More than a million adults in the US attended some sort of summer camp in recent years; would you be ready to join their ranks between now and Labor Day? While some of these programs cater to a younger crowd, there are plenty of options for those of us at midlife, and they are often tailored to people who want to just dip their toes in the water. In other words, you can bunk at these camps for just a few days or a week, versus a longer, “school’s out for the summer” commitment.
Among the most popular are those programs that allow campers to pursue a hobby or passion, while meeting new people and breaking away from the everyday. A few examples:
- For those who play (or used to play) an instrument, summer can be a time to re-tune with the Adult Band Camp and Chamber Music Camp at Michigan’s Interlochen Center for the Arts (5 days, $545). Encore!
- For those who want to up their cooking game, the famed Culinary Institute of America offers short summer programs like Culinary Boot Camp and other foodie delights at campuses in New York, Texas and California. Prices start around $900 for a couple of days of intensive training.
- Want to try your hand at ceramics ($595 for 6 days), marbling paper, or jewelry-making? Try Snow Farm in Massachusetts idyllic Pioneer Valley.
- Camp Bonfire in PA’s Pocono Mountains offers weekend-long programs ($475) with canoeing, archery, quidditch, poetry, and ping-pong. The organizers say over 10 percent of attendees have been Boomers and beyond. Only problem: This summer’s program is no longer open for registration. So you’ll have to start dreaming of summer 2019.
–Janet Siroto
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