, the Montecito Sequoia Lodge in California comes up on one of my searches, and on a sidebar I notice they offer “Family Camp.” Eureka! Since my son is still young, summer camp isn’t on my radar, but I soon discover that many summer camps open their facilities to families in the spring and the fall—and some even for weeks in the summer. Before long, I’m on the American Camp Association’s search page. It’s still awhile before I can narrow it down – the ACA just lists which camps per state offer some kind of family or adult program, and I have to wade through each camp’s often extensive webpage to get specifics – but within a week we’re signed up for YMCA Camp Greenville’s Memorial Day Weekend.
Our vacation is a total success. We ride horses, paddle a canoe, tie-dye t-shirts, make soap, and take long walks around a spring-fed lake. Joey pets a turtle and a snake in the engaging little nature center, builds sand castles on the volleyball court, and learns to hit a tennis ball in the camp’s outdoor gym. We even warm up to the campfire songs and roast marshmallows way past bedtime. The camp staff seem to bend over backwards to make sure we’re having a great time. Best of all, we have a chance to relax and focus on being together. My husband even threads himself a bead bracelet and weaves a dream-catcher during arts-and-crafts time, revealing an artistic side I’ve rarely seen. There’s no television, no internet, and not even cell phone reception – what an escape! We spend the four days without a single temper tantrum—and for a headstrong two-year-old, that’s saying a lot.
Now that we’re back, I can’t wait to try out other family camps. But sorting through camp offers is still a chore. There’s a lot of variables – the type of lodging, food, activities offered, and dates available. And then there’s pricing to consider: some camps list prices per week, some per night; some list per family or per cabin, while some list per person. It’s hard to tell which ones are really a good deal. What I need is a guide: ideally, an overview of every family camp out there, with details on pricing standardized to a per-night bottom line, and reviews from former campers. I can’t find this anywhere. So why not make it myself?
My goal is to start posting overviews of family camps I’d like to attend, with info I can find on camp websites. I hope that other campers will start adding their own overviews, or their reviews of camps they’ve been too. In my next post, I’ll try to outline what info I think would be useful. Please post!
