Summer Fun By Nanette Wiser
Summer is here, so why not book a learning vacay for your inner child and summer camps for the kids here in Paradise? Book now, because they fill up fast.
For The Kids: So many opportunities for arts, music and writing in Pinellas County. Check out the summer camps and classes pages online for American Stage, Beach Art Center, Central Park Performing Arts Center, Creative Clay, Creative Pinellas, The Dali, Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dunedin Music Society, James Museum of Western Art, Keep St. Pete Lit, Marcia P. Hoffman School of the Arts, Morean Arts Center and Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg.
Local faith-based, YMCA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and city recreation centers (Largo, St. Petersburg, St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach) offer robust opportunities (culinary, nature, arts, fitness). Great Explorations programs are filled with experiments, arts and outdoor field trips.
There are so many specialty camps for future Olympians. Gymnastics, horseback riding, swimming, martial arts, tennis, golf, scuba diving and water sports are just a few sporting adventures for kids. Check out Clearwater Community Sailing Center and most local tennis and golf clubs.
Tampa Bay Watch serves up marine science summer camps at theTampa Bay Watch Discovery Center and over the bridge MOSI’s summer science camp and Camp Imagination at Glazer Children’s Museum is sure to inspire your little Einstein. Girls Inc. Oceans of Fun! offers a marine biology summer camp. For future journalists, the Poynter Institute hosts a high school program in writing, journalism and multimedia.
In addition to PTEC and SPC classes for career skills for teens and young adults, private schools (Shorecrest, Admiral Farragut), The Pinellas County Schools offer educational enrichment, technical training, STEM programs, music or visual arts camps and career bootcamps.
For Adults: I like to think of our local theme parks as a really great weekday date and summer camp. Busch Gardens, Legoland, Disney are the best known, but what about a dolphin sighting cruise, a sightseeing sunset cruise, a catamaran adventure or a golf holiday at Innisbrook? My summer camp day trips rotate among Sarasota’s Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary, fishing off the Venice Pier, touring the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens or Mote Marina.
A museum docent tour at The Dali, an acting or improv class at American Stage or learning to make beer with a craft brewer floats my boat. Dozens of new fitness and sports challenges await your eager spirit, with classes around town – paddle boarding, fishing, Pilates, beach yoga and ziplining.