Posted on

Camping Memories Made Where You Park It

We were sitting in our backyard recently and I noticed something I’d never noticed before. Two of our palms were perfectly spaced to hang our hammock. A nearby was a spot perfect for a fire pit. Trees for the hammock, a safe spot for a fire pit, and plenty of room to sprawl. This is stuff I look for when camping. Why had I never thought of it in our own backyard?

So that got me thinking… How important is the site to the camping experience? When we called Camp Venice Retreat in November to book a week’s stay, I tried to cut straight to the chase with the manager, Tamara. I’d eyed their site map, but those things can be so deceiving. Often not drawn to scale and designed to make every site look spacious enough for Will Smith’s monster rig, you don’t know if the site they’re offering is the spatial equivalent of a parking spot at the outlet mall.

Continue reading “Camping Memories Made Where You Park It”

Posted on

Games and Camping: What Are You Playing?

My wife is a camping card and board game player in search of an opponent. No sooner is the RV hooked up and the awning out, than she’s suggesting we set up the cornhole board. Later, after dinner is cleaned up and the fire has burned low, she’s rattling off board or card games to pass the evening.

This is deeply ingrained in her camping DNA. Many of the same games we carry today – Sorry, Uno, Rummykub – are the same ones, I mean the same actual games, her family carried across Ontario, Canada, in their RV five decades ago. We added Yahtzee, a few decks of cards, and National Parks Monopoly.

Continue reading “Games and Camping: What Are You Playing?”

Posted on

Paying Respects Remotely to a Friend Who’d Just Get It


Robbie lost a life-long friend last week. We would have flown to New York for the funeral. But as with so many life-cycle events during COVID, only immediate family could attend. So there we were, towing our RV along Interstate 75, marveling at the Florida Everglades, and Zooming into Suri’s funeral.

As the landscape went from sawgrass to cypress swamp to pine uplands along “Alligator Alley,” we both shed tears and smiles as the rabbi recited traditional prayers and family members recalled Suri’s irrepressible spunk.

We were sad, but this was no despondent drive.

Continue reading “Paying Respects Remotely to a Friend Who’d Just Get It”

Posted on

Campers & RVers: Why We Hit the Road Again

When COVID-19 hit, Mary and Scott Hercik-Sladek started canceling camping and festival camping reservations. Partly to cut back a bit, partly out of a healthy concern about getting sick, they pulled the plugs on all their events. Even if they wanted to camp, managers at parks, campgrounds, and other campsites, at least those that were open, everyone was saying, “Camp at your own risk.” Who wants to risk that?

In time, when COVID seemed to chill a bit, they decided to hitch up the trailer and head out – with their fear in check. “Once we finally started camping again, it instantly became our escape from the world of COVID,” she said. “Since it’s just Scott and I, we can go from our home to the campground and back home without having to speak to another soul.”

It’s not about being anti-social. It’s about being safe.

Continue reading “Campers & RVers: Why We Hit the Road Again”

Posted on

Everglades Roots Music Festival Gives Swamp Life a Playlist

Don’t ask Jack Shealy what really excites him about Everglades Roots Festival at his family’s campground deep in the Florida swamp and expect an easy answer. It’s tough, and he really can’t put his finger on it. There’s the music, the Trail Lakes Campground itself, the Everglades experience, the Cracker Culture, even the skunk ape he’s certain lurks in the woods and maw just beyond the treeline.

It’s easy to understand Shealy’s struggle. Now in its third year, the festival will bring a hot line up of blues, bluegrass, and folk talent. The show’s line-up boasts two sets of Grateful Dead players Grass Is Dead, along with The Firewater Tent Revival, Free Range Strange, Gator Nate, Daryl Hance PowerMuse, and a host of other acts. In this installment of Sit Down with the Producer, we’ll see what makes Everglades Roots Festival and host Trail Lakes Campground shine is this neck of the Glades.

Continue reading “Everglades Roots Music Festival Gives Swamp Life a Playlist”