Peace In The Margins

This past weekend DH and I drug out the tent and camping gear. Yes, I realize tent camping is sort of trending right now with a fresh title – Glamping. What exactly is glamping?

Well, Webster defines it as “outdoor camping with amenities and comforts (such as beds, electricity, and access to indoor plumbing) not usually used when camping.”

I mean is it really camping if you have an AC, soft sheets, a plush body pillow, an area rug to hang out on, power, and running water?

My Mom and Dad were campers. When I was younger (much younger), my parents would drag my brother and me camping several times a year, and you could put money on the fact that we’d spend a whole two-weeks roughing it somewhere in Florida or Georgia. I loved it! I swam in springs and rivers, knee-boarded on the Suwannee, boated on the Ocklawaha, and hiked in the Ocala National Forest. I got to climb (in a touristy sense) Stone Mountain and meet so many interesting people along the way.

We started in a tent – 2 adults and 2 kids – and learned valuable lessons, most of the time the hard way, like:

• Don’t touch the side of the tent when it’s raining.
• Lock up all food items in raccoon proof containers.
• No-see’ums suck.
• Bug Repellant is your friend. Even if it does stink.
• Bathhouses aren’t too bad.
• Campfires are better.
• Sleeping under the stars is the best.

Thankfully, when I became a teenager, we graduated to a pop-up camper. Now we were living high! Hard shell sides to keep ALL the critters out, an actual mattress (kind of) instead of a sleeping bag, and power and running water. We still had to use the bathhouses, but nothing can be perfect, right?

The last year I camped with my Mom, Dad, and brother, I was 19-years-old. Dad was adamant we would be comfortable – in July – in Ocala. So, he cut out part of the canvas over the sink and installed an AC (sealed with good ol’ Duct tape). It may have been ugly, but man, we had AC!

Fast-forward to today. DH and I are going to tent camp – in July – in a Dark Sky state park. While I am beyond excited, I want to make sure my city-slicker husband has a great time. I suppose then, we will be glamping.

We’re going to have AC (yes, in a tent), sleep on an air mattresses, have soft sheets, and power and water hook-ups. I also have the luxurious, camping, area rug to put under a really cool screen room add-on. We’ll have lights on the tent and the best stargazing experience out there!

I can’t wait to see how the night sky photos are going to turn out here – and I hope the hubs finds he loves camping as much as I do.

Until next time,

Alicia