If there is a time in life we could return to it would no doubt be our summers at sleepover camp. The excitement would start a month prior when we began packing our trunk, carefully labeling each t-shirt with our name in marker and picking photos that we were excited to hang on our cabin wall, be it of mom or Luke Perry. Upon arrival, we’d shuffle into a cabin with five other girls and quickly make friends as we violently flung around the tether ball. Meal time was full of songs and cult like table games that made no sense whatsoever but were nevertheless passed down from one generation to the next. Days were spent living out scary adventures in sailboats, falling waist deep into bogs and wedging good for nothing clay bowls. Evenings were reserved for whispering about boys interjected with shrieks that an imagined bear was clawing at our door.
We had our first dance with awkward fourteen year old guy on the dock, and an even more awkward first kiss in the bush. Those who were lucky enough had holes in the wall to spy on the counselors as they stumbled in drunk from their half days. We’d scroll our name on the wall with a silver pen and wonder what Mary from ’76 was like or who Tania from ’83 was. We can still remember practicing our New Kids On The Block lip synch routine for talent night and recall how Chicken Soup for The Soul (and subsequent 103 sequels) basically formed our morality. Misbehaving has never been as fun as when we raided the kitchen at 2am for ice cream or skinny dipped at dawn. Heck, even gargling salt water at the infirmary and stepping on a leech are fond memories…”pee on it! pee on it!” Ahh – good times.
Unfortunately, that slice of life has come and gone but if you are craving a little bit of nostalgia, then The Drake Hotel has figured out how to touch on all that camp kitsch, but with an adult spin.
From now until August, the Drake Sky Yard has been transformed into Camp Drake. A suspended canoe, a giant carved wooden bear, collectible Camp Drake tees (from Drake General Store) and many more surprises will take you back. Imagine a summer camp where the counselor is a bartender, the kitchen serves up Nova Scotia lobster, the coolers are filled with spiked lemonade, iced tea and sangria and sleepovers in Drake Crash Pads are unsupervised. Not to mention drive-in movie nights programmed by adult filmmaker Bruce LaBruce and a host of other Canadian notables. (there is a reason that Meatballs is one of the top-grossing Canadian films of all time!).
This Tuesday catch the 1969 classic, Last Summer, a coming-of-age movie about adolescent sexuality. Get cozy, grab a bag of free popcorn and sip a mojito on the roof (talk about a great date!) Or, swap popcorn for some snacks from the Taco & Tequila Shack. Muy Bueno Senor Stober!
Mark your calendars and choose your cabin mates – because there is a different screening each Tuesday night! And they are FREE!
June 16 – Last Summer – presented by Bruce LaBruce
June 23 – The True Meaning of Pictures – documentary about photographer Shelby Lee Adams who is best known for his controversial portraits of the poor in Appalachia – presented, and directed by documentary filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal (this film happens to be one of our favourites and will leave you with haunting imagery and much to debate)
July 7 – Tank Girl – presented by Sarah Diamond, President of OCAD
July 14 – Tampopo – presented by Francisco Alverez, Director of Contemporary Art at the ROM.
Feel like staying the night? Book a room for $239 and wake up the next morning to two bicycles ready and waiting with a packed picnic. Dreamy.
But you know what is hands down the best thing about going to camp? Receiving a care package, and that’s where we come in. Way better than a Big Bop and some licorice, we’ve put together the adult version of a care package which contains $1800 worth of Muskoka Must Haves…yeah, that’s how we do camp now.
LAST CHANCE TO ENTER OUR MUSKOKA MUST HAVE CONTEST!!!
– Trip for two to the remote Frying Pan Island for Fish & Chips on Georgian Bay Airways
– A patio makeover from PC Home including a gorgeous table, chairs, umbrella and BBQ
– Gift certificate to get a new hot bikini at Billabong
– A Mattel Game-On Prize Pack that includes a ton of fun games for stormy cottage nights
– Fuze Shape Prize Pack that includes a gift certificate to Roots, a beach tote and a spa-velous gift set of Bliss beauty products
– $100 gift certificate to Spectacle – so you can find the coolest shades ever
– A NAIR prize pack that includes enough product to host your own waxing party (that did happen at camp frequently)
– $200 worth of Hawaiian Tropic products – so you can spend as much time outdoors, splashing around or lazily lying on a dock
– Bacardi Breezers – to get the party started
– Sleeping Naked is Green – the ultimate LOL summer read about how an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days
And to that we say…Kum-bah-ya my Lord….kum-bah-ya..
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