Archive for the ‘Atlanta Travelers Blog Contest’ Category

You’ve read the stories. You’ve cast your votes. And now, as summer comes to a close, we have a winner in our Atlanta Travelers Blog contest.

Since June, we’ve been reading your vacation stories about different topics, then voting on which was best. They were all great stories, but only one of the finalists will win the three-night stay at the AAA Five Diamond rated Ponte Vedra Inn & Club.

This luxurious oceanside escape is 20 miles southeast of Jacksonville, Fla., and stretches along the sparkling blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Read more about the resort, and the grand prize, here.

The vote was close, with nearly 1,000 cast over the past week, and only 26 votes separated the top two finishers. And now, the winner is…

Vegas Nights: Mistaken Identity by Jo Ann Swafford of Sautee Nacoochee.

Congratulations, Jo Ann! And thanks to all of you who submitted stories, and to all of you who voted. We’ve had a great summer!

The other finalists:

• The winning Summer Camp story
• The …

Continue reading CONTEST: We have a winner! »

School is back in session and summer’s winding down. Just one more thing to do before we pack away the beach toys, bring the boat home from the lake and put the luggage back in the closet.

We’ve read your travel stories. Now we need to award the grand prize.

Since June, we’ve been reading your vacation stories about different topics, then voting on which was best. Now, it’s time for one more vote to decide which of the finalists will win the three-night stay at the AAA Five Diamond rated Ponte Vedra Inn & Club.

This luxurious oceanside escape is 20 miles southeast of Jacksonville, Fla., and stretches along the sparkling blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Read more about the resort, and the grand prize here.

Thanks to all of you who have submitted stories, and to all of you who have voted, too. We’ve had a great summer, but someone’s is about to get better! Read the winning entries, then cast your vote for the best travel story of them all!

• Check out the winning Summer Camp …

Continue reading CONTEST: Time to pick the grand prize winner! »

BY SARAH DASHER WATTON OF SANDY SPRINGS

I went to Camp Illahee for girls in beautiful Brevard for several wonderful summers. Every spring, I would spend hours poring over the camp brochure, carefully selecting which courses I would be enjoying during my three weeks in North Carolina.

Seventh grade year, I was bored by the prospect of another summer tie-dying tees and sculpting clay doo-dads in Arts & Crafts. I wanted to try something exciting, something different (and not as scary as say, rock climbing or whitewater rafting). One of the more peculiar options was a class called “Printmaking,” in which girls would learn to “handcraft stationery and other printed items” using an old-fashioned Platen printing press.

In June, I found myself amid a small circle of campers surrounding a medieval-looking iron contraption in the dark basement of a camp lodge. As the counselor explained how the press worked, I began to seriously doubt my decision. However, I soon learned to enjoy …

Continue reading CONTEST: The winner of Summer Camp stories – Arts & Crafts accident »

Thank you again for all of your Summer Camp tales. Here are this week’s three finalists. The winner will have his or her story published on Sunday in the AJC and will be qualified to win the grand prize, a getaway trip.

Folks, we need your help now. Take a look at the finalists’ tales. Then vote for the story you like the best.

Which author should win this week? Check out the prize!

ARTS & CRAFTS ACCIDENT by Sarah Dasher Watton of Sandy Springs

I went to Camp Illahee for girls in beautiful Brevard for several wonderful summers. Every spring, I would spend hours poring over the camp brochure, carefully selecting which courses I would be enjoying during my three weeks in North Carolina. Read on

PINKY’S PETS by Kerry Sartain of Acworth

Over my 61 years, I have participated in many summer camps with the Boy Scouts, as a camper, staff member and Scouter. The most memorable experience was my very first week of camp as an 11-year-old Boy Scout at the “Old Camp Bert Adams,” where …

Continue reading CONTEST: Finalists for Summer Camp stories! »

BY SARAH DASHER WATTON OF SANDY SPRINGS

I went to Camp Illahee for girls in beautiful Brevard for several wonderful summers. Every spring, I would spend hours poring over the camp brochure, carefully selecting which courses I would be enjoying during my three weeks in North Carolina.

Seventh grade year, I was bored by the prospect of another summer tie-dying tees and sculpting clay doo-dads in Arts & Crafts. I wanted to try something exciting, something different (and not as scary as say, rock climbing or whitewater rafting). One of the more peculiar options was a class called “Printmaking,” in which girls would learn to “handcraft stationery and other printed items” using an old-fashioned Platen printing press.

In June, I found myself amid a small circle of campers surrounding a medieval-looking iron contraption in the dark basement of a camp lodge. As the counselor explained how the press worked, I began to seriously doubt my decision. However, I soon learned to enjoy …

Continue reading CONTEST: Finalist for Summer Camp stories – Arts & Crafts accident »

BY KERRY SARTAIN OF ACWORTH

Over my 61 years, I have participated in many summer camps with the Boy Scouts, as a camper, staff member and Scouter. The most memorable experience was my very first week of camp as an 11-year-old Boy Scout at the “Old Camp Bert Adams,” where Cumberland Mall is today. In 1959, that area was wild, wooded and apart from Atlanta. No malls, no highways, and not much in the way of businesses existed.

The trip started Sunday afternoon with a bus ride from Decatur to Vinings. Once the bus unloaded, we were shown to adirondacks (three-sided wooden structures with a wooden floor and an overhanging roof), each with three bunk beds to accommodate six campers. I quickly learned my first lesson of summer camp as all the experienced campers dashed to claim their bunks. I was left behind with some other Tenderfoots to find the open spaces. I found a bottom bunk open, and I would learn why no one else wanted it. The top bunk was occupied by a Second Class …

Continue reading CONTEST: Finalist for Summer Camp stories – Pinky’s Pets »

BY HEATHER PERRIN OF MARIETTA

Every summer growing up, I attended Camp Cherokee at the Cherokee Retreat Center near Cartersville. One of my fondest memories was years ago when I was a counselor.

That year, our interim camp director was somewhat less than involved in the day-to-day activities and liked to “manage” from afar. This was OK with us counselors for the most part, but we ended up planning and directing all of the activities for the children, electing a “head counselor in charge,” and generally leading the best way we knew how.

Because almost all of us had been counselors before, it worked just like clockwork! We built the best team environment I’ve ever worked in to this day.

That summer, though, it rained every day for weeks because there was a hurricane remnant sitting over the state. Being a camp, most of our activities were outdoors, so this seriously crimped our style.

Enter the creative genius of us counselors! What’s a fun activity you can do outside in the …

Continue reading CONTEST: Finalist for Summer Camp stories – Slip ‘n Slide »

Continue reading CONTEST: The winner of Vegas Nights travel stories – Mistaken Identity »

There are Summer Camp people, and then there are non-camp people.

I fall into the latter category. When I was a kid, I never attended a real summer camp. I went to a few day camps where we played games in a park and splashed around in the city swimming pool, but by mid-afternoon I was back home with my friends, riding bikes around the neighborhood and playing pickup baseball games until time to go home for dinner.

My wife and her sisters went to a month-long camp in North Carolina over several summers when they were kids, and tell stories of an idyllic mountain retreat where they rode horses, paddled canoes on a lake, sang songs and performed skits around a campfire, ate meals in a dining hall and slept on bunk beds in rustic cabins.

It sounds, to me, like Kid Heaven.

So, if you attended a summer camp, we’d like to hear your stories about your most treasured camp memories. Why did you love camp? What were your favorite and least favorite activities? Do you still keep in touch …

Continue reading CONTEST: We want your Summer Camp tales! »

Thank you again for all of your Vegas Nights tales. Here are this week’s three finalists. The winner will have his or her story published on Sunday in the AJC and will be qualified to win the grand prize, a getaway trip.

Folks, we need your help now. Take a look at the finalists’ tales. Then vote for the story you like the best.

Which author should win this week? Check out the prize!

DICEY PROPOSITION by Jeff Portwood of Smyrna

I got married in Vegas last year, but this story isn’t about that. This story took place on April 14, 2000 at my friend’s wedding. Read on

DOUBLE TROUBLE by Stan Fouts of Alpharetta

I have taken two memorable trips to Vegas. The first one was years ago, with one of my best friends when I turned 30! … My next trip was recently with my family for a short stay before taking my parents to see the Grand Canyon. Read on

MISTAKEN IDENTITY by Jo Ann Swafford of Sautee Nacoochee

My identical twin and I went to Vegas with our other sister and her daughter in …

Continue reading CONTEST: Finalists for “Vegas Nights” vacation stories! »