Activities Abound

Glenn Breazeale | Jul. 17, 2019

So much is happening around camp. Yesterday afternoon each age group participated in special assigned activities. One of the fun parts about being director is getting to drop in on multiple locales. I drove my truck up top, past horseback, to watch half of the 1st year chiefs shooting skeet with our target sports staff. For quite a few, this was a first time shooting. All experienced success, at least hitting a few clay targets (it’s so much harder than it looks!). This was a swap of the group that tubed on Little River Canyon on Monday, as mentioned in my last post.

The Hunters (rising 3rd and 4th) celebrated Christmas in July in style yesterday. Carter, Grayson, their head counselor,and staff put on quite a party. They decorated a tree in the Lodge, made presents for one another, and even decorated homemade cookies at Carter’s mom’s house. This morning Santa made an appearance before breakfast to wish everyone a Merry Summer Christmas.

Next I stopped off at our Lacrosse Field, where our Warriors (rising 7th) competed in a special “World Cup” soccer competition. Similarly, Braves (rising 8th) battled cabin v cabin in a beach volleyball tourney.

Our Trappers (rising 5th) happily skipped to the Waterfront for a cool afternoon dip in Little River and some fun play on the waterslide, water zipline, etc. The boys of the Scout age group (rising 6th) took over the gym for some afternoon floor hockey matches.

I finished off my evening by taking a drive over to the Mentone brow, meeting our other half of 1st year chiefs. They had finished up their afternoon tubing at Little River Canyon. We feasted on catered BBQ as we watched the sun set over north Alabama.

Meanwhile, no news from our Chief 2 trail warriors. And no news from our guides is always good news! They’ll finish up their trek tomorrow, winding up at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. There they will enjoy the most refreshing dip in the Nantahala River while paddling duckies (inflatable kayaks) for the day.

Speaking of tomorrow, chartered buses will roll in early tomorrow morning. After a quick breakfast, each group will depart for a Trip Day adventure somewhere in the Southeast.

The Hunters will load up for a day full of fun activities in Chattanooga. The day will start exploring the thousands of gallons of tanks at the Tennessee Aquarium. Then after enjoying a buffet lunch at Sticky Fingers BBQ, they’ll spend the afternoon rock climbing at High Point Climbing & Fitness in downtown Chattanooga. We’ll finish the afternoon off by watching an IMAX movie adjacent to the Tennessee Aquarium. After their IMAX experience, they’ll scarf down some Mr. T’s pizza before heading homeward. By the way, High Point is one of the largest indoor climbing gyms in the country with a multitude of walls belayed by auto belay devices for ease of use.

The Trappers take off to Atlanta. First stop: the College Football Hall of Fame. After eating a sack lunch, it will be on to tour the World of Coke. They’ll see the vault of the Coca-Cola secret formula, get a behind the scenes glimpse of the bottling process, and taste different soft drinks from around the globe. If you have a Trapper, be sure to get his thoughts on the Italian drink Beverly. From the World of Coke, they walk next door to the Georgia Aquarium. This modern aquarium boasts 10 million gallons of salt and marine water with several thousand different species of animals, including beluga whales and whale sharks! After the aquarium, the Trappers devour a delicious pizza dinner on the way home.

The Scouts spend the day in the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee seeking fast thrills at Dollywood. Dollywood is a family friendly amusement park that reminds of the old Opryland when we were growing up. With over 40 rides and many other attractions, their day will fly by.

White water rafting awaits our older groups. The Warriors head to the Nantahala River for their rafting trip, where they will also be the first to greet the backpackers. The Nantahala is near Murphy, NC and is a perfect beginner rapids course. The river is cool and refreshing and Nantahala Falls, at the end, provides a big thrill. On their way home a piping hot pizza dinner at Papa’s Pizza in Murphy, NC will be on the agenda.

For the Braves and first year Chiefs, it’s down the Ocoee River. The Ocoee is a dam controlled river of the TVA with more adventurous runs. It’s always a crowd pleaser. After the rafting run, the McCallie School in Chattanooga graciously hosts us for some swimming and game playing in their state of the art athletic complex.

As you can see, activity is abounding here at Alpine this week! Thanks for reading and good night for now, Glenn

Glenn Breazeale
Glenn Breazeale

Like his own father, Glenn grew up as a camper at Alpine for six summers, coming from Jackson, MS each summer. He has served on staff at Alpine since 1997, working full time as Assistant Director from 2003 to 2005 and Director since 2006. Prior to that he gained experience serving in various capacities including cabin counselor, Head Counselor, Head of Project Adventure (Ropes course), Horseback instructor, and Program Director. Glenn’s love of camping and his desire to preserve the traditions of Alpine drew him back to camp to offer young boys the same opportunities he experienced. He met and fell in love with Carter during a Square Dance with Camp DeSoto.