Camp Zesty

I like camp better as an adult.

As a child, I had a love-hate relationship with camp.

I never went to sleepaway camp like some of my other friends, which I’m fine having skipped now reflecting on it as an adult. I don’t think not-going had any affect on my psyche, I was still ready to go to college over a three hour plane ride away when the time came, and I haven’t had to shoot a bow and arrow or anything of the sort.

I did a lot of day camps, whether it was at the country club we belonged to, day-long theatre camp, volleyball camp, sewing camp—I was a camper who wore many hats. Some of them felt endless, some of them I couldn’t get enough of. The memories I have consist of wet socks, boredom and dehydration-induced headaches, sunburns, and being the kid who always had to reapply her sunscreen. I didn’t particularly enjoy golf or tennis, the volleyball camps I attended were ran like the military, and on days where it rained, we basically were sequestered inside to play board games missing half the pieces and weave bracelets with gimp. The parts I loved included making new friends, tie-dyeing, special events like when the reptile handler came around, and spending afternoons at the pool until it was time to go home.

Me as the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz at theater camp, and me showing off my pool skills

Last summer, my college friends and I went to Oregon to touch grass. It was an amazing trip spent mostly outside, sort of like what sleepaway camp would’ve been like when you were an adult. We went to bed early, woke up early, hiked, swam, played games, danced, stargazed—it was one of the highlights of my post-grad life so far. I wrote about it all here almost a year ago:

For our second-annual summer vacation, we wanted to do something a little more low-key. We had loved our mountain trip last summer out west, but anything that could avoid a plane ride for people with little-to-no PTO to spare was ideal. We had been trying to book a trip upstate since the fall, and I had heard about a cute little hotel called Camptown from my very chic coworkers. We decided to relocate camp to the Catskills, and with no plans for the Fourth of July across the board, we booked two cabins and set it in stone.

On Thursday, we packed up my family car from Connecticut and headed up the Hudson. We stopped along the way in Kingston for lunch at Rosie General, where I had the most delicious blueberry iced tea and a ham sandwich, then at Price Chopper to get BBQ essentials, and finally, our little cabin at Camptown.

The weekend was truly magic, and it brought out a childlike whimsy for playing outside with my friends, having sleepovers, and staying up late gazing at the stars, making music videos and not caring about how I looked. We played card games by the fire, went for a hike, grilled, lit sparklers, swung on hammocks and sipped frozen margaritas by the pool, eating way too many s’mores and rationing a bottle of Veuve that Nicholson got for his birthday. Summer camp as an adult is pretty sweet.

Anyone who looked at us could tell we were city slickers, but so was everyone also staying on the grounds. It was like a group migration from the city—everyone booking this little slice of heaven together to escape blistering sidewalks and sweaty subway rides for a few blissful days. If you’re looking to get away upstate without spending the same amount you would to go to Europe, I highly recommend visiting Camptown. Nearby is Kaaterskill Falls where I finally put my Sandy Liang Salomon’s to actual work, Gracie’s Luncheonette where we all enjoyed delicious milkshakes, along with my favorite gas station chain: Stewart’s.

My upstate essentials consisted of my Archies Flip Flops (I drunk emailed their customer service on the Fourth to tell them how amazing they were and to keep up the good work), this hat from Kith Women that I will be wearing all summer long, and this bag from BYBBA that was gifted to me by my dearest friend Madeleine.

The best part of the trip was probably the iPhone 4 that my friend Seth brought to capture the essence of our time together. I felt like Kylie Jenner circa 2014, or one of those girls that used to model for Brandy Melville. For $30, your dreams could also come true. It particularly made the sparklers and the glo-sticks really look incredible.

This trip also influenced me to finally make a purchase that I’m sure many of you will disagree with, but I couldn’t be more excited about. It’s the definition of me dressing not for the male gaze, but for myself. I’ll give you a hint before they arrive next week:

I realize I haven’t talked much about pop culture recently on here, which I will also do next week. If there’s anything you want me to discuss, please let me know in the chat, I will open up a thread where you can do such. You can also text me. FYI—I can’t write anything about the Bezos wedding that I actually feel on the internet. Anything Love Island U.S.A. is abundantly welcomed.