I remember watching movies about kids spending their summers at a
summer camp, such as "Meatballs" or "Up the Creek". I
always wondered what Summer Camp would be like. Was it all fun and games, would
I find new friends, or maybe... just maybe... was there a summer fling waiting
for me?
As
it turns out there was no summer camp around my area at all. Our local town
park did offer a place where parents could drop their kids in the morning, for
fun and social activities under guidance, and then pick them up in the
afternoon. It was unfortunately nothing like in the movies. There was a playground,
they had activities you could do sitting at a picnic table, and you already
knew all the kids there. It was a complete disappointment.
Well,
maybe not complete... I did find something there, though it wasn't the love of
my life, it was "Stratego". A board game. Strange, right? Well, you see, I was never really into
board games. I tried to play with my brothers, but when you got an entire group
of poor losers (and poor winners), it takes the fun right out of it. I belonged
to the former. But playing Stratego was different, this game was fun for me on
a different level. The little Napoleonic pictures on the pieces, the marshals,
and other officers, the spy, and bombs! Hide and seek on the game board. It was
the only thing I really looked forward to at this "camp".
Years had passed, and I had forgotten all about my favorite board game. That was, until my son was at an age where he had taken an interest in board games. (Fortunately he is a much better sport than I was at his age.) So I decided to buy him the game which I had wasted so many hours on as a kid in those summer days. I was not able to find it in Germany, so I asked my mom to send me a one. I was a little surprised when the package arrived, because this was not the same game I remembered so fondly. Over the years they must have decided to modernize it into a "space version". The basic rules were the same, and it was the same game, the only thing that was missing for me was the nostalgia.
I still was able to waste a few hours playing the
game from my childhood; but more importantly, I was able to make new fond
memories of playing my favorite game with my son. He's older now, and into more
digital games; but sometimes he'll let me break out the old Stratego for a
couple rounds.
Do you have any fond memories of summer camp?
Are you into board gaming?
Or would you just like to share a bit of summer nostalgia?
Let me know in the comments below.
And please be sure to recommend :)
