Show & Tell: Cool campouts

We asked Scouters to share neat places their units have spent the night. Hopefully, those featured here can inspire your unit’s future overnighters.

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All Aboard

Cub Scouts with Pack 240 of Texas City, Texas, checked out the USS Texas, one of the few surviving battleships to have served in both World Wars.

“We toured the battleship, listened to ghost stories, went on a scavenger hunt and got to see parts of the ship not open to the public,” Webelos den leader Julie Fox says.

Inside the Barracks

Fort Adams, a 19th century Army post in Newport, R.I., provided the perfect place for Pack 314 and Troop 314 of Foxborough, Mass., to learn about history and work on awards.

The troop worked on the Game Design and American Heritage merit badges while the pack completed adventure loop requirements. Together, they explored the grounds and conducted a search-and-rescue game.

Surrounded by Sharks

Cub Scouts from Pack 135 of Kearney, Neb., had a wild time at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.

“We were able to sleep under the shark tunnel and in the aquarium,” committee chair Cassy Kvasnicka says. “We went on a night hike through the zoo. The next morning, we went on a tour of the jungle. It was feeding time, and we were able to hear the howler monkeys.”

Cramped Quarters

Troop 307 of Avon, Ind., toured and slept onboard USS Silversides, a World War II submarine now stationed in Muskegon, Mich.

“Not sure it would be considered camping in the truest sense of the word, but the troop did sleep in the bunk beds inside the submarine,” assistant Scoutmaster Steve Rice says. “I think they got a much better appreciation of the cramped quarters that submariners have to endure.”

A Nippy Night

Following a minor league hockey game, Scouts from Pack 100 were invited onto the ice at the Columbus Civic Center in Columbus, Ga., to slide around and sleep on the rink.

“The temperature of the ice is 10 degrees. It makes the air around 27 degrees for a frosty night sleep,” committee chair Michael Batson says. “Everyone had to bring in cardboard to lay down on the ice; some people brought tents to sleep in. Lots of new parents would bring air mattresses and find out they would deflate because of the cold.”

The next morning, everyone warmed up with hot cocoa and sausage biscuits.

North to Alaska

Troop 573 of Woodinville, Wash., spent three nights on board a ferry en route from Bellingham, Wash., along the Inside Passage to Haines, Alaska.

“We saw orca and humpback whales, seals and sea lions, and lots of bald eagles,” former Scoutmaster Dave Blomberg says.

When they arrived, the Scouts enjoyed sea kayaking, ice climbing and mountaineering.