My First Visit to A Family Friendly Nudist Campground
No erections allowed
What propelled me to visit a family friendly nudist campground in the Northeast US was the promise of snow cones.
A charming lake, hiking trails, and only a 40 minute drive. This was Dyer Woods, and I made a point to check out the rules on their website before going, to know what to expect.
It became clear that there were two very important rules:
RULE 1: Bring a towel to sit on everywhere,
RULE 2: No sexy times, no sexy things, THIS IS FAMILY FRIENDLY! There could be children!
When I got there I learned about
RULE 3: NO PICTURES! They watch you put a piece of tape on the camera of your phone.
When I went there were no children, but it felt like a pleasant summer camp. Just nobody was wearing any clothes. There was cotton candy and a water slide and floating toys for the lake and snow cones and popcorn.
They sold supplies like candy, painkillers, and sunscreen at a little shop, following an honor system where you put cash into a jar.
I am not sure how it would feel to go for somebody who has never been nude in public before. (The “naked” versus “nude” conversations I had in the first week of my college “Writing About the Visual Arts” course now seems suddenly less abstract.) My guess is that it would feel freeing and pleasant, so long as the idea of “going” is already something that was on one’s radar as potentially fun. If one finds the idea already repulsive…well…maybe not so fun.
As somebody who has already been nude, in a few different settings, I found it very pleasant and chill. People would come up to talk to you and chat, but the place had very clear “no sexualization” rules. If you had an erection, you were supposed to be discrete about it and find a way to hide it. You also were not supposed to touch others in any sexual manner.
If it was so nondescript and just ambiently pleasant, why write about it at all? I think most people who are on the fence, should probably have it as an experience.
Probably the most remarkable thing about it is how unremarkable it is. It is just people chilling!