Camp Bramble: The Summer Camp Experience I Waited 40 Years For

I have always wanted to go to summer camp.

As a kid, I watched It Takes Two, Camp Nowhere, The Parent Trap, and yes, even Heavyweights, and completely romanticized the idea of spending summer at camp. Cabins. Lakes. Crafts. Horses. Campfires. A bunch of kids becoming best friends over the course of a summer.

I never got to go.

So when Kate and Nicole reached out to me about Camp Bramble, an adult camp for women in Harrison, Maine, I was ALL over it.

Apparently, I just had to wait until I was 40 to finally get my summer camp experience.

I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into as I drove to Harrison. I was also going completely solo, so naturally I was thinking, Please let me click with at least one person.

Then I pulled into camp.

It was exactly what I had imagined summer camp would look like as a kid, except somehow better.

Camp Bramble takes place at Camp Fernwood, an all-girls summer camp in Harrison, Maine. And before I had even finished my stay, I had already requested information about Fernwood for my daughter. That's how beautiful this place is.

Driving in, I passed fields, tennis courts, horse stables and beautifully maintained camp buildings tucked into the Maine woods. It felt like I had driven straight onto the set of one of those camp movies I grew up watching.

I parked and headed toward check-in, where Nicole came cruising up in a golf cart to greet me. She immediately asked if I needed help getting my bags to my cabin and made sure I had everything I needed.

Then I saw the merch.

Camp Bramble knows what they're doing. T-shirts, hats, bandanas all the things you need to officially enter your camp era.

I found out I was staying in the Heron cabin and started making my way down toward the lake.

As I walked, I could already see groups of women sunbathing on the dock, swimming and hanging out on the huge trampoline floating in the water.

My cabin was right on the lake with the most beautiful view. Inside were about five bunk beds, and I have to admit, I was expecting rustic camp to mean I might encounter a spiderweb or two.

Nope.

Everything was incredibly clean and neat. The bathrooms were in a separate building nearby with stalls and showers, so we still got the real camp experience without too much roughing it.

By this point I was starving, so I headed to the mess hall, where there was a great spread waiting for us.

There were also crafts already set up around camp, including friendship-bracelet-making stations where a bunch of women had gathered.

So I sat down.

And just like that, I started meeting people.

Everyone was so kind and welcoming. A lot of the women were from around New England, but people had traveled from much farther away too including North Carolina and even Canada.

That fear I'd had on the drive up about coming alone started disappearing pretty quickly.

Later, I headed down to the dock and jumped on a pontoon ride around the lake, where I met even more women.

And that was really the rhythm of Camp Bramble. You could join something when you wanted to, wander off and relax when you wanted to, or sit down next to someone you'd never met and somehow end up in a conversation.

That evening, Camp Bramble had a gathering planned for us, and they did not mess around.

There was an amazing charcuterie spread, beer and wine, and Lady Shuckers was there shucking fresh oysters for everyone.

We also had tarot readings with Jezmona Von Thiele, and I have to tell you, mine was RIGHT ON.

Then it got dark.

We gathered around the fire.

And this ended up being one of my favorite moments of the entire experience.

There is something very special, almost sacred, about a group of women gathering around a fire together. Singing. Chanting. Talking. Laughing. Just being together without all the usual distractions of everyday life.

It is hard to describe unless you've experienced it.

But there was something powerful about it.

The next morning, we had options.

You could do yoga, go on a nature walk, or simply relax with your coffee.

It is not often that I get the opportunity to do absolutely nothing, so I happily chose option three.

I sat on the porch overlooking the water with my coffee and enjoyed one of those rare mornings when there was nowhere I needed to be.

Then came breakfast, which was great.

Coffee. Breakfast. Maine lake views. No rushing around.

My perfect morning.

Other women headed out on paddleboards and canoes, and there were more pontoon rides happening on the lake.

Then it was time for workshops.

I signed up for a natural dyeing workshop where we naturally dyed our own Camp Bramble socks.

Zoe Lindquist guided us through the process, and somewhere between choosing colors and dyeing socks, I realized:

I think I just found my new hobby.

I loved it.

And that feeling continued throughout the weekend. Camp Bramble reminded me how good it feels to actually make something with your hands.

Not scroll.

Not consume.

Not stare at your phone.

Make something.

I think that might be one of the biggest things I took away from camp.

Next came the horse stables.

I am intimidated by horses.

They're beautiful, but they're also huge, and I've just never felt completely comfortable around them.

So naturally, I decided camp was the perfect place to face that fear.

When we arrived at the stables, we were encouraged to meet the different horses and see which one we connected with or, as they put it, see if one of the horses chose us.

I nervously approached each one.

And then I met Dreamy.

She walked right up to me.

She was calm and gentle, almost like she somehow knew I was nervous.

The women running the stables looked at us and told me Dreamy had definitely chosen me.

And that was it.

They taught us how to walk the horses and groom them, and by the end I didn't want to leave Dreamy.

I was so glad I had pushed myself to do something that scared me.

After saying goodbye to Dreamy, I headed over to a cyanotype workshop with Portland Craft Circle.

Another thing I had never really done before.

And another thing I loved.

Between natural dyeing, cyanotype, friendship bracelets and all of the other creative activities happening around camp, I left wanting to become a much craftier person.

More making things.

More learning things.

More sitting around a table with other women talking while our hands are busy creating something.

And a lot less mindlessly scrolling on my phone.

Maybe that's the whole point of camp.

One of my biggest concerns before Camp Bramble was going alone.

Looking back, I really didn't need to worry.

I spent the rest of my afternoon hanging out with new friends, and despite arriving at camp by myself, I never really felt alone.

There was always someone to talk to, something to join or somewhere beautiful to sit.

Unfortunately, mom duties meant I had to head home before the weekend was over.

As I was leaving, they were setting up for the dance party happening that night, and let me tell you...

It looked AMAZING.

I had some serious FOMO driving away.

So next year, I'm staying for the dance party.

Kate and Nicole have created something really special with Camp Bramble.

Yes, it's fun.

Yes, you get to make crafts, swim in a lake, hang out at the stables, ride around on pontoon boats, eat oysters, sit around a campfire and finally live out all those summer-camp dreams.

But it's more than that.

They've created a place where women can gather.

Where you can show up alone and leave knowing people you didn't know before.

Where you can try something new, face a fear, make something with your hands, sit quietly with your coffee or sing around a fire with a group of women under the Maine sky.

There is power in women gathering like that.

And I think we need more of it.

It may have taken me 40 years to finally get my summer camp experience, but it was worth the wait.

See you next year, Camp Bramble. I'll be staying for the dance party.

-Kate