Summer camp for adults, with an evening cocktail
BENJAMIN Camp and Jacob Winterstein started hatching impish schemes as teens at a Quaker summer camp in New Jersey.
BENJAMIN Camp and Jacob Winterstein started hatching impish schemes as teens at a Quaker summer camp in New Jersey.
They would unscrew enough lightbulbs to throw the entire camp into chaos for at least 20 pitch-black minutes.
They would use mealtimes to try out the wackiest ways to eat, sitting cross-legged beneath the tables.
For Camp, a suburban kid from King of Prussia, and Winterstein, a city kid from Mount Airy, Camp Dark Waters in Medford cultivated a mischievous creativity. Fifteen years later, they've unleashed it on the Poconos.
Camp, 32, now a theater company director, and Winterstein, 30, now a poet and teacher, have created their own overnight adventure that both embraces and upends camp conventions. And they're doing it for grown-ups who want to leave behind the pressures of adulthood for a weekend.
At Camp Bonfire, participants can kayak, shoot a bow and arrow, swing on ropes, write a song, go on "silent hikes," make forest fairy houses, cloud-watch, read, or freestyle rap. Not on the list of 35 activities - but not forbidden either - is sleeping.
"I don't think there are a lot of spaces for connection and play for adults that don't infantilize or condescend," said Camp, who now lives in South Philadelphia. "We aren't saying you need to pretend to be a child to experience joy. You don't need to go back. You have that right now." Plus, there's an evening cocktail.
Winterstein, now of West Philadelphia, recites Camp Bonfire's motto: "You're a grown-ass adult, you can do what you want."
For its first session last June, 130 campers ranging in age from 21 to the far side of 70 signed up. About 160 have registered so far for this year's outing, June 10 to 12 at Lake Owego Camp, a rustic expanse in Greeley, Pike County, a 2 1/2-hour drive from Philadelphia.
Campers pay $449 to $499 for three days of games, cabin accommodations (male, female, or mixed), and upscale camp cuisine, with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free options on the menu.
Winterstein and Camp have staked their claim in a growing sector of the camping marketplace. Many adult- and family-centric programs are seeing increased registrations, according to the American Camp Association. About 200 of the 2,400 camps accredited by the organization, including Lake Owego, are for adults and families.
Camp Bonfire is an homage to Camp Dark Waters, which Winterstein and Camp say nurtured their creativity and independence and modeled a commitment to diversity.
The two met there in the early 2000s when Camp was a 17-year-old counselor and Winterstein a 14-year-old camper. The latter went on to become a Dark Waters counselor and poet-in-residence. Camp eventually joined the board of directors, worked as an assistant director, and got married on the grounds.
Several years ago, Camp rented Dark Waters for his birthday party and the group of 50 had so much fun that he thought an overnight camp for adults might be a sound business idea. Around the same time, Winterstein got an email from a friend suggesting he sign up for an an overnight camp for grown-ups in California. He was so intrigued by the concept that he suggested to Camp that they start their own.
To learn how to develop a business plan, the two took an eight-week course at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Camp Bonfire launched in January 2015.
"I kind of rolled my eyes" at the thought of an adult camp, said Mary Webster, of West Philadelphia, age "somewhere near Medicare," a retired grant manager. "But I decided to . . . say yes."
Webster plans to return to the camp with her husband for a second summer. She recalled the first time as "OK" - until she took part in writing the camp song.
"It turned out to be fun, and then they said we'd perform it at a talent show, and I said, 'Oh my God,' " she said. "I had fun in spite of myself."
Counselor Alison Huxta, 30, runs the spicy kickball game. At second base, you have to "drop it like it's hot," as in the hip-hop dance.
Camping, she said, can be about finding "a better, truer self." Hokey sentiment, she conceded, but real.
"It's hard to let that person out if you're on a daily grind of having to be competent, expert, and serious about what you do," said Huxta, of West Philadelphia. "Camp is an invitation to let loose."
Jihan Thomas, a 30-year-old artist and teacher from North Philadelphia, signed up for Camp Bonfire as a personal challenge after some health problems. Finishing a zip line, she was so exhilarated that she laughed and cried at the same time.
"You can't get that in the 'hood," she said. "It felt good for my soul."
Winterstein and Camp say they envision expanding Camp Bonfire to sites up and down the East Coast, notorious for its rat-race lifestyles and, presumably, filled with grown-ups in need of a restorative weekend "with just the right amount of wild."
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