Summer Camps in the Southeast
The summer is coming to a close, and my kids will soon be back sitting in desks instead of lying around the house. (Preventing them from lying around the house is one good reason to find one of the summer camps in the Southeast.)
So, the other day, I reflected their favorite part of summer.
My kids all have gone to summer camp for years. They are different from me in this aspect.
I hated camp.
One time only, I went to Camp Hopewell near Oxford, Mississippi for a week, the summer after second or third grade. I will never forget the night that my best friend and I each had to sleep in a sleeping bag on the ground. I was terrified. We didn’t sleep a wink.
The scariest part that actually happened was that a large carpenter ant crawled across the sleeping bag, near my face. The scariest part that did not actually happen is that my brain went into overdrive. It presented itself with every scary scenario that could happen.
Back to the carpenter ant, I think several of them crawled on our sleeping bags. However, the one that crawled very close to my face was the only one I needed to see to be “done.” My best friend and I were crying, and she apologized for having gotten me into this situation. She had invited me.
Camp Hopewell is a great camp, and my nephews and their friends still go there today. But, it wouldn’t have mattered where I attended. I hated camp.
Lots of kids from our area attend camp. There must not be carpenter ants at any of these camps.
Alabama
Unlike me, my daughters have gone to Camp Skyline Ranch, a two-week camp, for seven years, and my son went to Alpine Camp for Boys, a month-long camp, for three years. Both of these camps are located in Mentone, Alabama, about an hour from Chattanooga, Tennessee and an hour and a half north of Birmingham, Alabama.
Mentone is a great location for camps because it’s on Lookout Mountain, and the weather is great. Mountain air is the best. Every year when we return to our hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, I say that Jackson is like being in a sauna.
The Mentone area is the home of several other camps as well. Another camp for boys in that area is Camp Laney, which a two-week camp. The boys from Camp Laney come to Camp Skyline each year for a dance. There is also Camp DeSoto in Mentone, which is a four-week camp for girls.
Arkansas
Another one of the summer camps in the Southeast that kids from our area attend is Camp Ozark near Hot Springs, Arkansas. You can go from one to four weeks, but most people whom we know go to the two-week sessions. It is co-ed.
North Carolina
Camp Greystone for girls is located in North Carolina. The younger girls can go to Camp Greystone for three weeks, and the main camp session is a month.
Mississippi
Strong River is a week-long co-ed camp in Mississippi for ages 7-13 that is well-attended from kids in our area, as well as Twin Lakes, in Mississippi, which is also about a week and is co-ed. Camp Hopewell, which I already mentioned, is located near Oxford, Mississippi, is co-ed, and about a week long. These are all great summer camps in the Southeast.
I recommend summer camps if your child seems interested. Once they go, however, unless they are like me, they will want to go back each year during the same session so that they can see all of their friends each year.
So, go ahead and think about setting aside money towards “that car payment” (ugh) each month because as I said, these camps are expensive.
Because they are expensive, I recently wrote an article after I asked my two girls what they liked most about going to camp each year. It’s always been important to me to make sure sending them to camp was worth the investment.
My older daughter aged-out last year which means she was too old to attend this year. I liked her perspective since she had not been in a year. She hopes to be a counselor at Camp Skyline next summer.
What camps do your kids attend? Which ones have I missed? Were you yourself a camper?
Read Laurie’s story here about a recent life experience that led to the birth of this site, White Cotton.
