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Staycation: Finding fun close to home
by Outspoken on Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:56 am
Staycation: Finding fun close to home
With gas well over $4 a gallon, many of us are looking for summer fun without the travel.
By MEREDITH GOAD
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
On a recent summer afternoon, Patty Puleo was at home making a pinata for a campout she and her family would be going on that weekend.
This is the time of year lots of Mainers head north for remote campsites on the state's pristine lakes. But Puleo and her family were planning to pitch tents in their own Portland backyard, light up a fire pit, and have a neighborhood party.
"We can spontaneously strike up a party with a bonfire and instruments," Puleo said. "It's just a great neighborhood."
With gas well over $4 a gallon, more people are foregoing road trips and skyrocketing plane fares and opting instead for a "staycation." For some, that means visiting local historic sites and enjoying activities within a certain radius of home.
But how about spending nothing on gas? There's plenty of fun things to do in your backyard that will spare you every ounce of precious fuel without feeling deprived.
We asked some Mainers for their ideas of cheap summer entertainment for the family. Here are some of their suggestions:
BACKYARD CAMPING
Feeling depressed about the price of gas? Nothing will make you feel better than downing a s'more and belting out one of those old summer camp songs from 1973. And don't forget to take a flashlight in the tent so you can check out that creepy noise coming from the bushes at 2 a.m.
Boomers are intimately familiar with the backyard camping experience. It's time for them to pass the torch to their nature-deprived kids and grandkids. The National Wildlife Federation recently sponsored a "Great American Backyard Campout" to help heal "nature-deficit disorder" in children who are more obsessed with video games than outdoor adventure.
The Puleo family's recent campout was in honor of the Great American Backyard Campout, but it was also an extension of neighborhood activities that go on all year long, with five families participating.
They pitched tents in between two garages set up as "bistros." One of the bistros has a pool table and air hockey. The other, Puleo said, "has some comfy couches; it has a TV. I donated a turntable, and we've got some old albums, and we put up some fun lights."
There's also a fire pit, where campers can form a drumming circle or take belly-dancing lessons from one of the neighbors.
"It can get pretty crazy," Puleo said, "and lots and lots of fun."
For her son's birthday, Puleo decorated his tent Harry Potter-style, with glow sticks hanging from the ceiling of the tent like the suspended candles at the wizard's school.
The campouts and neighborhood parties are easy to organize, Puleo said.
"It has brought us together in a way where we don't have to leave," she said. "Everyone kind of takes turns having things at their homes."
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=197732&ac=Home
With gas well over $4 a gallon, many of us are looking for summer fun without the travel.
By MEREDITH GOAD
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
On a recent summer afternoon, Patty Puleo was at home making a pinata for a campout she and her family would be going on that weekend.
This is the time of year lots of Mainers head north for remote campsites on the state's pristine lakes. But Puleo and her family were planning to pitch tents in their own Portland backyard, light up a fire pit, and have a neighborhood party.
"We can spontaneously strike up a party with a bonfire and instruments," Puleo said. "It's just a great neighborhood."
With gas well over $4 a gallon, more people are foregoing road trips and skyrocketing plane fares and opting instead for a "staycation." For some, that means visiting local historic sites and enjoying activities within a certain radius of home.
But how about spending nothing on gas? There's plenty of fun things to do in your backyard that will spare you every ounce of precious fuel without feeling deprived.
We asked some Mainers for their ideas of cheap summer entertainment for the family. Here are some of their suggestions:
BACKYARD CAMPING
Feeling depressed about the price of gas? Nothing will make you feel better than downing a s'more and belting out one of those old summer camp songs from 1973. And don't forget to take a flashlight in the tent so you can check out that creepy noise coming from the bushes at 2 a.m.
Boomers are intimately familiar with the backyard camping experience. It's time for them to pass the torch to their nature-deprived kids and grandkids. The National Wildlife Federation recently sponsored a "Great American Backyard Campout" to help heal "nature-deficit disorder" in children who are more obsessed with video games than outdoor adventure.
The Puleo family's recent campout was in honor of the Great American Backyard Campout, but it was also an extension of neighborhood activities that go on all year long, with five families participating.
They pitched tents in between two garages set up as "bistros." One of the bistros has a pool table and air hockey. The other, Puleo said, "has some comfy couches; it has a TV. I donated a turntable, and we've got some old albums, and we put up some fun lights."
There's also a fire pit, where campers can form a drumming circle or take belly-dancing lessons from one of the neighbors.
"It can get pretty crazy," Puleo said, "and lots and lots of fun."
For her son's birthday, Puleo decorated his tent Harry Potter-style, with glow sticks hanging from the ceiling of the tent like the suspended candles at the wizard's school.
The campouts and neighborhood parties are easy to organize, Puleo said.
"It has brought us together in a way where we don't have to leave," she said. "Everyone kind of takes turns having things at their homes."
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=197732&ac=Home
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
