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| Campy Camping | | Date Created: Aug 01, 2005, 12:22 PM |
This weekend Brian and I and several friends went camping at a gay campground in Saugatuck, Michigan.
First of all, yes, I know this wasn't real camping. This was car-camping. Real camping involves packing as little as possible, and generally includes taking your own toilet paper. Car-camping involves packing your car as full as possible with every possible battery powered convenience, and hoping someone else had room in their car for the keg. Car-camping with The Gays is even more involved. Here are a few of the things I observed this weekend:
*No electricity? No problem! French press coffee every morning.
*Since each campsite has more tiki torches than you can shake a stick at, flashlights are completely unnecessary.
*An amazing chandelier hanging in a tree (in the section that had electricity) made entirely out of clear plastic forks knives and spoons (which accompanied the disco lights very nicely).
*Dance music 24/7 from every campsite.
*If you really want people to stare longingly at you at the pool, you don't need a sexy speedo. Just serve your husband a gin and tonic, poolside.
*Every campsite has an alcohol/beer/wine selection that would put most bars to shame. And here, there's no such thing as "well." Everything is top shelf.
*You never quite know who you'll be seeing at breakfast the next morning because the sleeping arrangements are rather um .... fluid, apparently.
*On the picnic table at night: lanterns, marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate squares, bug spray, lube, condoms.
*Blowing up air mattresses is a spectator sport.
*A survey of what people were reading one morning: gay fiction, historical fiction about Gettysberg, Historical nonfiction about Vietnam, Harry Potter, and UnZipped.
*There's no sense in bringing many shirts when you're gay camping because every time you try to wear one, someone is trying to take it off you.
*Huge, muscular men -- tiny, ratty dogs.
*When about 100 nekkid men are swimming in a pool at night, and the water is a bit chilly, one discovers that indeed, all (well, most) men are created equal. Fortunately the refraction through the water can save one from embarrassment.
*Unlike more restrained situations, when there's lots of friskiness going on elsewhere, the showers end up actually being used as showers.
What I most appreciated about this weekend was that, apparently, everyone had decided to leave their attitudes at home for a few days. Every single person I talked to was friendly and down to earth, even if they looked like Greek Gods. I'm not sure if it was the atmosphere, or just the accumulation of gigantic amounts of citronella (etc.) inhaled over a 3 day period, but I wish every gay venue was that attitude-free. |
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