The Beautiful Camp Harbor View

Camp Harbor View is absolutely phenomenal.  Where was this day camp when I was growing up?  As stated in my last blog post, Monday was filled with visiting Blacks Creek and Camp Harbor View (CHV).  I had never been out to CHV and I all knew about the site was that it was the furthest point on Long Island.  As I started my trek from Blacks Creek (with a short stop for a turkey sandwich, Slim Jims and bottle of water) I couldn't help but admire the beautiful scenery along the Quincy shoreline.  Thank goodness no one was driving behind me as I drove by the love shack and over the bridge because I was driving about 10 mph looking out at the amazing views of the harbor.

Beautiful view on the way to Camp Harbor View

As I arrived at the camp I was mesmerized.  This camp had everything to offer; swimming pool, a nude beach, rock climbing, fishing, "mess hall", ropes course, sailing, and much more.  It vaguely reminded me of Nickelodeon's "Salute Your Shorts" - probably because I showed up during lunch time.  As a Boston Public School teacher, I could not believe I hadn't heard about this camp before.  Kids between the ages of 11-14 (perfect for the middle school students I teach) sign up for 4 weeks at the camp and only pay $5 with transportation included.  How awesome is that!?

As soon as lunch ended the kids were directed to find their "afternoon activity group" which meant game on for fishing club.  We quickly gathered up our 12 kids and walked to the pier.  This afternoon session was only an hour but the kids searched for crabs on the beach and fished off the pier using the gummy crabs as bait. It's always great to see kid's reactions when they lift a rock from the beach and see five crabs scurry away.  There's always the loud, "Wow" or "Oh my goodness" but these kids were fearless and picked up tons of crabs to show off and put in the bucket.

Looking for crabs on the beach

Once our bucket was full of crabs, Asian Shore Crabs that is, we headed back to the pier for some fishing!  Most of the kids were already pros at fishing while other needed some help.  Will.i.Am, Clark Kent and the Junior Program Assistants sprang into action baiting hook and teaching kids how to cast their line.  I worked with a few kids but mostly played photographer to caputre these great moments!

Manny and Will helping out some campers

I cannot wait to go back and visit Camp Harbor View again! Maybe they will even let me climb the rock wall - fingers crossed!.....But probably they shouldn't because I'm a klutz.

- Bridget