Can’t afford to escape to Bermuda this summer, or even rent a tiny room within sight of the Jersey shore? Not to worry, you’ve still managed to save up a few vacation days, and the kids will be busy with their friends, so…it’s time for summer camp for YOU!

What were the two key takeaways from Girl Scout, YMCA, or church summer camp from your childhood? Time with your bffs and lots of laughter!

So let the fun begin!

Grab your cellphone and exchange schedules with your buddies by text, voice mail, or email to decide on the best day (s) when you can all get together. Ask them, “What does fun look like for you these days? Hiking up the Delaware Canal Trail, over Mill Hill Park’s walking bridge, or through the verdant beauty of Cadwalader Park? Maybe they’d enjoy a picnic lunch or a pick-up basketball game in the park to work off Jason’s award-winning potato salad, or Marie’s lemon bars.

At the end of your hike through Cadwalader Park, visit Trenton City Museum’s Ellarslie Mansion, a hidden jewel, even for Trenton natives. Browse their permanent collection of fine and decorative arts and cultural artifacts in the second-floor galleries. (Check out more exhibits on their website at Trenton City Museum – ). Stick around for an open mic on Freedom Fridays (the last Friday of every month), when poets, comedians, (and even armchair “American Idol” contestant wannabes like you), for a $5 donation, can have a fleeting ten minutes of fame!

How about a lively book discussion of a juicy novel or exciting mystery, over a glass of cabernet? Or your group may prefer the hands-on activity of creating your own art together.

Remember the hushed awe and wonder of a star-studded planetarium ceiling on your grade school class trips? Pack some snacks to share (Hey! who took the last Kit Kat?!) in the dark at New Jersey State Museum’s planetarium, right downtown. (Check their website New Jersey Department of State – NJ State Museum  for parking information or hop on the bus and get off right in front of the State Library and the museum on West State Street.

Note: There are planetarium shows in Spanish the 4th Saturday of every month at 11:00 a.m.

Or, like me, if your friends are old enough to remember summertime at Palisades Park (admit it, Boomers, I won’t tell anyone!), you’ll want to get your tickets in advance for St Gregory the Great’s 45th annual carnival in nearby Hamilton Square, June 17th to 22nd, 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. Rides open

12 noon on Saturday. When’s the last time you’ve eaten cotton candy or a candy apple (without having to give your kids a taste)? Relive that long ago summer when Gayle made you sit in the front seat on the Wild Mouse roller coaster, JoAnne lost a shoe on the Ferris wheel, and Barbara closed her eyes through every ride! Go to StGregorytheGreat.org for more information and ticket prices.

I like book clubs (that’s no surprise, since I facilitated a book club for the blind for ten years, and produced and hosted its post-discussion recording and author interviews for the radio). Take your buddies to the Trenton Public Library’s adult book club-held the 4th Tuesday of each month from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. at its Academy Street location downtown, in Community Room B. The building is located across the street from Mercer Community College, and has on-site parking.

Maybe you’d like to host your own book club discussion at your place (or virtually via Zoom), with popular new summer reads like Barbara Davis’s, “The Keeper of Happy Endings”, or “Pineapple Street” by Jenny Jackson. You might like to try the thrillers, “House in the Pines” by Ana Reyes, or “Tell Me How This Ends”, by Jo Leevers. Download The New York Times current book list or call your library if you’re stuck for title suggestions.

What streaming services do each of your friends have? Have everyone pitch in for a potluck meal while you watch “Knives Out” (2019), Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express”, or other classics like Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window”, or (one of my old favorites), “Sunset Boulevard” (1950), that’s narrated from the beginning by a corpse floating in Norma Desmond’s pool! Remember the line, “It’s the pictures that got smaller!” Wow!)

After a delicious brunch of each friend’s signature dish (Paula, will you make your stuffed grape leaves…please?!), head downtown to Patriots’ Theatre on June 22nd at 2:00 p.m. for the Capital Area YMCA’s Community Dance Recital, “Can You Feel It?” Get your tickets in advance to cheer on these stars of tomorrow, by calling Renee Riddle-Dawson at (609) 599-9622 ext 205.

Now, if you consider yourself the next Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, or Ava DuVernay (you read my mind!), grab your smart phone and shoot a short video with your friends. It’s fun and much, much easier than back in the day when you were lugging around a heavy camcorder filming your final class project on the roof of your college dorm at 2:00 in the morning! Register/submit your video (or any other original type of visual art) online by midnight June 22nd at https://gallery.aantrenton.org . Trenton’s annual Art All Night is at the War Memorial this year, Saturday, June 29th from 3:00 to midnight, and Sunday June 30th from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This year you can view the exhibits virtually as well! See film by local filmmakers, refrigerator art to landscapes, enjoy music by live bands, and buy food from a variety of food trucks. Take a workshop or master class. Everything is free (except food), and no prior art experience is required for art submissions. Go to Art All Night – Trenton  for updates on the line up.

Of course, you and your friends will want to take “wish-you-were-here” selfies (the digital era equivalent of childhood postcards sent home from camp), and send them to everyone who missed all the fun (including the unlucky coworker who’s stuck doing your work while you’re out!)

You’ve had a blast! I’m sure your buddies would all agree that they can’t wait to “go to camp” again next year! Bffs forever!

Karen Carson (“alumnus” of Camp Chickagamee, Girl Scout Camp)

Contributing writer, Trenton Daily

June 2024