Summer is fast approaching, and your kids are going to need something to do. Their amount of time in front of a computer/phone screen already drives you crazy, and during the summer it only increases. It feels like they are only communicating using memes. If they have referred to you as “boomer,” and yet you are not of that generation, something needs to change! You have exhausted the normal destinations like the beach and local day camps. What is new in the area that is fun and kid-interactive and gets them off the phone?
CAMP LONGLEAF to the rescue! The Florida Panhandle’s newest overnight summer camp offers unforgettable experiences that combine animal interactions and cabin living with classic summer camp fun. Located smack dab in the middle of the Florida Panhandle in Freeport, deep in the forest, Camp Longleaf offers opportunities for children to actually be children and to discover a world that is new, fun, and life-changing. In June and July, Camp Longleaf will offer one-week sleep-over camps for girls only (ages 9 to 14) and a three-day retreat for fathers and sons June 20-22.
Camp Longleaf is affiliated with the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center, which has been in operation for over eleven years, providing hands-on environmental education to local students. The Biophilia Center and Camp Longleaf are located on a 55,000-acre wildlife preserve called Nokuse Plantation. Campers will experience hikes to a one-of-a-kind solar facility that is completely off the electrical grid and houses ping-pong, foosball, and other interactive games. Bonfires with s’mores will be offered throughout the week. Campers will also experience the Biophilia Center and its 30,000 square feet of fun, interactive displays that bring out the naturalist in all who enter. They will enjoy a movie and popcorn in the 160-seat, stadium-style indoor theater. A multitude of options for elective programs like science experiments, team-building giant volleyball games, and forest studies are offered each day. Campers will spend a day at a lake swimming, hiking, enjoying playground structures and eating as much watermelon as possible.
Both Camp Longleaf and the Biophilia Center’s staff have areas of expertise that include all mentioned along with animal handling. Camp Longleaf’s campers will have daily interactions with over 55 animal ambassadors including skunks, snakes, bobcats, owls, turtles, foxes, lizards, hawks, and more! Where else can you pet a skunk, hold a snake, breath in the natural surrounding air, learn about nature, and experience it with new friends who will be remembered for a lifetime? CAMP LONGLEAF, that’s where!
All the facilities on the grounds of Camp Longleaf are air-conditioned, clean, safe, and brand new. Long gone are the days of sleeping in the sweltering heat alongside unwelcome cabin mates like mosquitos, moonlight through the cracks in the wall, the oh-so-friendly cockroach, and the smothering humidity. There is something to be said about those friends, but those are not choice words. Camp Longleaf allows campers to enjoy each other’s company and focus on the fun.
Camp Longleaf’s girls-only camp encourages girls to feel comfortable in their surroundings and move beyond any fears or anxieties that might hold them back. Girls will be able to positively influence each other to try programs that they normally wouldn’t participate in. Camp Longleaf offers a camp that girls will be able to develop and mature into confident, assertive, young women and to be the best version of themselves while doing so surrounded by nature.
The father/son retreat encompasses a time for dads and their boys to bond, hike, and experience new adventures together. Time together at Camp Longleaf will bring fathers and sons closer together with stories, memories, and camping fun that can only be had at Camp Longleaf.
The advancement of technology - along with the growth of your kids - is never going to stop, which we know happens way too quickly. Take advantage of an opportunity to show them what you remember about growing up: being outside with friends, exploring nature, and creating memories. Camp Longleaf is here to offer unforgettable visual keepsakes for all, and to see the world through one’s own eyes and not a phone.
Please go to www.camplongleaf-fl.org to learn more about Camp Longleaf.
