Lauren and Emily Martin at Riverview Camp

Girls-Only Camp

Campers stay loyal to Riverview Camp for Girls in Mentone, Ala., attending year after year and generation after generation. Michael and Heather Martin’s three daughters will be there again this year. For twins Emily and Lauren, age 16, it’s their sixth year. Daughter Riley, 10, will notch her fifth year. “We were a little nervous when they went the first year,” Heather says, “but they went with friends and they were excited to go and convinced me to let them go.”

The twins found their cabin, made their beds, met friends and put on swimsuits. “We barely got a hug as they went flying to the pool.” The girls who came home that first year “had grown up a little bit,” she says. “They were more confident and independent. At camp, they had to get to activities on their own, on time, and keep their cabins clean and clothes organized.” The family really never considered a co-ed camp. “They were approaching middle-school age and we figured there would be plenty of time to be around boys,” Heather says. “They can just be girls at this camp, have fun dancing and singing and being themselves, without having to worry about how their hair or makeup looks.”

Technology Free Camp

Thirteen years ago, when Kevin and Michelle Ansley of Marietta sent their oldest daughter to summer camp, teens with cell phones weren’t common. Still, the Ansleys were looking for a traditional camping experience for their kids, cabins with open windows and no air conditioning, and no television. Neighbors recommended Camp Chatuga in Mountain Rest, S.C.

Daughter Alex, now 20, attended for four years; son Grant, now 17, and daughter Brooke, now 15, have both attended for 10 years and both plan to return this summer. “Two years ago, when Brooke was 13, we were driving somewhere on the weekend before she was leaving for camp,” Michelle says. “She was texting away on her phone, and she sighed and told me, ‘Mom, I can’t wait to get to camp and be away from all this for four weeks.”

Though parents can email notes to their children – through the camp’s website – kids can’t bring cell phones, radios or other electronics, and don’t have access to the camp’s computers. It’s as close to the traditional camping experience as possible. “Our kids are best friends with kids they met at camp from all over the Southeast,” Michelle says. “We didn’t realize then how powerful building relationships face-to-face is.”

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